It doesn’t matter how interesting the topic you have to discuss, when you get up on stage a your Phuket conference venue, it’s important that your presentation is clear and memorable. Otherwise, all of the preparation work, research, building slides and travel will be for nothing. So, what can you do to make sure that your audience enjoys and absorbs what you have to say?
Show your passion
People pay attention when the speaker is clearly passionate about what they’re talking about. And you should be passionate about it – it’s the whole reason you’re there. If you sound and act like you’re disinterested, would it be that surprising if your audience were equally ambivalent? Be open, honest and enthusiastic with your audience and they will respond.
Be relevant
You can put all the passion you like into your presentation, but no one is going to engage with a subject they have no interest in. If you’re at a Phuket conference venue, you’re presumably there for a conference, so you have at least one thing in common with most of your audience. However, keeping the content directly relevant to their needs will ensure you never lose their attention. Keeping things broad, conceptual and theoretic will have the opposite effect.
Keep it simple
Don’t try to pack too much into one presentation. Your audience might have a lot of presentations to attend in a single day and they’re not going to absorb every point of every one. Instead, focus on a core message and skip anything that doesn’t help you to make that single point. It’ll stop your audience getting distracted and confused.
Smile
A presentation is like a conversation with dozens of people at once. Just as with a one-on-one chat, how you present yourself is almost more important than what you have to say. If you smile and make eye contact, you’ll build a better rapport with the person you’re speaking to. Just upscale that advice to work with a larger audience.
Tell stories
People love stories. They focus the attention, create a personal connection, are more memorable and are more relatable. It won’t always be easy to incorporate a personal anecdote that’s relevant to your point, but it’s worth trying to find a way to transmit your message that has a bit of a narrative to it, even if it’s just using storytelling techniques when planning how you’re going to make your very dry, fact-based presentation.