You are sitting patiently in the third row, music playing softly in the background, when suddenly the room lights go out. Strong dark colours wash the stage. ‘Radioactive’ by Imagine Dragons begins to play, from the start of the Taiko drum finale. A single drummer is now on stage playing along. Six shadowy figures enter the stage, three from each side and reveal another set of large drums, which they also begin to play.

A local awards show prelude? No, just the start of the quarterly employee – management dialogue, with a difference. Not really your thing? Well it certainly made an impression, as well as the rounds of WeChat social media.

Guest presenter, with a Tibetan mastiff puppy…

Welcome to Presentation Skills 5, the last in this series of blogs about how everyday employees can improve their presentation technique. Previously I wrote about pre event preparation, set up, slide layout mistakes and the over use of effects in App’s and PPT. In this blog I want to touch on the overall ‘package’ as well as various ways you can enhance your presentation experience.

This is a light hearted blog and some of the ideas might simply not suit your style or company standard, but then these are just suggestions from a non professional.

To begin with, I propose that by offering a change of rhythm in the way you deliver you will gain more traction. Your audience is there for a purpose. You want them to recall all the important bits. How can you achieve that in the easiest fashion, typically with a low budget and without having any professional expertise?

Vary the format of regular presentations

From my experience the secret lies in delivering a package that is entertaining, uses variety to maintain audience attention and which frames or highlights the most important points.

Typically as people become more skilled and more confident with their presentation technique, they come to recognise what they are good at, what works for them and what doesn’t. You could sharpen your presentations by using much less text, more voice, more striking images, short videos (mp4’s) if applicable and only few simple graphics. The latter of course depends upon the subject matter. Generally speaking, visual and audible changes stimulate the brain resulting in greater concentration, especially when enhanced by the effective use of lighting.

Over the years I have run quite a number of associate forums and general communications meetings. For these events, I always concentrated the subject matter to keep them within one hour. Sometimes using different presenters, we would separate the topics and introduce each new speaker with a very short music interlude and subtle change of background colour. The typical audience feedback was that our 60 minute presentations never felt like they were actually that long.

Here are some further ideas to think about. Please do note however these are for low budget, small scale, typically ‘in-house’ presentations. Not all the ideas are applicable in all situations, but some are worth considering.

  • To spark interest and attention or build expectations prior to the event, post extracts or ‘leak’ content on closed group social media.
  • Begin your presentation with an impact ‘statement’ of some kind, especially if it takes place mid afternoon. Adrenaline flow naturally increases audience concentration.
  • Be creative and entertain from the very outset to set the right ambiance and get everyone focussed.
  • If you are in a small room with a small audience, start with a strong visual, consistent with your message.
  • In a large room do the same by presenting a very short but impactful MP4 or iMovie.
  • If possible, try not to present in a room using general lighting. Darken the room and focus lighting in the area where you will be presenting.

    Everyone loves a cash lucky draw prize

  • If you are in a small training room, create a different mood in that space by removing excess furniture and changing the layout.
  • Practice using bullet points or key words and use a slide show app to control the presentation flow.
  • Try not to read verbatim from notes as your head drops and you will lose eye contact.
  • If you have an assistant on hand to advance slides for you, make sure you rehearse together at least once, preferably twice.
  • Consider using six to eight second music interludes to break up the various sections of your presentation, especially if it has to run for more than an hour, or covers different topics.
  • Game-ify parts of your presentation (there are many apps to help with this )
  • Interact with your audience from time to time by asking questions and by soliciting simple acknowledgements.
  • Present a puzzle or subject specific problem and give the audience 90 seconds to solve it (announce the answer, of course).
  • Use App’s to engage in real time for Q&A or opinion gathering.
  • If you have rehearsed and are familiar with your material, use anecdotes referring to your experience.
  • Consider co-presenting with one or two other guest hosts who can handle specific topics.
  • Get different speakers to present from different locations towards the front of the room.
  • Vary the stage lighting with spots, washes and colours at various times, even if it is only once for arrival and then for the show…
  • If you are going to provide a digital or printed summary of the presentation, don’t mention it until the end.
  • Delight your audience at the conclusion with a random surprise gift or cash give away…

One last thing;  Get your cues from a laptop or use a monitor on the floor in front of you.

The ‘presenters notes’ layout of most presentation software suits a short summary and enables you to talk around the main points and also allows you to view the following slide one step ahead of your audience. This sets you up well for any topic changes, graphic and MP4 cues..

Using iPad to control everything through Keynote

So that’s it.

We have covered a range of topics and ideas over the past few weeks. If you end up using some or all of the suggestions and recommendations, you will certainly see an improvement in audience reception and information recall after the event.

A final disclaimer: I am first and foremost a hospitality professional, not a paid presenter. I do enjoy presenting and getting positive results from the audience.

If anyone is interested in further advice or wants to share experience, drop me an email at nigelonline.net or go to the contact page on this website.

Thank you for your interest, good luck and happy presenting!