Presenting technical information to a non-technical audience
There are three key things that every presentation needs to achieve to be successful.
They are: Attention, Understanding and Recall.
It’s not enough to just achieve one or two of these things. They all need to be achieved to ensure that your next presentation is a success.
Let me explain…
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Why is attention an important element of a successful presentation?
Why is understanding an important element of a successful presentation?
Why is recall an important element of a successful presentation?
How to achieve attention, understanding and recall in your next presentation
Attention, Understanding and Recall are key to delivering successful presentations, but how do we ensure that we achieve all three? The quick checklist below gives you lots of simple ways to ensure that Attention, Understanding and Recall are a part of your next presentation.
Ways to keep an audience’s attention
- Use an unusual or unexpected opening line to grab your audience’s attention from the start.
- Throughout the presentation, change your pace, tone and method of presentation to help hold the attention of your audience.
- Restate your key message / points at the end of your presentation - our attention often increases towards the conclusion of a presentation, so use this time wisely!
Ways to aid audience understanding
- Check your audience’s current understanding of the topic through a show of hands - then, tailor your content to match their existing knowledge
- Use simple language - can an eight year old understand the language, jargon and technical terms that you are using?
- Build your argument logically - explain each new concept and idea as you go - do not assume your audience knows everything that you do
Ways to aid audience recall
- Use alliteration, repetition and unique examples to make your ideas and key points memorable
- Have a clear call to action at the end of your presentation - make sure you clearly highlight what your audience need to remember or do next after hearing your presentation.
Want to become a more effective presenter?
Maximising Attention, Understanding and Recall is just one of the many advanced presentation skills techniques that we cover in our courses. You can view examples of presentation skills courses that we have delivered in the past here.
Alternatively, contact us to develop tailored sessions designed to address your team’s public speaking challenges.
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All of our recent blog posts are recorded as videos too. Click the video to watch this blog post narrated by Rich Watts, public speaking expert and 2x national public speaking champion.
To watch all our public speaking tips videos, visit the Rich Public Speaking Youtube channel here.
