10 Ways To Bore An Audience And How To Avoid Them
In a recent nationwide survey of more than 400 businesspeople
, over 90% revealed that they found business presentations boring. The top 10 reasons they cited were as follows:
1. Too long - your presentation should ideally be no more than the average concentration span. This means keeping your presentation time down to about 30 minutes maximum. After this the audience's attention will be turning to other matters. As someone once wisely said, "A presentation should be like a mini skirt: long enough to cover the vital things, but short enough to retain interest."
2. Too monotonous - make the effort to vary your voice in terms of pace, volume and pitch. Remember, much of the emotion a message is contained within the speaker's tonality. By varying your tonality you will add emphasis and interest. Also, don't forget the power of the pause.
3. Too reliant on PowerPoint - let your visual aids be your servant, not your master. Keep the bullet points on any page to a maximum of 6 and 6 words on each point. Use simple reveals, preferably without sound; fancy, inconsistent reveals distracts the audience's attention. Remember the 'less is more' philosophy and don't overcrowd your slides with information. This is especially true when you are using graphs to convey information.
4. No rapport/lack of understanding audience - the audience are the important people so demonstrate that you care. You are there to serve them. Make sure that you keep good eye contact with them. If nothing else, this will help you gauge their mood!
5. No obvious purpose or outcome - make sure that the audience knows WIIFT; or what's in it for them. Give some thought to what they want from your presentation or, put another way, why should they listen to you?
6. No hook or grab - you have a short time to engage the audience's interest. Make your opening memorable by getting them involved, posing a question or giving them a fascinating statistic. But, whatever you use, make sure it's relevant and supports your key message.
7. No clear structure - use the 'law of 3'. Have 3 key points and a maximum of 3 sub-points under each of the headings. Obviously have an opening and a close at either end! Also, remember to signpost where you are taking your presentation so that the audience can keep track of where you are and where you are going.
8. Not knowing material/reading from notes - you must rehearse, rehearse and rehearse. If you know what slides are coming up or what your next point is, you won't have to take your eyes off the audience for too long. Remember that most people can read faster than you can talk.
9. No movement or too much movement - by moving about and using hand gestures you will add to your tonality. Try to eliminate small, annoying gestures or mannerisms; fidgeting with your hands, jiggling coins, or swaying backwards and forwards as these can reflect nervousness or insecurity. If you can, video your rehearsals to see what mannerisms you might have.
10. Weak close - no-one expects you to produce tears in the eyes and lumps in the throats, but make sure that your close is a powerful and natural conclusion of your presentation and lets the audience know what is expected of them.
Improve the boredom ratio of your next presentation by avoiding these 10 mistakes.
by: Ian Henderson
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