You probably have parts of your job that you hate, right? I sure do. Don’t worry, it’s not this. It’s sitting through the boring presentations speakers give when they are just starting out. But I do it because I know it’s such an important part of the learning process for these speakers. (And because I know they will get better). But they need to first know what it feels like to bore their audience. To feel the annoyance and disinterest firsthand. To see the blank stares and slumped postures. Once speakers experience giving a boring presentation, they are eager to correct the problem.
Boring presentations usually happen due to heavy content with no emotion or dispassionate delivery, or a combination of both. Today, we’ll explore the first of those two problems—the one related to presentation content—and then we’ll circle back around to the second big problem in our next blog. So let’s talk presentation content.
Problem: Only One Type of Content
Content is the stuff you say to your audience and put on your slides. Way back when, like we are talking around 350 BCE, Aristotle said we need to balance three things: logos, pathos, and ethos. Without getting too deep into the jargon, here’s what those are:
logos = facts/statistics
pathos = emotion
ethos = the speaker’s credibility/expertise
If those three things are out of balance, a presentation can quickly fall apart. And if your presentation is boring, there’s a really good chance you have way too much logos (facts, statistics, etc.) and not enough pathos (emotion). If you are giving your audience lots of content with definitions and jargon and statistics without any kind of variety, it gets boring. Fast. Here’s how to fix that.
Solution: Add Emotion
The first way to make your presentation engaging is to add emotion in. Author and media theorist Gregory Ulmer says we need to remember the difference between “learning” and “yearning.” We can cram lots of great information into our presentations, but that doesn’t mean we’ve really taught the audience anything. Emotion helps the audience become invested. Find ways to make them smile, laugh, or ponder something on a deeper emotional level. These suggestions can help you get started:
1. Use stories of real people and show their faces.
We respond emotionally to other human beings. Statistics are never going to move us the way stories will. Stories, when relevant to your overall purpose and when told clearly, will almost never bore your audience.
For example, I watched a presentation on macronutrients yesterday. Even though the content was well researched, well written, and well delivered, it was dry. And the audience lost interest, until the speaker started telling the story of one young teenage girl who wasn’t getting the nutrients she needed and how that affected her life. Suddenly everything shifted. Now, the audience wasn’t just listening to textbook definitions and stats, they were introduced to someone (with a name and a face) for whom this information had real-life impact. And it made all the difference.
2. Use humor.
I can’t overstate how powerful humor can be in a presentation when used correctly. Research shows that humor can be “a useful method to reduce stress and increase compassion, connection, and empathy.” It’s one of the best ways not to bore your audience. This doesn’t mean you should turn your presentation into a stand-up routine. But instead, look for moments when a turn of phrase or an amusing anecdote can liven up your content and spark your audience’s attention.
For example, one of my beginning speakers recently gave a presentation on déjà vu. He started his presentation by asking the question, “have you ever had that feeling that you had been somewhere or done something before? You can’t quite put your finger on it, but you get a strange sensation that this isn’t the first time this has happened.” He paused, and then repeated his initial sentences in the exact same manner. The audience chuckled at the creative and highly relevant way he introduced his topic of déjà vu.
3. Use your slide deck to liven up logos.
Your slide deck offers all kinds of opportunities to make your presentation interesting. When you add dynamic colors, movement, videos, fonts, graphics, and photos, you pull emotion back into the presentation. Slide decks have logos and pathos too. If your slide deck looks like a printed page, it’s going to hurt you rather than help you. So take advantage of the multi-media components available in your presentation design program.
For example, a slide deck that zooms in and out of your content can help build excitement. Audio and visual elements can build suspense or create a more impactful, emotional storyline. Check out our blog on how to make your presentation mimic the best qualities of the cinema.
When you are done developing your presentation content, look back over it. Ask yourself these questions: What percentage of my content is logos? What percentage is pathos? Where have I tried to help my audience feel something? Are there any large chunks of heavy content that need to be broken up or reinforced with some emotional appeals? When you make emotion a priority, you’ll set yourself up for presentation success.
Want to learn more about how not to bore your audience? Get in touch with us now.
The post How NOT to Bore Your Audience, Tip #1 appeared first on Ethos3 – A Presentation Training and Design Agency.
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