In this first Showzone episode, Nicolas provides simple tweaks on how to make presentations more engaging.
Summary
Nicolas starts by suggesting to incorporate questions within the presentation that audience members can answer with a show of hands. He also proposes passing simple items around the audience to encourage brief interactions amongst attendees, which can help refocus attention on the presentation. Nicolas invites his viewers to share their own methods for engaging their audiences.
Video Transcription
Hello! I am Nicolas from Showzone and today we will be talking about simple ways to make your presentations more engaging so that your message gets across. People have short attention spans, so it is beneficial to add in some elements to your presentation to get them back on track.
My first suggestion is to add in a few questions to the audience throughout the presentation in the form of a show of hands. If you are using slides, you can sprinkle in some new ones that include the text of the question. Pose a question that can be answered with a yes or a no. So that each audience member is inclined to participate, pose it in a way, so that your expected response involves raising a hand. For example, “who here likes cookies?” rather than “who here dislikes cookies”. Remember to share the results back with the audience. For example: “I see that the majority of you like cookies”. This way the audience is informed about the result.
Similar to showing a prop, you can also pass items into the audience. Even if it is just something very simple, each audience member will be involved in some quick interaction with their neighbors. They will briefly loose track with what you are presenting, but are then more likely to return to the topic instead of drifting off.
What simple methods did you use to keep your audience engaged? I would love to hear your comments down below.
That is all from me for today, thanks for listening and may your next presentation be amazing!