Focusing on the Audience

Sometimes it's easy to know who your audience is. You may have already taught or presented to the people in this audience before, or these people might have the same professional experience and background as you. Sometimes, however, you face groups that say they want to hear you talk about a certain subject, but then you find out that their ideas of what they asked for doesn't quite match your ideas of what needs to be presented.

So how do you determine who your audience really is? These are some of the characteristics to consider:

• Age Are you presenting to children, teens, young professionals, or seasoned veterans? Speaking down to young adults can be as disastrous as speaking over the heads of children.

• Experience What experience do members of the audience have with what you'll be talking about? If it's a technical presentation, how much background do you have to cover before the audience can understand? How much "shorthand" (terminology that assumes prior knowledge) can you use?

• Interest Why are the audience members there? Are they eager students or lumps of unmotivated humanity? Are they team members interested in success or skeptical outsiders looking to be convinced?

• Motivation What's in it for the audience members? Do their grades depend on what you say? Does their financial future rest on the quality of the information you give them? Will chances for their success be enhanced by your presentation?

• Technology background Are they from the old school, expecting verbal presentations more than snazzy charts and pictures? Or have they experienced lots of visual programs and therefore expect the quality of your presentation to match their experience? Are they, as some have called them, the "MTV Generation?"

• Familiarity Are these people you know, and might they cut you some slack as a result? Or are they total strangers, who may or may not be willing to give up their time unless what you have to say is really worth it? Conversely, are they so familiar with you that they don't afford you the courtesy you deserve, feeling free to interrupt or divert the presentation?

• Your background Are you the kind of expert or authority who commands respect even before you start? Or are you an unknown who has to establish your credibility before the audience will put stock in what you say?

As you can see, this partial list underscores the complex nature of determining who your audience is. One type of presentation definitely won't work for all audiences. Understanding your audience first determines what and how you prepare and is a key factor in your success or failure.

What's the Purpose of the Presentation?

After you figure out who your audience is, you then have to determine why you're making the presentation. Perhaps it seems obvious to you, but consider this: Even if you know what you're presenting (for example, a business plan), do you know why? Is it to convince your audience (for example, senior management)? Is it to inform and motivate (for example, your co-workers or subordinates)? Is it to assuage stockholders? Knowing the subject is great, but knowing why you're presenting it is important as well.

Determining What Text to Use

Determining the textual content of a presentation is as much art as it is formula. PowerPoint is designed more to summarize or suggest ideas or topics than it is to fully describe them in excruciating detail. Consider, for example, the bullet points in Figure 4.1. Do you think the bullets on the left or the ones on the right are more effective? Although the bullets on the left provide more detail, viewers are more likely to remember the bullets on the right.

Figure 4.1. The bullets on the left are too detailed to be effective.

Some situations call for large chunks of text (for example, a quote). Even then, however, just how much of the quote needs to appear on the slide? Can you use an ellipsis (...) with only the salient parts of the quote on the slide, while verbally presenting the entire quote (see Figure 4.2)?

Figure 4.2. Even when you're using a large chunk of text, you can look for ways to reduce its size.

In short, with PowerPoint you should use words more as symbolic representations than as fully expanded narratives.

Using Appropriate Visual Material

Graphic material, used appropriately, can be even more effective than words in communicating information that people can remember. For example, corporations spend millions of dollars developing simple graphical logos to help your mind remember their products.

Unfortunately, many PowerPoint presenters view graphics merely as window dressing, often using clip art images gratuitously. As you contemplate these presenters' slides, you find yourself trying to figure out why a particular graphic image was used. In the meantime, you miss the point of the slide or what the speaker is saying to you.

Students, especially younger ones, expect graphic material, and the liberal use of clip art can help hold their attention as well as enhance comprehension. However, you have to be more careful with older audiences. If you're going to use visual material, it better be good and have a purpose. A poorly conceived data chart, for example, will only confuse and distract. A well-designed chart, on the other hand, can reduce the time you spend explaining because audience members can use the chart to easily make connections between facts and concepts.

Holding the Audience's Attention

For any successful presentation, you need to present information that is relevant, timely, and interesting. You can entertain all you want, but if the audience members walk away saying "So what?" you've probably failed.

You also need to remember that not everyone learns the same way. Some people learn best by reading words. Others do better with visual images. Some respond to auditory information.

One key, then, to holding the audience's attention is to vary the way you present your information. You should change from bullets, to graphs, to sound clips, to illustrations, and so on. Too much of any one thing can bore an audience.

I've also found that a periodic unexpected change of pace can wake up an audience. For example, say you're plodding through your presentation, displaying one bullet at a time. But suddenly as you finish a bullet point that summarizes a drop in the market, you use a sound effect or motion image to simulate falling. Even the most jaded or stuffy audiences will respond to a periodic, well-chosen, audio-visual effect.

Ultimately, once again, you need to know your audience. An engaging presenter can hold most audiences spellbound without using anything more than voice and gestures. For the rest of us, using PowerPoint appropriately can help us hold the audience members' attention while increasing their comprehension and ability to remember what we tell them.