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[00:00:47] Hello and welcome back to Less Chatter more matter. It's an absolute delight to have you here. If you're just tuning into the podcast for the first time, special welcome to you as well. In today's episode, I'll be sharing some of my top tips for creating memorable presentations. At some point in your career, whether you work in comms or not, it is likely that you will need to make a presentation.

[00:01:12] So it could be to your boss, it could be to the company board, it could be to a potential client or investor, customer, anybody. Knowing how to deliver a presentation so it engages people and gets the outcomes you want will be critical not only to the success of that presentation, but also potentially to the progression of your career.

[00:01:35] It's a great skill to have and really an opportunity to showcase your expertise and your aptitude for leadership, which is really important if you want to progress your career. And I think that's part of the reason why some people find presentations or presenting very daunting because they really want to do a good job.

[00:01:58] You care about it, and that's why we get nervous. We don't wanna stuff it up. That's a good thing. It shows you care, but it can also hinder your progress. I think the other thing is that people often use their PowerPoint deck as a bit of a safety blanket. They try to use it to capture everything they want to say, and then they rely on it really heavily.

[00:02:20] It's sometimes I've seen people even read directly from it, and they do that rather than focusing on engaging their audience. And the challenge with that too, if something goes wrong with the PowerPoint or anything like that, a lot of those people like, who really rely on that PowerPoint are going to get confused very quickly or, uh, perhaps get just off track, and that can be really problematic as well.

[00:02:46] I've also seen a lot of people spend so much time on trying to perfect their PowerPoint deck only to neglect their own speaking points and their own presentation skills, and the problem with that is your presentation isn't the deck you are presenting, it's you. You are your presentation. So when you are preparing a presentation, you need to be thinking about how are you going to engage your audience.

[00:03:12] Remember, people are going to connect with people. They're not going to connect with a PowerPoint deck. If you've ever watched a TED Talk, you'll notice that they use very few visuals. Some of the presenters don't use any visuals at all. And the few visuals that are used are very, very targeted. There's a lot of value in those, in those visuals.

[00:03:34] They make sense to be there. Those speakers know that it's not what's about on the screen, it is about how they're presenting and how they're telling a story. So while today, I will give you a few tips for your slides if you have to use them, I'll largely be focusing on how you present in order for your content to be memorable.

[00:03:56] So let's get started. Tip number one, this is the tip I bang on about all the time. Make sure you have a clear set of outcomes. What do you want to achieve? What do you want people to know, feel, or do as a result of your presentation? Now, I spoke about these outcomes in quite a bit of detail back in episode two, so I won't labor on them here.

[00:04:19] But the point is that you should really be clear on what you want people to get out of your presentation, and then you can work backwards to develop the content that will help you achieve that. So for example, if you want, uh, somebody to think that your project is progressing in the right way, you want them to feel very confident in the way that you're managing that project, what statistics or evidence would you need to present in order to build that sense of confidence?

[00:04:48] How will you need to show up as the presenter to drive that sense of confidence? So be really clear on what you want to achieve because that will help you map out your presentation. Tip number two, tell compelling stories. People remember stories not bullet points. So by telling a compelling story, you are going to help build a sense of memorability around your presentation and maybe even remember you specifically.

[00:05:18] A story can be anything. It can be a real life example or of your own experience or somebody else's. It could be a hypothetical, something that starts with imagine if, blah, blah, blah, but a story that's obviously connected with what you'll be talking about, so that helps you make a case for why people should know, feel, and do something differently.

[00:05:42] So, for example, if you are talking about a potential new experience for a customer, you might tell a story of a poor customer experience that's occurred in one of your stores, maybe that shows how the current pro, pro, uh, processes are failing your customers. Then you could tell a hypothetical story, something like, now imagine if that same person could have gone to our website, easily found the product they needed, were able to contact us with questions and get an immediate response, et cetera, et cetera.

[00:06:14] Those stories hook people in and they help them to visualize in their minds the difference that your idea could. Now in a future episode, I'll chat through the different types of stories you can use, particularly when it comes to strategic stories. So stay tuned for that. That's a story for another day, so to speak.

[00:06:35] It's important to know something about stories though, and that is that our brains are wired to tune into and remember stories. When we hear something interesting, we get a little hit of dopamine, which essentially acts as like a save button in your memory bank. That's why it's so much easier to remember a fact that you heard as part of a story rather than a fact that you read in a list of dot points for.

