During a presentation, the audience hears and interprets the speaker’s every spoken word. They perceive every gesture, every look, every change in posture, every modulation in voice, and every
Have you read our previous blog on the subject of orientation, explaining that your audience members need orientation and security before they can give you their full attention? Then you are already well informed about the ‘receiving end’. But what about you, the speaker? In order to give a good presentation, you too need security and orientation before you begin.
There are many useful textbooks on PowerPoint and giving presentations that tell us how to tune in to our audience. And that’s good. Because if we don’t take into account who’s sitting in front of us, why they are there, what they actually want and what interests them (or doesn’t interest them), then we’re not going to achieve anything.
Humans are complicated creatures. But in some ways they are actually pretty simple - and this is the focus of today’s blog. Following a few simple basic rules can really help your audience to concentrate on your presentation. And the best thing is, that applying this knowledge automatically increases your presentation success, without any effort on the part of your audience. An easy-to-use approach is Maslow’s ‘hierarchy of needs’, which suggests that we are only able to immerse ourselves in something if we are reassured that all our basic needs are met.
This is now the third blog entry on the subject of orientation. Because orientation really is important! We’re focusing again on your security and orientation as the person standing up front and speaking. The more authoritative, confident and relaxed you appear, the more credible and interesting you will come across.
What do you want to achieve with your presentation? Reach a decision, implement a change or excite interest? This goal determines where you want to take your audience by the end of the meeting. You design your presentation accordingly – but even if it goes perfectly, you’re still not home and dry. The crucial last phase is the audience discussion.
