Everyone hates redundancy. Meeting after meeting, presentation after presentation, we see people inventing all manner of diversionary tactics to mentally escape the tedium of the average business event. As a speaker, there is nothing you can do about this. But, you still have to get your ideas across, right? So how do you take an audience that is by default unreceptive and bring them to attention in a positive way? (Hint: screaming at them is not the answer.)
It all starts with creativity. You don’t have to step on stage with a blank canvas and do your best Jackson Pollack impersonation; just come up with a few breaks from the ordinary and scatter them throughout the presentation. They may not be inclined to be attentive at the beginning, but every human being would prefer to enjoy their time rather than not. The whole issue stems from the simple fact that most presenters never give them an outlet.
Here are 3 ideas for creating engagement:
1. Give them a task: social media is a great way to accomplish this. Have the audience tweet or update their Facebook with a favorite quote or point from the presentation. Host a forum for ongoing participation. They’re itching to fiddle with their smartphones anyway; you might as well get to choose how they do so.
2. Give a short quiz: Not only are many people naturally competitive and eager to display their profound knowledge at a moment’s notice, but your pre-presentation quiz can give you tremendous insights regarding the general views and assumptions of your audience. Craft your questions carefully to set up slam-dunk opportunities later–they’ll be amazed that you foresaw their misconceptions.
3. Give them a present: You don’t have to be Oprah to pull this off with style. I’m not talking about putting a Rolex under every chair, but whatever business you’re in, you can do something generous for audience members. Make it a value-added item, something that will remind them of your speech or provide valuable insights for them to take home. You’ll need to be creative, but the primary benefit comes when you ask the audience to look under their seats. Even if it’s a negligible item, you’ve already broken the monotony they were expecting. Win-win.
Whatever you do, remember: a presentation is more than a podium, projector, and PowerPoint. Think more creatively to create a unique experience for your audience. You can’t do worse than what many of them are already expecting!