[00:07:01] So storytelling is a super powerful tool to use to make your presentation memorable. Again, just make sure that they are really relevant to the point that you're trying to make. The third tip is use emotion to connect. Now, this kind of links to the last tip around storytelling, but it's really about recognizing that we're talking to humans, not robots, and humans have and respond to emotions.

[00:07:31] Emotion doesn't always seem to be like a sad soppy story. Um, it can be something that leaves people feeling excited and energized, or even a sense of anger or injustice that inspires people to act. Uh, humor is a great way to trigger an emotional response and memorability and connect people with your audience if it's of course, appropriate to.

[00:07:54] I'm sure many of you have seen Brene Brown's talk on vulnerability on TED Talks. If you haven't, easy to find. When you watch it, you will see that she doesn't just deliver the evidence on her research. She uses a lot of humor and that keeps people engaged in her story and her findings, and that helps her really connect to her audience.

[00:08:16] If she had just presented the findings of her research without using story or emotion, it would've been a really boring talk indeed. So that's that power of emotion. It's a really powerful driver. Remember, the people make decisions based on emotions, but backed by logic. They're also more likely to do what you need them to do if they like and trust you, and that comes from that emotional connection.

[00:08:46] So again, think about how you want people to feel as a result of your presentation, and how can you tap into emotion to help you get that outcome.

[00:08:56] Now tip number four, this leads from our previous tip, and that is to communicate in an authentic and genuine way. When you try to put on a persona and be someone you are not, people see right through it.

[00:09:09] And when people think you're not genuine, they just won't trust you and you won't get the outcome that you want. And also when you're trying to put on a persona that's not naturally you, that adds more stress to your presentation because like it's this facade you're trying to keep up. It's not a comfortable place to be in and that leads to mistakes.

[00:09:29] So just be you, talk the way you'd normally talk, use the phrases you'd normally use, allow people to connect with you as a human. I mean, a little bit of a, a side note here, but for those of you who don't know, I run a gym and I've also been a group fitness instructor for about 10 years, and some of you may know the Les Mills training programs out of New Zealand. So like body step, body pump, et cetera, et cetera. And what I've seen over the years is, so every quarter Les Mills releases new classes across all of their programs. And as instructors, we'd buy those quarterly releases and then learn the choreography and then present it back at the gyms we were working at. People who copied word for word what was said on the videos in those releases, you could really tell it was disingenuous. It didn't feel comfortable when they were teaching because they're literally saying exactly what another presenter had already said. Now, look, you do pick up words and phrases from other people around you that, uh, become a comfortable part of your repertoire.

[00:10:29] Absolutely. But it felt really disconnected from the people that they were presenting to because they weren't being themselves. They were too focused on just trying to be something they weren't. And I know that's in a gym setting, but it applies across all presentations really. If you are too focused on trying to put on this facade and be perfect, you won't connect with your people because you're not being authentic and you're not being genuine.

[00:10:54] And again, we want people to like us and trust us, and that comes from authenticity. Now tip number five, if you are using visuals, make sure they add value. So the images you show should either signpost the journey you are taking people through or reinforce a key idea that you're talking about. So for example, if you are going to use a chart, make sure it reinforces key messages you want people to take away.

[00:11:24] If you are going to show a photo or an illustration, make sure it helps to amplify an idea or a concept. So one really powerful video, for example, can make a really powerful point and reinforce your key messages, and it doesn't have to be overcomplicated. And that leads me to kind of the next point as part of this tip is with visuals, they cannot be distracting.

[00:11:49] That means that when people look at them, they get what you're saying with that visual, you know, they connect it to the idea, but then they come back to you what you are saying in that moment. Visuals that are distracting are usually things like really complex graphs or charts, things that are really hard to read on the screen.

[00:12:08] Um, images that are blurry or kind of confusing. You're not really sure what's going on in the image, or it doesn't make a lot of sense in relation to what you're actually saying. Too many words on a slide. Oh my goodness. Like we've all seen those slides where it's basically a page of a novel, and so people spend a lot of time just trying to read what's on the slide rather than actually listening to you.

[00:12:29] So really make sure that if you're going to add some visuals, that they are kept simple, because again, I keep coming back to this, the presentation is not what's on the screen. The presentation is you, and we want people to focus on what you are saying, not what they're reading on the screen. Now, in the future episode, I'll give you some ideas for how to structure your presentation and how to use complex data or complex ideas, simplify it, make it meaningful, and present it and still present it in an engaging way. But today we're really focused on just on how to make that presentation memorable. So tip number six is use contrast in your delivery. This is something I learned from Leanne Hughes. For those of you who don't know, Leanne, uh, Brisbane based workshop facilitator and, used to run a podcast called First Time Facilitator, which I strongly suggest you check out.

