Is your audience switching off when you present data? – Part Two

Presenting data is a very difficult challenge. The first step is engaging the audience with a strong emphasis on why it is important for them to understand what is being presented. Nevertheless they do need to be able to understand the data you present. While ensuring its relevance is understood is vital, so is it vital that your audience understand each and every piece of data that you present, or they will just as surely switch off, and your outcome is lost.

Visuals are very useful here. Use pie graphs and bar charts; insert them into your slides if you are using slides.

If you are using a whiteboard, draw as you tell the story or make the point.

If you are using PREZi you can let the audience look at the data from different angles.

The visual representation will reinforce your explanation and the point you are making.

If it is necessary to use graphs, diagrams and charts, make sure they are as simple as possible. While you probably want to impress with your understanding of complicated data, being able to simplify it will have far more of an impact, particularly in terms of getting your message across.

And make sure that everything about those visuals is clear. Sometimes it’s necessary to explain so that all the implications are clear as well. There may have been a very good reason for choosing the axes in the graph. There may have been a very good reason for choosing the increments that are used. While it may seem obvious to you, it may not be to the audience, and it may make the data relationships clearer.

You can also add to the impact of the visuals. There may be a story behind the points on a graph. It is the intersection of two values and maybe the relationship is reasonably clear. But if you can give the reason why this relationship exists or maybe the history behind it, then it will be so much clearer. And if you can put a human face on it, with a human story then the relationship and the point you are using it for will have so much more impact. If wages are going down and costs of living rising, for example, then a story about a family forced to live in a car will make the impact so much more real.

Another way to add a human face, or a realistic face, is to use a graphic representing the actual item being quantified. This can be particularly useful in a bar graph. If the bar consists of pictures of dollar coins to represent money, or of groups of people to represent populations or groups, for example, again the impact is multiplied.

In the midst of all this, it is important to remember, still, that you are presenting points towards a persuasion of some kind. It can be useful to have the point you are making as the heading for the slide that contains the visuals.

And while the visuals should be as detailed as is necessary to make them understandable, too much detail will overwhelm. Remember the visuals only need to make a point, not necessarily present all the data. If all the data is necessary for later inspection and verification, put it in a handout, and leave the slides as simple as they can be.

Visuals are your greatest ally in presenting data. They can add impact and keep your audience engaged with the thread of your message. Your simplification and design of the material to support that message and the thoughtful explanation you add to it, will support the success of your data presentation.

Public Speaking

Is your audience switching off when you present data? Part One

Presenting data is a very difficult challenge.

You are presenting as the expert.

You have worked hard to collect the data and/or to synthesize it for presentation.

It may be important that you be seen as the expert, but you are faced with the challenge of presenting this sometimes overwhelming mass of data so that an audience can understand and appreciate it.

What is the best way to do that?

Usually the first step is to design the visuals. What can we use to present this data – graphs, pie charts, lists ….?

While that is certainly a valid part of the process, it should not be the first step.

As with any presentation, the first step has got to be acknowledging what you want from the presentation.

You probably already know what that is.

It may be that you want to persuade someone to take action – to donate to your cause, to fund your research, to hire you, or to change company policy.

It may be that you want to persuade people to believe your theory about something. And underlying those outcomes may also be a desire to be seen as the expert, to be seen as relevant to the audience in some way, to be seen as credible.

So if you need to, define it first, but certainly acknowledge it, and then use it in choosing how the presentation will proceed.

In choosing the direction of the presentation, the first aim is to engage your audience.

Give them a reason to listen and not to switch off.

Make it clear why this presentation will be relevant to them, why it will be worth their while to listen. And make it clear just what they can expect to get out of it if they listen. Just because you are presenting data, does not mean you should stop making “you” a prominent word in your speech.

So start with the end objective. Present it up front. Explain why it is important for your audience to understand the data. Put the big picture first. Use stories, examples, anecdotes and analogies, not just the facts.

Your audience is used to dealing with the flood of information that each of us faces every day. They know that unless they have a reason to focus on, or to engage with, a particular piece of that information, they have to tune it out. So let them know your particular pieces of information are relevant to them. The use of stories, personal examples, analogies, even metaphors will personalise the data and engage your audience with it.

