More than 2,300 years ago, Aristotle gave some solid presentation advice.
It remains valid today.
I was re-reading his book ‘Art of Rhetoric’ recently and came upon the following statement:
“To make his hearers inattentive, the speaker must persuade them that the matter is unimportant, that it does not concern them, that it is painful.”
This is what too many speakers end up doing, unintentionally.
The matter is unimportant
I realise I am the only thing standing between you and your meal…
Thank you for giving up your valuable time to listen to little ol’ me…
Sorry to interrupt the discussion, I just want to say a few words…
These are just a few examples of the speaker talking down their own presentation.
If you give the audience even a sniff that your presentation does not really matter, then they will switch off instantly.
Tell them why your presentation matters.
It does not concern them
Let me start by showing you our organisational chart…
We have been in business for the last 17 years…
Before we start I will give you my entire career resume…
Too often the early part of the presentation is ‘speaker-centric’ instead of ‘audience-centric.’
You need to turn this around.
Tell them why your presentation matters…to them.
It is painful
This subject is very complex…
The presentation could be a little dry…
It is going to be highly technical…
Why on earth do speakers feel the need to do this?
Stop sabotaging your own presentation!
I have heard some complex and technical presentations that were exceptional. In these ones the speakers started with some interesting ideas and got me engaged before getting technical.
Your audience has had too much presentation pain in the past – they will zone out quickly if you make it sound difficult.
Tell them why your presentation matters…to them – in an ache-free way.
Conclusion
To summarise, it seems most appropriate to use another quote by Aristotle:
“Hearers pay most attention to things that are important, that concern their own interests, that are astonishing, that are agreeable; wherefore one should put the idea into their heads that the speech deals with such subjects.”
Think about this for your next presentation.
Is your presentation closer to the first quote at the top of this article or the second one immediately above?
Bringing ourselves back to this day and age. For more presentation advice check out the following article on Lessons from Bruce Springsteen on engaging an audience…