[00:13:23] And while this particular tip was in the context of facilitating workshops, particularly online workshops, it's really a great tip for all presentations. Creating contrast throughout your presentation makes a huge difference in keeping your audience engaged, particularly if it's going to be a longer presentation.

[00:13:42] So all that means is making sure you're doing something different every few minutes, switching it up, right? So for example, you might start with talking to your audience. Then maybe you draw a diagram on a board, go back to talking, then point to an image or a video on the screen. Now, don't go overboard here, particularly if it's a short presentation because it could be quite chaotic.

[00:14:05] but what you can do is just think about how you can invite some contrast into your presentation. It could even be as simple as using different tones of voice, moving around the room and also different parts of the stage as you're presenting. But having that contrast keeps our brains interested and it means that we won't tune out just by watching a talking head at the screen.

[00:14:30] Now finally, tip number seven is focus on one key message. Now, you may have a few sub-messages you want to get across, but what is the one key message you want to make sure people actually remember? And that's the key message that should be repeated throughout the presentation, often in different ways, using different words or phrasing, but the intent is still the same, and repeating that message a few times will help people remember.

[00:14:59] The other thing is when you know exactly what that one key message is, it helps you focus your speaking points and it can act as a little bit of an anchor. So if you get a bit lost, you can just keep coming back to that key message. Having one key message is also really important if you have a limited timeframe for your presentation.

[00:15:20] So let's say you only have five or 10 minutes, you're going to be quite limited in how much you can achieve in that time realistically. So think about the one key point you want people to walk away with, and then find ways to reinforce that in your presentation.

[00:15:37] So to recap, if you tuned out a bit, now's a good time to come back.

[00:15:42] I'm gonna be recapping the top tips for creating memorable presentations. Number one, make sure you've got clear outcomes in mind. What do you want people to know, feel or do as a result of your presentation, and then work backwards from there. Number two, tell compelling stories. Our brains are wired to respond to stories, and if you want people to remember what you said, then you need to tap into that part of their brains.

[00:16:10] Number three is use emotion to connect. People respond to emotion. They make decisions based on emotion, and people will remember information that made them feel something. So think about how you can trigger an emotional response that gets you the outcome you want. Number four, communicate in an authentic and genuine way.

[00:16:31] Just be you. Don't try and put on a facade. It's awkward and it won't help you connect with your audience, so just be you. And sometimes it's you 2.0 or you with a little bit of flair, whatever that looks like. But at the heart of it, it's genuinely you. If you are going to use visuals, make sure they add value.

[00:16:53] They should reinforce or amplify a key point or help signpost your, uh, audience's journey through your presentation. Overly complex visuals just distract the audience. Remember, you are the presentation, not what's on the screen, so keep it simple and keep it valuable. Use contrast in your delivery. Mix it up, by moving or by using different tones of voice showing or doing something different.

[00:17:21] Using that contrast, particularly in longer presentations, is a really great way to keep people engaged and to remember your presentation. And finally, just focus on one key message. Don't overcomplicate it. Focus on that one key message you want people to walk away with and keep reinforcing that message throughout your presentation.

[00:17:44] So as promised, these episodes are always short, sharp, and hopefully insightful. And so that's it for today. In the show notes, I'll also include some links to some other podcasts and resources with some more really great tips on presentations. In the meantime, I'd love to hear your thoughts on today's episode or any episode, so please shoot me a dm, especially if you have any ideas for topics I could be covering or any questions you've got that you think, oh, you know, how does that work in practice?

[00:18:13] And don't forget, you can tap into my brain all the time, not only by listening to this podcast, but by reading my weekly blog on the website and by subscribing to my fortnightly update. That update only ever includes three items because I don't know about you, but I do not read long newsletters. I don't have time for it.

[00:18:32] I just want really valuable stuff in my inbox. So that's what I'm delivering. Three items. It's usually a mix of learning, uh, some resources and links to relevant events that you might find interesting or help build your own skillset. I'll put the links in the show notes for all of those things as well.

[00:18:48] In the meantime, have a stellar week and I'll see you all back here next week and keep doing amazing things.