I was running a two-day seminar recently when someone asked an excellent question about how to present to a mixed audience.
“Gavin, what should I do if I have a mixed audience and a fairly complex topic?”
Imagine the situation.
Half the audience are experts.
The other half know almost nothing about the subject.
They practically inhabit different planets.
How do you keep both groups engaged?
Presenting to a mixed audience is one of the biggest challenges speakers face.
My answer was simple.
Boil the Kettle.
Presenting to a Mixed Audience: The Kettle Technique
Think about what happens when you switch on a kettle.
At first, very little seems to happen.
Then, gradually, everything speeds up until the water boils.
Presentations can work in exactly the same way.
Start as simply as possible.
Cover the fundamentals carefully.
This helps your less experienced audience members stay with you.
Tell the audience exactly what you’re doing.
Explain that you’re deliberately starting with the basics because the audience has different levels of knowledge.
Thank the experts for their patience and reassure them that you’ll be covering the more challenging material later.
That usually keeps them on board.
Then, as the presentation progresses, gradually increase the complexity.
Leave the most demanding material until later in the session.
By the end:
- the experts feel challenged,
- the beginners have learned something valuable,
- and everyone has gained from the presentation.
Presenting to a mixed audiences is never easy.
But the kettle technique gives you the best chance of keeping everyone with you.
The next time you’re preparing a presentation, ask yourself one simple question:
Am I boiling the kettle?
Looking for more presentation tips, why not check out the following article on how one unexpected sentence transformed a whole carriage and what it teaches us about audience connection.
