Tired of Seeing Members of Your Audience Nod Off?
Nov-02-2015 0 comments Cube Biosystems

Keeping an audience's attention during a presentation isn't always easy - not even for the most powerful man in the world. Last year, the internet figuratively blew up when the 'couch kid' photo went viral, showing a little boy face planting on the sofa in the Oval Office as President Obama addressed his parents (who, fortunately, seemed a little more interested in what he had to say!)

Oval Office Face Plant
Oval Office Faceplant.   Source: WikiCommons

It's something we all struggle with at times, both in our personal lives and in our professional lives, so it's a good idea to learn a few tricks to ensure your audience stay engaged. Remember the saying: 'prevention is better than cure'. It's easier to keep an audience interested, than it is to lose them and then try to win them back.

Nothing can be more diheartening than looking into your audience and watching an advisor or other people you respect start to have the seminar sleepy head drop. We provide some simple and effective suggestions to help liven up those talks.

Hook Your Audience

When you read articles or scientific journals online, do you always read the whole way through the entire article -- from start to finish. If you're anything like most of the population, you don't. You'll read the first paragraph, maybe the second, but you may not make it to the end. Research by the Nielsen Norman Group shows that, on average, 81 percent of people will read the first paragraph, 71 percent the second, 63 percent the third, and just 32

Rapt Audience
Source: Flickr
percent the fourth. Interest wanes the further into the text they get. That's why it's so important to hook your audience right from the beginning when you're giving a talk or presentation.

 

So what should you hook your audience with? Well, think about your favorite TV show. At the end of each episode, there's always a 'next time on...' segment that's designed to get you excited about next week's showing. During these segments, what do you see? You never see the characters sat around having a nice chat. It's always drama, violence, sex... it's things that grab our interest. So don't be afraid to be bold, or even to be controversial. If your research comes to a conclusion that's different from the norm, then shout about it. Lead with your most interesting point, and then discuss in detail later on.

Presenting Your Work

When it comes to presenting your work, you might automatically think 'Powerpoint'. It's a reasonable association to make, and you've probably seen Powerpoint used by your peers during their talks and presentations. There's one problem with Powerpoint, however: it's especially aimed at non-designers. 'What's wrong with that?' we hear you ask. Well, a part of why people think Powerpoint is so great is that it includes many different design features that help to make your work look 'pretty'. While that's great for a lot of fields, it doesn't necessarily have that much of an advantage in the scientific sector. The video below, while focusing on Powerpoint provides some really great specfics about constructing a presentation including font choices, backgounds, number of slides, etc.


Source: iBiology


It can, of course, be argued that cute graphics can keep your audience from falling asleep, but remember - you don't want your audience remembering your presentation for the pictures of your cat. You want them to remember your presentation for your innovative ideas and strong proposals. So how can you retain your audience's interest without succumbing to Powerpoint's graphics? Think about using alternative presentation software, like Prezi. Prezi is naturally very visually engaging, without taking away from the overall message, and it integrates well with other types of media to keep things fresh.

It's all About Simplicity

There's a quote that's often attributed to Albert Einstein - 'make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler'. It's a solid piece of advice, but it's also one that's quite challenging to put into action. The problem is that there is no 'industry standard' for complexity. It all depends on your audience. If you're making a presentation at a conference, for example, keep in mind that there will be not only people from your field, but people from other fields, too, with an interest in the topic at hand. Aim for a level of complexity that's enough to fully explain yourself, but not so great that you begin to alienate parts of the audience.

However, if you're presenting within your workplace to a group of peers with a similar level of understanding, that isn't necessarily your cue to start pushing the boundaries of complexity. Complexity ultimately leads to tangents, which are sure to contribute towards audience loss. Whether you begin describing something that the audience doesn't understand, or something that the audience isn't interested in, you've lost them by veering off track. The best advice is this: keep it simple, keep it linear, and keep it focused closely on the topic at hand. That's what's going to keep your audience engaged.
 

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