Your Presentation Best

Start a presentation with Frankenstein's monster?  That's what Kai Sohn of Fraunhofer's IGB Institute did in order to grab the audience for a presentation on synthetic biology.   Kai's teaser was the entry point into a presentation on what sythetic biology is, what are it's benefits, and what are the ethical considerations. Hard science meets science fiction.   An audience-friendly teaser which made them hungry for more.

If you think about the first 30 seconds to 2 minutes of your next presentation, do you give your audience a reason to be hungry for more? Ask yourself this question:  Why should they want to listen to me?   What exactly are you offering them at the beginning which will motivate their self-interest to focus on the rest of your presentation? Ultimately, if you only had two minutes to convince them, what would you tell them?

The first 30 seconds to 2 minutes of your presentation is absolutely key. It's in this short time window that most audience members make the decision whether or not they will truly listen. If you don't give them a clear reason to tune in at the very beginning,  they usually won't at all. The battle for your audience's attention is hard to win because there are so many other things screaming for that attention (often times these are things that have nothing to do with your presentation). Take a page from Hollywood's play book:  the classic movie teaser.  Use the first 30 seconds to 2 minutes to give them a KISSS Teaser which make them tune in and be hungry for more. (for more on KISSS, please check out the April 18th post)

"You can be the smartest person in the world, you can have the best ideas,   but if you can't sell them, you're not going to succeed." = Hank Paulson, former CEO, Goldman Sachs, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Remember, every time you present, you are selling.  Ideas, concepts, numbers, even "just information" requires that the audience buys into your message. The best presenters give their audience a clear reason to buy.

Humans are visual animals.   Every presenter is, therefore, judged first on their body language. Body language speaks loudly, does not lie, and always registers (consciously or unconsciously) so it sets the tone for whatever follows. Once that tone is set, it can be difficult to change. If you are confident about what you are presenting, your body language will show it. If you believe in what you are presenting, your body language will show it. If you are so comfortable with your message and content that you could do it anywhere at any time, your body language will show it. If you are not, your body language will show that, too. Either way, your audience will know.   And they react to you and your message accordingly.