Tell us if this sounds familiar:
You have an important meeting tomorrow morning, and you’re reviewing the information you plan on presenting to the client. The stakes are high and, if everything goes well, you could be bringing hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of business to your company. However, you’re not sure about the presentation.
Although you’ve worked hard on it and made sure not to miss any important details, it doesn’t really feel that spectacular. And, you don’t want to bore your client or make him feel like he’s not quite getting the idea behind what your company can offer.
So, how can you create a memorable presentation that will wow your audience?
Here are a few ideas.
How to Prevent Boring Office Meetings
Keep It Brief and Concise
You’ve probably done a lot of research and gained important insights about the subject at hand. However, that doesn’t mean you should include every little detail in your presentation and show off just how much you know. Remember that the purpose isn’t to offer a crash course to your audience and prove how knowledgeable you are. The goal is to help them understand how the solution you’ve discovered could help them solve a particular problem.
Ask yourself, “what issues is your audience facing” and “how can you help them find the best solutions.”
Keep It Simple
How many presentations have you sat through, listening to tons of information that had nothing to do with the subject at hand? By the end of it, you were probably exhausted and very confused.
Make sure this doesn’t happen to you by paying attention to a few details. Remember that you need a clear statement of the main idea of your presentation and your hypothesis. Every aspect of your presentation should reinforce this idea in a very straightforward manner.
Don’t complicate things by including countless facts and figures that people will forget anyway. Unless they’re necessary, eliminate any data that doesn’t add value to the presentation and make sure everything is as clean as possible.
Adapt To Your Audience
Here’s one of the first things you should be thinking about – even before you start drafting your presentation. Who is my audience?
You won’t be able to present an IT-related subject both to a bunch of computer-savvy teenagers and a group of older people. If you want to create a memorable presentation, then you’ll have to put yourself in your audience’s shoes and understand the problem they’re facing and their expectations.
Do as much research as you can on the people attending your presentation, from background to interests, and adjust the information and your message accordingly.
Use Visuals
It’s official – our attention span is decreasing, and it’s becoming harder and harder to stay focused while engaged in any activity. As such, a presentation full of numbers, stats, and graphic charts is sure to bore your audience.
Consider using visuals, such as photos, videos or graphics to keep people engaged and interested. Pay attention to the quality of the paper too as your audience is likely to remember if the graphics were printed on thin and fragile cardboard. Double A paper, for example, offers great adhesion, which will make all your prints look and feel flawless.
Will people remember your presentation? Well, it all depends on your ability to capture their attention and spark their interest. And, that’s no simple task. Hopefully, these tips will help you create a memorable presentation that will set you apart from the thousands of speakers that fail to connect with their audience.