An audience's attention span is a finite and fickle thing. Even at the best of times, when the presenter does most things right, it's an on-going challenge to keep the audience engaged. At the worst of times, when the speaker can't seem to get to the point of the presentation, the audience's attention evaporates rapidly.
Why is it that some speakers don't seem to be aware of this presentation phenomenon and end up losing their listeners way earlier than they should?
LACK OF ORGANIZATION
As a speaker, not having a crystal clear idea of what you want to accomplish in your presentation, how you're going to get there and what you want the audience to walk away with is likely the primary culprit that causes a speaker to ramble and obscure her main message.
Solution: Before you ever start creating slides, make an outline of your presentation. Determine what your main point/message is and what supporting facts, evidence and examples you will use to make the message memorable. Your outline should be in point form, yet detailed enough that it would make sense to someone else reading it. Set it aside for a day or so and then go back and review it to see if your message comes through logically and clearly.
LACK OF REHEARSAL
Once you're delivering the presentation, rambling can be the function of not having prepared sufficiently. You sort of, more or less, kind of know what you're going to say and believe that it will all come to you, clearly and eloquently, in the moment. But lack of rehearsal means you haven't "tried out" your sentences to hear what they sound like. So, in the moment, you'll be more long-winded and choppy than crisp and focused.
Solution: Dedicate sufficient time to rehearse your presentation and work out the kinks and rough spots. You should plan to do at least 3-4 run-throughs, rehearsing with whatever tools (e.g., PowerPoint) you'll be using in the actual presentation.
LACK OF AWARENESS
Another culprit that causes speakers to ramble is ego. It is frequently difficult for a speaker, particularly one who is very knowledgeable about his topic, to hold himself back from sharing all his expertise. When a speaker lacks awareness of what the audience wants and needs to know, she can be lulled into thinking that the audience is as entranced by her subject as she is. Resulting behavior includes complicated explanations, too much focus on one small aspect of the topic and getting into too much detail when answering questions.
Solution: Put yourself in the audience's shoes and leave your ego at the door. Do your homework to find out what the audience already knows about your topic and what more they would find relevant and applicable. Understanding their needs will help greatly in guiding you what to include in your presentation and what to omit.
Some other ideas for keeping your presentation on track and on point are:
- Tell your audience exactly what you'll be covering in your presentation. This may encourage them to question you if you start to ramble or head off on some tangent.
- Write a reminder to yourself on each page of your presentation notes where you will see it when you glance at them...something like "don't ramble", "be crisp" or "remember the main point".
- Find a Pecha Kucha Night (pronounced pe-chak-cha), a style of presentation originating in Japan where presenters are limited to 20 slides (20 seconds per slide) to get their message across in a little under 7 minutes. You can also find videos of these presentations on YouTube. Study what allows these presenters to get to the core of their message in such a short time.
What other ways have been effective in helping you get to the point in your presentations?
Photo Credit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lwr/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
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