So keep that WIIFM (What’s In It For Me) aspect always present in the presentation, and you will engage your audience – the first step to having them think, act or feel the way you want them to.

Public Speaking

Mind Mapping your Speaking Presentation

You have a speaking presentation to make.

You have been given a topic or have chosen one and there are a multitude of ideas buzzing around in your head.

Or maybe there is a frightening LACK of ideas!

Or maybe you can think of no way to organise those thoughts into something memorable.

A mind map will help you.

WHAT ARE MIND MAPS??

Mind maps are a way of collecting and organising ideas and information, in a visual way, and were created in the 1960’s by Tony Buzan, and now the design programs available on the internet will allow you so much more freedom of creativity and editing!

A mind map will

Give you an overview of your subject
Enable you to plan routes/make choice
Help you to gather data
Encourage you to create new pathways
Enable you to be extremely efficient
Be enjoyable to look at, read, muse over and remember
Attract and hold your eye/brain
Let you see the whole picture and the details at the same time
Assist YOU!

Mind Maps work so well because they integrate the rational, logical, linear left-brain with the playful, special, non-verbal and big picture right brain. So they have a much greater advantage than simple left-brain methods such as taking notes on lined paper and a single colour pen.

HOW TO MIND MAP

Turn an A4 or A3 white sheet of paper on its side (landscape). You can also use flip-chart paper, whiteboards and computers.
Gather a selection of coloured pens, ranging from fine nib to medium and highlighters
Start in the centre with an unframed image
Make this central image stand out. You might use dimension, expression and at least three colours to attract attention and aid memory.
Draw “branches” out to “chapter headings”. They can be straight or they can be wavy to make them more organic. You can make these thicker because they are central.
Branch off thinner lines to hold supporting data.
Use images wherever possible, or use a variety of size and abbreviation for words. Use codes, symbols and dimensions that have meaning for you
Select keywords and print using upper or lower case letters
Each word/image should be alone and in its own space. You can put them on the lines or make an area for each
Use colours in your own special code to show people, topics, themes or dates and to make the Mind Map more beautiful.
Show associations and create possible order for the presentation
Flood the page
Capture all ideas then edit, re-organise, make more beautiful, elaborate or clarify as a second stage of thinking.
Develop your own personal style of Mind Mapping. Keep practising until the process becomes natural.

Now it simply remains for you to find the words to express the ideas you have found and created, the bridges between them, and an opening and closing that package them well and make them memorable. Enjoy this wonderful tool!

Bibliography: Buzan Centres – Mind Mapping. www.mind-map.com

“Creating training miracles: the power of accelerative learning”

Public Speaking

Why should you open your speech with a quotation?

1. It will build your credibility. If you choose a striking quotation, or one from someone the audience knows well. If you quote someone the audience knows you call up the reputation and memory of that famous person, and that gives an additional power to the words.

2. It will support your persuasion. Before you choose the quotation, know what you want to say and achieve with the speech. What is the central message? What emotions do you want to call up at the beginning of your speech? You can use the quotation to set the scene for the speech, or even to be a summary of your message, and something you can call back to during your speech for added emphasis.

3. It will allow you to be present with your audience.

While it works best if it relates directly to your content. There may be occasions, though, where it can relate to your audience, or the venue or occasion. This personalises your speech and allows you to connect with your audience. It should, however, allow for a minimal amount of time to link, then to your message.

4. It will reinforce that presence, and allow connection with your audience, allowing them to buy in to your speech.

Oftentimes there is huge power in pausing after the quote to let it sink in, to let your audience nod in agreement or wonder just what you are going to achieve with it. It may be something funny, so wait for the amusement to register.

Make sure to emphasise the emotion that you want to project with the quote. Use gesture and facial expression that will heighten the response you want. Smile when the audience has registered amusement for example. Give a heightened shrug if the quotation comes in the form of a question

Obviously there will be other times when you need to go straight to the next sentence. This is especially true if it is a well known quote, or if you are going to disagree with it. … and that

5. Supports the rhythm of your speech.

If you choose quotations that contribute to the message and emotional tone of your speech and if you support that contribution with your delivery, they can be a powerful opening to your speech.