There is no getting around it, the lockdown safety measures have had a fundamental effect on our society. It has changed almost every aspect of our day to day lives; how we interact with friends and family, decisions we make around what is essential to our needs, and for most of us, how we work.
At Eyeful, we have noticed some very interesting changes in how people approach their presenting opportunities. Even those that are very comfortable with the thought of delivering a presentation remotely have had to reconsider the fundamentals as to how they engage with their audiences.Slides themselves will always need to be visually compelling, so nothing has changed in that department, however, how people structure and deliver their presentations has certainly changed for the better.
Our clients are being more effective with the time they have with their audiences. When working from home for such a long period of time, the work life balance is blurred, so presenters are competing for their attention against a barrage of other distractions. This requires presenters to shorten and sharpen their engagements, to maximize their impact. They need much more compelling hooks to draw the audience in than ever before, and as such, presentations are becoming much more conversational, rather than just one-way traffic. Presenters are also paying closer attention to what deems the presentation a success. We are seeing a much deeper consideration before the pitch as to what key results need to be derived, what actions need to be taken and what measurements can be reviewed to gauge a presentation’s success criteria against.
If your somewhere in between as a presenter and not quite sure how your presentation approach needs to adjust to these new conditions, we implore you to consider the following three areas:
#1 – MESSAGE
This is very simple, what would you like your audience to remember following your presentation? If you were to ask 5 of your audience members what they remember from your presentation, and you receives 5 separate answers, you can take that as a clear indicator that your presentation did not focus enough on its core values.
#2 – CONTENT
Once its clear what your message is, your content almost writes itself. Retain only what is essential to embedding your message within your audience. Clearing out superfluous material will strengthen your message and retain engagement. It is the presentation clutter that gives presentations a bad reputation in the first place!
#3 – VISUALS
Once you have established your message, found the content that affirms your message, you need the visuals that punctuate your narrative. The visuals do not tell the story… your visuals emphasize your delivery of your message.
If nothing else, use this strange new world we find ourselves in to focus more of your time and attention on what is important to your presentation, because, the good news is, the changes you make to your presentation approach now, will also be of benefit when we return to face to face engagements.
For more information about how else we can support you and your presentation opportunities, please take a look at our website, or get in touch with the Eyeful team – we would love to hear from you!
