How many times have you been in a presentation that just completely failed to persuade the audience? We live in a world where communications come at us from every direction: phone calls, emails, instant messaging, slides, videos and text messages. Our attention span is very short, there is always a distraction and so successful, persuasive presentations do require careful preparation. To learn how to make powerful, compelling and successful presentations let's first take a look at the top 7 reasons why bad presentations fail:
1. The lack of a clear objective is the first reason a presentation fails. What is the reason the presentation is being made: is it to educate on a chosen subject? Or is it to persuade a group of people to take a decision? Alternatively is the goal to communicate an organisation's strategy to a group of employees? The presenter must be clear what the objective is or end result that is expected at the end of the presentation. Without knowing what the objective is the audience will be confused and wonder why they are being presented to.
2. Poor media killed many a presentation. Too many slides with too much content, often unreadable due to small font sizes or poor choice of colours are all too common. An insufficient sound system for the room in which the presentation is held is also a big risk, if the audience cannot hear the presenter the time is wasted. Poor media is one of the most common issues, and with a short attention spans one that will quickly cause an audience to lose interest.
3. Boredom or lack of interest in audience is a third risk. The lack of an interesting, attention grabbing opening can easily lead to audiences switching off from the start. Tell tale signs are people looking away from the presenter, using phones, laptops or PDAs.
4. Conflict between the presenter and the audience can arise when the presenter seeks to persuade the audience but has few facts or evidence to back up the topic. Presenters often fail to research the existing knowledge the audience has of the subject and as a result are subjected to constant hostile questioning.
5. Confusion during a presentation that goes off subject or appears disjointed undermines the effectiveness. This often occurs when there are several presenters whose material overlaps or is disconnected with the overall objective or where there is too much or too little information for the audience.
6. Time overruns caused by lack of rehearsal and the lack of an overall timekeeper frustrates audiences. People looking at their watches or the clock or asking "hurry up" questions are signs of this problem.
7. A weak finish or lack of a "call to action" at the end mean the audience is left in a vacuum unsure what to do about what they just heard, why bother doing the presentation at all if nothing is agreed or requested as next step or conclusion?
By preparing properly for a presentation you can easily avoid these 7 deadly sins and deliver winning presentations that captivate your audience.
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