Keep Your Audience Engaged in Your Presentation by Harvard Business Review
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To become an excellent presenter, you need to master the art
of grabbing your audience’s attention—and holding it. Here are three
techniques you can use to engage any audience like a pro.
- Physical. Whether you’re giving an
in-person presentation or conducting a virtual meeting, think about how
you can get your audience moving. A simple invitation to “Turn to the
person next to you and greet them” or “Raise your hand if X, Y, or Z”
can get them involved. Your goal is to turn your audience into
participants, not just observers.
- Mental. Fight back against your
audience’s tendency to zone out or multitask by fostering cognitive
engagement. You can do this by asking direct questions, incorporating
provocative statements or data, and introducing smart, surprising
analogies.
- Linguistic. Use language to invite your
audience in. Mention participants’ names when you can, and use phrases
like “As you know…” or “Today, you will learn…” to directly address the
crowd. You can also spur your listeners’ imaginations with phrases like
“What if you could…” and “Picture this…” to help them visualize the
future, or “Remember when…” or “Think back to when…” to bring them back
to the past.
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