Elements Of An Engaging Presentation
There are a lot of presentations in my line of work. A sermon with a congregation, report with a board, breakout at a conference, officiating at a wedding, interviewing on a podcast, training at a staff meeting or eulogy at a funeral. Over the years I’ve developed a range of presenting tools. Having options in the toolbox allows me to utilize the ones that work in a particular setting. Below is a list of those tools. I hope they help you develop more engaging presentations.
If you’re looking for coaching on this topic beyond this article then visit benstapley.com/coach to schedule a free consultation. I would love to help you determine the obstacles you're facing and if I’m the best person to help you overcome them. Before we jump into what tools work we need to spend some time on why it's important to make presentations engaging.
WHY
Honor Everyone’s Time - If you have a room of 10 people and you talk for 10 minutes, you’ve used up 100 minutes. But did you treat it with respect? Did you invest yourself to a level worthy of that time? Would you be asked back to a room of 20 people and granted 20 minutes? Asking yourself these questions before you start planning the presentation ensures you will honor the precious commodity of time that you have been granted.
Make An Impact - Everyone presents for one reason. To make an impact. Well, some of us present because it makes us feel important. But hopefully that is the minority. Keeping the goal of the presentation at the forefront in the process increases the likelihood that you will achieve it. Remembering this goal will help you avoid filling a room with just noise. It will help you fill a room with action taken.
Now that we’ve looked at why engaging presentations are important, let's look at how we can go about doing that.
WHAT
Prepared - Do the work to honor the time of the attendees with high caliber content. This isn’t splashy but it is foundational. If you walk into a talk trying to wing it, you're not gonna soar. You're gonna crash to the floor. There is nothing more important than time invested when it comes to new presentations.
Premise - What’s your big idea? Your thesis statement? The main concept you want people to walk away with? Building this foundation at the beginning allows for the rest of the structure to be built upon it.
Points - How do your points support your premise? Is there a logical flow? Are there too many or too few? Have you overstated or understated your case? If you’ve taken a grade nine English class you understand how to draft a five point paragraph. So enough said on this point…pun intended.
Participation - Aim for a dialogue instead of a monologue for a couple of reasons. When people add to the content they remember the content. Also, it breaks up the information delivery method from expert to peer which reengages a room during a longer talk. When the setting is small it is easy to do this verbally. When the setting gets larger you lose this ability. You can’t hear someone from the back row in a 1,000 seat venue. But there still are a range of ways to involve the audience in large settings such as applause, raised hands, texting polls, etc.
Disclaimer - The only caveat to this rule would be in school. In that context you are the resident expert as the teacher. So don’t overly rely on the opinions of the students in an academic setting.
Preference - Ask what your audience prefers to learn at the beginning and adjust the talk accordingly. Some presenters like to look for subtle cues when reading the room. That doesn’t work for me. I need to clearly call out what the room is thinking, feeling and desiring throughout the course of my presentation. I would rather drop content that I planned on instead of sharing something no one is interested in. Asking at the beginning allows me to do this.
Problems - Ask what problems the room wants to solve and try to write them down for all to see on a flipchart or dry erase board. Writing problems down creates a high level of buy-in. It lets the audience member know they are heard and their issue has merit. Writing problems also starts to identify areas of convergence. And lastly it gives you a checklist for success towards the end of your talk. You can go back and verify that you have covered all the problems. If not, you still have time to cover any outstanding ones.
Proof - How does your proof support your points? Share as many of these 2D and 3D proofs and examples as possible. And when possible, make them visual. 65% of people identify as visual learners. 2D proofs are images you put on screen to illustrate a point. 3D proofs are ordinary objects found in everyday places that visually connect your listener to what you are saying. But it is more memorable if they are striking or even dangerous. Ask yourself these questions when selecting your proof. Is it visually striking? Is it big enough? Will the people in the back row see it? These questions will help you select an awesome proof. More on this topic can be found here.
Playful - This is the most underused tool for most communicators. If your talk includes humor people will engage at a much higher level. Next time you are listening to your favorite presenter, pay attention to how much they use humor to get your attention. And you don’t need to be a standup comedian to utilize this tool. I have been successful incorporating dad humor into my talks long before I was a father. Take your content seriously. Yourself, not so much.
Personal - Share stories about yourself and others to engage emotions. And notice how I said stories, not story. I like to use the 1:10 rule here. Include 1 story for every 10 minutes of content. There are three ways to tell a story.
Tell your own story - This has a strong sense of intimacy because it is personal.
Tell someone else’s story - This brings in a wider range of life experiences that you don’t have.
Someone else tells their story - This breaks up the storytelling method.
No one will remember all the substance of your talk but everyone will remember your stories.
Practical - People should clearly understand how to apply your talk when it is done. If not, you’ve missed the mark. Even the most scholastic settings are practical. You are learning about King Tut on Monday because you have a test on Tuesday. Think through the action steps you want people to apply and pepper it throughout your talk. Don’t leave it all for the end when your audience is experiencing mental fatigue and starting to check out.
Pinnacle - Where does your talk peak? If you don’t know, you have some work to do. As a mentor of mine used to say, if you don’t have a moment you don’t have a message. Identifying a pinnacle gives you clarity on when the main point will have the most resonance. Circling it on your outline prepares you to communicate in a way that it feels like the pinnacle. The peak is the soundbite clipped from your talk for social media. In fact, it would be ideal if you planned for a number of peaks in your message. Mainly because what you think is the most important may not align with what your audience thinks.
Partnership - If it brings value to the audience then offer partnership opportunities. This might be buying a signed book after the talk. This might be a free coaching consultation after a breakout. This might be a downloadable PDF during a podcast. This might be stopping by the office to discuss more for greater clarity. You have been invited to share because someone believes you have value to give. If there is additional value to give outside of the talk, offer it. Just be brief. You want to hard sell your content and soft sell your partnership.
Pastoral - If you are in a religious context then pray for your audience. Wherever I give a breakout at a conference I end in a pastoral prayer of blessing. That the audience would be able to apply the topic in their context and that it would bear much fruit. And there have been a number of times this prayer was the most impactful thing shared during the 90 minute slot. People want to be prepared by your content but they also want to be pastored by your heart. Don’t miss that opportunity
CONCLUSION
Most presentations are composed of the same core elements. But most talks only incorporate a few. Thus making a lot of lame teachings. Hopefully the 13 ways to make presentations engaging above have helped you out. Let me know what elements I missed. I would love to hear from you and learn from you. And if you want additional help in this area then visit benstapley.com/coach to schedule a free consultation. I would love to help you win. Have an awesome day.
Please note no AI was hurt during the writing of this blog.