The 180-degree shift

What's the worst presentation you've ever had?

Mine was when the speaker fell asleep 10 minutes into their own talk.  The speaker, mind, not the audience.  How we laughed.  Actually, perhaps it wasn't so bad.

That was unique.  The usual methods of destroying a presentation include: death by powerpoint, reading word-for-word, speaking in a dreary monotone, arrogance, bafflement, inaudibility, boring them, embarrassing them, patronizing them, confusing them, insulting them, making lame jokes....the list could go on.

Two points here.  First, no-one sets out to fail.  They don't get up in the morning and think 'what's the quickest way I can destroy my credibility today?'  Most speakers are doing their best. They're just going about it the wrong way.

Second, if you study the many reasons why presentations fail, you'll see there's just one root cause: failure by the speaker to engage their audience.

Whatever the purpose of the presentation, success is entirely dependent on engaging audience hearts and minds.  That is, engaging (a) their attention and (b) their commitment so that (c) they take the action you require.

I believe the starting point for engagement is a 180-degree shift: from talking about Me to talking about You.

We live in individual and separate universes.  Call it a design fault, but it's part of being human.  We are self-centred.  I'm at the centre of my universe.  You're at the centre of yours.

If I want to engage you, I have to get out of my universe and into yours.  I have to see things from your point of view, not mine.  And then use the insights gained to shape the substance, structure and style of my communication.

Why?  Because you're the person I need to get what I want, whether I'm selling my product, my big idea, my vision for the company, or simply myself.

How to turn your material from Me-centred to You-centred?

1 - Recognize that your default position, by virtue of being human, is set to 'Me-centred'.

2 - Take positive action to turn your material round through 180 degrees so that it's You-centred.

This means thinking of your audience from the moment you start planning and preparing the communication.

So.  Who are they? How do they feel about this?  How much do they know?  What will turn them on - and off?  Where's the best starting point for them?  How can I make what I want to say as simple as possible?  How can I make it really easy for them to buy into my idea?  What do I actually want them to do as a result?

Here's a warning.  Very often, what seems to us the best way to structure a presentation seems that way because it's structured from our own perspective.  It fits nicely in our own little universe.

For example, you're preparing a proposal changing the way your organisation does something.  Here's your first stab at the structure:

My proposal
'Corners'
NB Importance of timing
Implementation (not my problem)
How it will make things better

This is not a structure, it's a shopping list of points. If there's any logic here, it's in your universe only, no-one else's.  There's reference to something called 'corners'.  Only you know what that means.  This is an entirely Me-centred presentation.

A better way of ordering your material could be as follows:

What is my proposal?
How will it work?
How will it make things better?

This is logical, and easy to follow.  But just because it's logical doesn't make it engaging.  In fact it's still Me-centred: the subject of conversation is still your proposal.  The audience only get a look-in at the end (if they're still listening).  Bring the audience in at the beginning, as well as at the end.  Make them the subject of conversation - and take yourself out of it.

Why do we need to change?
What do we need to change?
How will it make things better?
How will it work? (Now that they're sold on the idea.)

In any communication, there's never a guarantee of success.  But by taking pains to put the audience first, you're far more likely to engage them.