Presenting is not ... presenting.

Coauthored by Edgar Kasenene

Observations about presentations are one point that can touch on a very soft spot for many people. As such we are just going to put our feedback into this open article that you can take what you want from or just leave it if you feel you may be insulted.

Presenting is not ... presenting.

So at the root of it there are two types of dangerous presenters, the over enthusiastic and the completely disinterested. Being over enthusiastic is an issue because you assume that the depth of interest you have in the subject matter can be transferred to the audience by pure force of energy. Normally, total disinterest makes for someone who really wants to just read the slide content, all, of, it. These are not black and white issues, many of us wade into the gray fringes of these "lose-the-audience" zones.

If presenting is not presenting, then what is it? The best presenters come across as storytellers. They understand that they have to take you on journey. This is only possible if they first genuinely appreciate that there is a gap between where the audience is currently and where they want to take them. This gap is bigger the more radical the message but applies whether imparting knowledge or proposing something revolutionary.

The presenter should weave a narrative that has the audience laughing and/or crying for more, until that moment of reveal. At that moment the audience moves from their seats and joins the speaker in their tale. It is not a forceful moment, everyone knew it was coming but the careful buildup created the threads that when tightened, pull you emotionally into the story tellers viewpoint. At this point the audience still doesn’t even need to agree with them, but they will now understand where they are coming from. The puzzle pieces fall into place and that is the best point at which the message may be accepted. The audience will be drawing lines between their understanding or experiences and the story before them.

How do you build these threads? Well, the key factor is understanding the difference between what the facts are, and your personal findings from those facts. Facts very often come in the form of (often large) bundles of pure information. What a presenter needs to understand is that if all I wanted were these facts, I would Google them. When you take all these facts and start over laying them on each other, normally done in your mind, the places where they touch are the magic. Those touch points and why they happen are the reason you are standing on the stage. Don’t present a manual, present the magic, offer them an adventure. Certainly it may feel like this is impossible, and in some instances this is true, but even just scraping off the surface of bulk on your slides to the real core of what the audience (not you) will find engaging.

Quell your excitement and consider the audience. Think that they may know little, or nothing about what you see as the greatest thing since sliced bread. Now always keep in mind that most of them will not climb into an (emotional) car with a stranger. You have to introduce them in steps onto the path to your magic garden of knowledge. Like a heartbeat, you keep feeding that interest with your findings that can be carefully salted with facts to keep them believing in the story. Then bang! They step out into the space you are in and at that moment you shed your mantle as just a presenter and start your journey to becoming a storytelling grand master.

Many may say that this all is just too much and honestly, we not here to try to convince you to step up your game. This is about impact. It actually falls in the same field as making sure things in the presentation are aligned correctly and there is enough contrast on your text. It should be considered a basic design requirement to ensure the message is clearly received and taken seriously.