Technical Presenters: Going from Nerd to Master in 6 Easy Steps
1. Have a Point to Make. What is the purpose of your presentation? Is it just to give information? Data analysis? Look what I can do in a lab when left alone for four months? Let me suggest something a bit more basic, and absolutely necessary for you to succeed in the presentation of ideas: Give the audience the reason why this is important to the world. Say it in clear language; don’t assume that it’s obvious. Your job first and foremost is to answer the unasked question, “Why?” Why am I sitting here? What’s it all about? This tells the people where you’re going and provides a framework for them to look at the tech stuff, trying to fit into your overall purpose. Without this controlling objective, they’ll start hibernating on you as soon as the presentation hits a slow spot.
2. Talk to the Audience’s Needs. You know, it may be really impressive that tsetse flies can mate 10 times in a week (I’m making that up, so etymologists, hold your dukes), but what does that do for those who are seated before you at rapt attention? Today’s audiences have a few basic needs that you can tap into. How can what you’re saying save them money, time, or lead to a better quality of life? That last factor covers health, feelings, piece of mind and relationships, among other things. Everything in your presentation should lead you to addressing one or several of these human needs. If you don’t, if you stand there and blandly spew information like so much regurgitated spinach, your name will be forgotten before the crowd hits the exit doors.
3. Layer Your Ideas. There are several key reasons why technical speakers are ineffective. Is the speaker monotonous and dreary? Many times she is. Does the presenter cut an impressive appearance? Often the answer is no. The most significant flaw in technical presentations, even to technical audiences, is that people get lost in the details — the data. Information overload kills. Most of the time they’re too polite to say anything, but if you look out to the people and their eyes are glazed over like extras from “Night of the Living Dead,” then Houston, we have a problem. Even if you’re an engineer presenting to engineers, be aware that they didn’t do the same research, so you can even lose the geekiest of geeks. Look, you can teach a person brain surgery if you introduce ideas one step at a time, step by step. If you have technical slides, don’t clutter a single one with twenty different concepts. Use twenty slides, layering the ideas together as stand-alone entities that are woven into a tapestry of conceptual understanding. Talk about the concept, introduce the visual aid, allow it to sink in, and re-emphasize your point before moving on.
4. Stimulate Emotion. Hopefully your internal purpose is to persuade some form of action on the part of the audience. Professional salespeople, those who live the persuasion game everyday, know that people buy based on emotions and justify their actions with facts. As a technical persuader, you have no shortage of facts. Where do you stand on emotions? Make the information personal to the listener. You now know you have to focus on the human needs of the audience, so how do you best drive home the points? The easiest and most effective way is to use personal stories and analogies that talk about elements of life that are important to people — kids, parents, pets, and golf scores. Do everything in your power to draw comparisons between the technical material and the homey, down-to-earth stuff that creates emotional responses from people. Do you have to make them cry? Laugh? No, but if you do either or both, you’ve got ‘em right where you want ‘em.
5. Request Action. If you’ve got this far, you may have successfully fired up your audience and kept them conscious during your entire talk. Congratulations! Now here comes the part that 80 percent of tech presenters miss. Ask them to do something; request action from the listener. They may have missed the cues you left during your talk, so now that you have an emotional reaction supported by your wall of facts, tell them exactly what’s expected. Do you want them to vote a certain way? Contribute to an educational foundation? Ride a bike to work to save the atmosphere from fossil fuels? Whatever it is, culminate your talk with a request for action.
6. Q & A. If you’ve done well, you’ll have plenty of questions. Don’t interpret this as a sign that you didn’t properly explain things; take it as a victory. You have successfully engaged the audience, and now they’re actually thinking and want to know more. If you know your stuff, this is an opportunity to shine, deftly handling questions and points of concern. Q&A is important to any presentation, but for those with technical subject matter, it is essential to leave at least 10 minutes at the completion to take questions. If the time allotted runs out and there are still questions, let people ask you after the presentation during the lunch break or via telephone a few days later. Providing listeners with this opportunity enhances your credibility and helps to make you a sought-after speaker for future engagements.
