[Video] The Mindset You Need to Create a Compelling Presentation
[YouTube Video] The Mindset You Need to Create a Compelling Presentation
Do you have FUN designing your slides or preparing a presentation or lecture?
If you said, "eh, not really" or "Say what now, who actually has fun doing that?!" then it's time to reflect on the mindset you have when it comes to giving presentations.
If you have the right mindset, creating awesome and engaging presentations is actually pretty easy (or, at least, more fun for you).
Because, if you aren't having fun when creating a presentation or lecture, then your audience (students, clients, colleagues/peers) won't have fun watching it.
And if your audience isn't engaged, then you don't enjoy delivering a presentation, and then you convince yourself that presentations are doomed to be dreadful, so why bother putting effort into it
... And the whole self-fulfilling prophecy + confirmation bias cycle repeats itself.
So I'm going to show you what type of mindset will create a more positive cycle for you.
...One that will encourage you to have fun while creating and delivering a presentation.
...A mindset that is the key to an engaged audience, who is interested in what you have to say.
...A mindset that will help you unlock your potential as an engaging, fun, and effective presenter.
Watch the video now
Curious about the sample course mentioned in the video?
Video notes + screenshots
To explain this mindset, I’m going to first tell you a short story about a violinist.
My parents own a violin shop, and my dad was telling me about one his customers who is a pretty famous violin concert player. My dad said the reason she is so popular and people love her is because she does more than just plays the songs well.
She isn’t just a really skilled violin player, she goes above and beyond and does things like gets custom outfits made that look like what people would have worn during the period the song she’s playing was composed. And before she plays her first song, she’ll share some information about the period and what life was like, and what people believed back then.
She isn’t just playing a song, she’s immersing her audience in an experience. She’s engaging them and tries to make the music resonate with people on a deeper level.
That was a huge lightbulb moment for me. That’s exactly what I’m trying to teach you all.
That you shouldn’t just be a presenter, you should be a performer!
Think about it. We often approach slides as a simple presentation, a simple regurgitation of facts. That’s what it would be like if all she did was go up there and play the notes correctly, in the right order.
We’ve convinced ourselves that’s what our audience wants. The dry, boring lectures. But that isn’t true.
No one wants to watch a boring presentation. It doesn’t matter if you’re an academic, a scientists, or an evaluator. Deep down, everyone wants a performance.
Just to be clear, a performance doesn’t mean making stuff up, adding fluff, or only being entertaining. That’s not what I mean. Just like the violinist, she plays the song well and she does an amazing, beautiful job. She’s not up there improving or playing the wrong notes.
So obviously you still need to share accurate information and teach people something. What I’m asking you to consider is the extra step if putting yourself in your audience’s shoes and think about how to make your presentation a more enjoyable experience. That’s the key to this mindset.
Effective presenters think about how to create performances for their material by adding creative and effective ways to keep their audience engaged.
So now let’s talk about how to apply this mindset to your next presentation.
Quick tip #1: Practice Empathy
A presenter cares about how THEY feel and focuses on what THEY want.
A performer cares about how THEIR AUDIENCE feels and focuses on THEIR AUDIENCE.
The next time you’re working on your slides, for every slide, think through how your audience is going to FEEL when you present it.
If you find that the answer is “meh” or “nothing” a lot of time, you need to start adding in some material that will make them feel interested, excited, curious, or surprised.
It isn’t enough to look at your slides and say, “oh I’m really excited to share this because I found it interesting!” Your audience needs to find it interesting.
When you’re a performer, you’ll realize that learning should be fun, and that it’s your responsibility to make it fun and to keep people engaged.
Quick tip #2: Stop Talking (So Much)
For the love of coffee, please stop talking so much.
Think about your last presentation … how many minutes in a row did you talk without asking your audience to think or respond to what you’re saying?
10 minutes? 30 minutes? A whole hour?!
People start to tune out after just a few minutes of being talked at. So start breaking up your presentation to engage your audience. At least ask them a question every few minutes -- even if they just have to think about the answer.
This strategy is super easy to implement because you aren’t creating any real work for yourself. You’re actually going to do less during your presentation because you’re involving your audience more.
Quick tip #3: Use Visuals
And my last tip is a reminder that #VisualsAreMagic.
If your slides are walls of text, you are not being a performer. So start using great, big visuals with just a few key words on each slide.
So now you know the mindset that will make YOU an awesome performer, and able to blow all those other boring presenters out of the way.
Thanks for reading!
with joy,
Dr. Echo Rivera