The first tip on presenting is to keep presenting to a minimum! No less than 50% of your day should be interactive. Many people think it’s the responsibility of a meeting’s attendees to pay attention to what’s going on, they are, after all, being paid to do so. We say the opposite is true: it’s up to the host or leader to make it interesting enough for the attendees to pay attention.
White Space
Have you ever been sitting in a presentation where a slide comes on the screen that’s filled with text? Do you read it? Probably not. We don’t.
When we put PPTs together for presentations, we’re big believers in more slides and fewer words per slide. It takes no effort on your part to go from slide to slide, and even less effort for your audience to understand what you’re trying to say when you use fewer words. And why not insert a few poll questions along the way? Even the mandatory data presentations can be interactive.
Presentation Handouts
Simple: save them until the end. Why? Because when you give someone something to look at, they’ll look at it, which means they’re not looking at or listening to you.
Audience Participation
With…not at. Words to live by when thinking about a live meeting. You want to be talking with your advisors, engaging them to participate, asking them questions, and getting them to ask you questions. If you are the one doing all the talking, people will eventually stop listening.
Movement
Seriously. Get your members up every once in a while to encourage blood flow. We’d be happy to share some of our ideas around our “stand up” or “gamestorming” workshops. Getting them to use their bodies, not just their brains, can make the day more enjoyable and productive.