PRESENTATION TIP: THE CURSE OF KNOWLEDGE

Are you afflicted by the curse of knowledge?

No, this isn't the latest bit of Harry Potter wizardry. It's a phenomenon that many presenters suffer from, to the detriment of their audiences.

Popularized in Chip and Dan Heath's book, Made to Stick, the curse of knowledge is when you can't remember what it was like not to know the things you now know.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOUR AUDIENCE?

It means that:

• You may cover your material from a more advanced perspective than your audience can process because they don't have the necessary foundation.

• You may use terminology, acronymns or jargon your audience doesn't comprehend.

• You may not recognize that the audience has concerns or issues that will make it difficult for them to understand or buy into your message.

The best antidote to the curse of knowledge is forcing yourself, while you are preparing your presentation, to focus on how much the audience knows.

• Discover what your audience understands about your topic by asking some of your prospective audience members or a representative of that group who could give you insight.

• If you're presenting a topic on which you had to do research, make a note of 5 things you didn't know when you started and then address those points in your presentation.

• Make liberal use of metaphors and stories to bring your topic into the audience's sphere of familiarity.

• Use concrete, descriptive, unambiguous language.

Being conscious of the curse of knowledge will help you make your presentation more relevant to the audience. It will also greatly enhance your chances of having your message understood and acted upon.

Comments

[Kathy Reiffenstein]

Hi Peter,

Thanks for your comment. I totally agree that there are lots of similarities between acting and presentations. In terms of 'the curse of knowledge', I think the relevance for acting is to remember that, although you have performed a particular scene many times, each of your audiences is seeing it for the first time. And they don't know what's going to happen like you do. Recognizing this then motivates you, the actor, to be very much in the moment and be fresh for each new audience.

[best acting classes los angeles]

I guess these tips can be applied also in acting. presentation and acting have some similar points like your in front of your audience live and sometimes, your practicing your notes.Thanks for the tips, i might use this.

-peter

[Kathy Reiffenstein]

Thanks, Tara, for posting. Metaphors are an area I struggle with, even though I am completely convinced of their value. But I like your approach...I think the more unexpected the relationship is in the metaphor, the stronger. A great read which has tons of wonderful metaphors plus advice on how to create them is Dan Pink's A Whole New Mind.

[tara majumdar]

HI Kathy,

Thanks for the very relevant post.We sometimes do get carried away in using what we think is impressive vocabulary, jargon , acronyms leaving the audience cold.As you point out the use of metaphors greatly enhances a presentation-I sometimes take a concept -brainstorm and try and find out to what unlikely yet simple object I can relate it to.
Best
Tara