Three Counter-Intuitive Presentation Tips You Haven’t Heard Before

Image generated in DALL-E by Andrea Markowski

You know that nerd who takes notes at conference sessions, documenting all the ways public speakers can make slight adjustments to better hold an audience’s attention? Hello, yes, it’s me. I’m that nerd.

Just back from a conference, I noted several easy fixes to help make presentations sparkle. Here are Three Counter-Intuitive Presentation Tips You Haven’t Heard Before.

1. Do Not Introduce Yourself

Never begin by introducing yourself. Hear me out. The first few seconds of your speech are crucial for capturing attention. It’s when the audience is most alert and receptive, and unless you’re a one-name celebrity, your name isn’t an attention-grabber. Hook them with something intriguing instead.

At the conference, a speaker was introduced four (!) times—on the screen, by the emcee, by herself, and then her name appeared again on the screen. This is a great way to prompt the audience to scroll through email instead of listening to your message.

Competing with phones, refreshments, and chatter, you need to cut through distractions. Stating who you are ain’t it. If an introduction is necessary, do it after engaging the audience and getting them invested in your talk.

2. Take a Picture; It’ll Last Longer

Ah yes, a slide brimming with text, numbers, and graphics. You know deep down it’s wrong, yet here we are. There were plenty of these slides at nearly every session I attended recently.

Humans can’t read and listen at the same time. Several studies have proven this. So, instead of watching your audience squint at a dense block of text while tuning out your words, direct them to snap a photo for later.

After a brief pause for the paparazzi that will follow, advance your slide to something less visually jarring. This keeps their attention where it belongs—on you. A simple, “I’ll pause now so you can take a photo if you want to review this later,” and voila, the problem of the distracting slide is solved.

Pro marketing tip: Include information like your logo and website on the slide so they can refer back or credit you if needed when looking at the photo later.

3. Use Your Microphone For Good

Your microphone can do more than you realize. If there’s distracting commotion in the hallway and the door is open, (as happened during one of the sessions I attended), wield your mic and say, “Can someone please close the door?” So simple, and the back of the room will not only love you for it, but they’ll also now be able to focus on what you’re saying.

During Q&A sessions, ensure everyone uses a mic so the entire audience can hear. That means asking an audience member who has not gone to a mic stand or waited for the mic runner to do so before you take the question. You, as the authority figure with the loud voice amplification device, can easily fix this problem. Commanding the mic means commanding the room, so use it to your advantage.

Which of these tips will you use in your next talk?