3 Ways to Bring Your Material to Life

Don’t be a boring presenter! Use these tips to bring your material to life.

As a presenter, it’s your job to engage the audience.

Whether you’re discussing tax code, safety protocols, or how to floss your teeth, if you want the information to get into your listeners’ brains, present it in a way that makes them want to listen.

I’m currently reading Stephen King’s memoir, On Writing, and I’m amazed at how he can take a mundane event like a childhood ear infection and turn it into a compelling story. But I shouldn’t be amazed — because good writing is good writing whether it’s a horror story or a memoir. And it’s the same with presentation skills: It’s not the topic that makes the presentation great, it’s the skill of the presenter.

If you want your audience to pay attention to and remember you and what you have to say, be sure to do these three things:

1) Make it personal.

Your presentation is not about you, it’s about your audience. Therefore, use the word “you” as often as you can.* Use examples and illustrations they can relate to. Demonstrate how your material applies to them. Speak to them directly.

Nonverbally, use eye contact and gestures to include the whole group. With a large crowd, you may not be able to…