The crowd’s going wild, triumphant music is playing.
Fans are passionately clambering to catch the ball you’ve just batted heroically into the Grand Stand. Your teammates lift you up and the arena erupts in cheerful solidarity.
Each and every single person present at the baseball game heads home that afternoon feeling that victory is their own.
But what does baseball have to do with your business?
It’s enough getting out there to show the world your amazing idea, pitch or product; but after many years of going through the motions of your presentation, it might be an idea to re-evaluate your approach and build a presentation so dynamic; it will leave your potential clients wanting more.
Audience interaction is a fantastic way to speak to the genuine nature of the people you are presenting to. Not only does including your audience within your pitch establish you as a leader, but also as a team player. Everyone likes to feel involved, as at the end of the day, we’re a social species who craves acceptance.
High performers and leaders revel in the opportunity to be caught off guard and you should leave them feeling as though your victory, whether it be securing an investor or selling your product, is also their victory.
With that in mind, here’s a few simple ways you can harness this by including a little audience interaction and hitting a home run with your presentations every time.
Batter Up:
“How many of you are currently affected by this issue?”
“Whose favourite department is Marketing?”
“Raise your hand if you have experienced this”
Start small. Posing a question to your audience gives you the first real feel for the room and shows you are not afraid to lead others.
Getting participants to raise their hand is easy. Take it a step further by getting everyone to stand and sit down if their answer is in the negative.
First Base:
Now that you’ve established you’ll be getting those involved to help you, you can read the room and see who has been the most eager to participate. Look for positive body language like leaning forward, smiling or even nervous giggling. These members of the audience are about to become your best friend and help you knock your presentation right out of the park.
Call on them to come up the front and help you with the next part of your presentation. You can even get your audience to assist by being a scribe and writing key points down on a whiteboard.
Say the next part of your presentation involves debuting your product. By inviting a curious participant up to use or demonstrate your product; the audience is putting themselves in the participants’ shoes. Encourage positive reactions or instructions both verbally and with your digital presentation. Openly communicate by having designated question and answer times and alert this early so you can still stay on schedule.
Second Base:
You may find that once the dynamic of the presentation is to be inclusive, your audience are a lot more open and ready to be involved for future participation opportunities.
However, it’s important to remember to not over-saturate or get distracted by your audience inclusion – you are still there on business.
You have their attention and this is really time to focus. Keep them on their toes by honing into the specifics of your presentation at this point without their assistance.
Homerun:
We’ve discussed in previous articles the importance of being prepared, and this is no time to strike out. Your PowerPoint Presentation should be carefully curated to include the audience participation steps to alert both yourself and your audience that their input is being requested.
A beautifully thought out digital presentation with clearly outlined questions and demonstrations is the key tool to achieving a smooth and enjoyable offering with engaging content.
Slidesho can assist with helping you build that next home run.
Written by Paige Hart for Slidesho.
Would you like a presentation that will spur your audience
to take action? Contact the PowerPoint presentation design
experts at Slidesho today!
