As I posted previously, I attened the ASAE Technology Conference in Washington, DC last week. In discussing the sessions and presentations with my colleagues, other attendees and some visitors (thanks TJ) to my blog, it occured to me that I had some definite thoughts that were starting to form. My thoughts weren’t solely based on attending the Technology Conference, but finally having the opportunity to be an “attendee” as opposed to a presenter or support staff at a conference definitely left some lasting impressions on me and will help me improve my own presentation skills.

Now, I am not normally one to ride the fence on any subject largely because I generally put substantial time and thought into topics that I discuss. That’s not to say that my ideas are always perfectly formed or without flaw, most of the time I base my ideas on past experiences, science / research and what I hear from others as I test my ideas on them. So what makes a good conference presentation? I am going to walk down the middle of the road on this one and say that it depends on a number of factors. Lets look a few of them in greater detail.

Know Why People Are There

Generally speaking, participants at conferences are there for one of the following reasons:

1. Have an overall interest in the conference theme and want to learn more in general.
2. Are really passionate about the conference as a whole or a number of sessions in particular and are looking for new ideas to stimulate their thinking and ideas.
3. Have a real problem they are trying to solve and are using the conference to identify possible solutions.
4. Looking to network or reconnect with peers and friends.
5. Are there are there on a company-paid vacation and have little if any interest in the presentations.

You obviously are presenting for the first three groups because there is little you can do to get the final two groups interested and engaged. What can you do to make your presentations interesting for those who have only a general level of knowledge but an expressed interest in learning more? How can you help folks who have a ton of passion and enthisasm take their interest to the next level? How can you provide solutions to those that have real, emerging or pressing questions that they need answered? Again, you can’t be all things to all people, but you don’t get to choose your audience so how to you make your presentation “time well spent” for all of them?

Know Your Audience

In order to make a successful presentation you need to know your audience and not only what you want them to take away from your presentation but what they want to get from it. As stated above, you cannot be all things to all people but you can be honest with yourself and your audience and tell them who the presentation is specifically designed for. If presenting on a technical topic, for example, you should be clear in your summary or description and include the level of skill (beginner, intermediate, pro) that is required to benefit most from your presentation. That’s not to say if you are presenting something at the intermediate level that you won’t have beginners or pros at your session, but at least those folks are coming in knowingly.

How do you know what level your presentation is best suited for? That is a tough question to answer as the presenter is generally regarded as the SME (Subject Matter Expert) and should know who they are trying to reach. With that said, even if you know who you are targeting and feel relatively assured that your content is designed specifically for them, it doesn’t hurt to solicit outside opinions. Not only does this allow you test your content on somebody other than yourself but it also allows you to hone your message and make sure that it is as clear as possible. An additional benefit is the possibility that it will infuse some outside ideas for the content or way you were going to present the material which in turn allows you to make an even greater impact.

Knowing When to Change

After every presentation you make you should also reflect about what you feel went well and what didn’t. Did you have a hard time making a specific point or illustrating an example? Now is the time to change it. You should also examine the official and unofficial feedback you received because this is another great source of information on how to make your presentation even better. Was there a common complaint, concern or area of weakness? Listen to your audience because the chances are where one group has an issue another will as well. No matter how polished your presentation is it can always (and usually painlessly) be updated to be more current, relevant and/or engaging.

An additional mistake that I see being made all of the time is the case of the serial presenter. Whether you are a conference planner or frequent attendee you know who I am talking about. Generally these are the folks who develop a trademark presentation that receives rave reviews and as a result the presenter gets invited present again and again. The problem is while the venue changes the presentation does not.

If you are one of these folks who are fortunate enough to have developed a winning presentation, I am not advocating changing ever single detail about it everytime you make it, especially if you are presenting on the same topic numerous times, but you should change it to reflect your audience and their needs. Just as no two cities or regions are the same, that too can be said for audiences. It’s not all that uncommon a presentation to succeed in one place only to fail in another simply because the audience wasn’t a consideration (see Know Your Audience above) when the presentation was designed.

Knowing How to Communicate

A good presenter (or teacher/trainer for that matter) is most importantly an effective communicator. Lucky for us, the fundamentals of communication haven’t changed in millenia and it is something that can be learned, practiced and improved on. In its most basic form it is a process with players. You have a sender, a receiver, a message, a medium, and things happening on the peripheri all acting in a dynamic/iterative manner.

It is the responsibility of the sender (in this case the presenter) to use the proper medium (in this case the presentation) to send his/her message in a manner consistent with the needs and expecatations of the receiver (in this case the audience) despite everything going on in the peripheri. Neglect to respect any of those elements and the message simply will not be transmitted properly. The problem is so many presenters forgot this simple, but essential concept and instead of captivating their audiences they alienate, confuse or bore them.

Knowing Your Content

Effecitve communication starts with good content (something of interest to the sender and receiver). You can be the most dynamic speaker in the world but if you are presenting on a topic that nobody is interested in, you aren’t really communicating, because have not gained their interest and therefore the process ceases there. Similarly, you can have the most interesting topic in the world but if you don’t do your homework and know your subject matter better than your audience you lose their interest because you lack authority and credibility. Inversely, you can be an average presenter but if you know your subject matter inside and out and present it in an engaging manner you will capture the interest, and perhaps the imagination, of your audience.

Once you capture the receivers (audience) interest and imagination true communication can begin. Interest is the catalyst that allows effective communication to take place and requires a strong understanding of the content and how to apply it effectively.

Knowing When Enough is Enough

What separates the best presentations that I have had the privelege of attending from the rest is the fact that the really good one have been those that are interactive. So how does one make a presentation that is interactive while simultaneously allowing the presenter to communicate his or her message? Based on my experience the answer is pretty simple: Know When Enough is Enough.

It has been estimated that the average attention span of an adult is approximately 20 minutes, so especially for longer presentations it is important to chunk your material into smaller topics or units separated by transitional activities to give everyone time to process the information they are receiving.

Some presenters seem so fixated on covering all of their material that they leave little time (usually at the end) for authentic dialogue to take place and questions to be asked and definitely don’t leave time to process what is being presented. Afterall, what is the point of attending a presentation if you don’t leave with some actionable new ideas and get some of your questions answered throughout the process?

By keeping your presentation fluid and adaptable you allow time for questions to be asked and indirectly-related conversations to take place. That isn’t a bad thing to have happen because it usually means people are interested and engaged in the material and isn’t that why you are there in the first place? It won’t always, but when it does it’s best to be ready for it insteading of being caught off-guard and not knowing how to react.

Conclusion

As I compiled this list I realized that there are more tips than I could possibly cover in one post. So there will likely be at least one more after this to address a few more areas of concern. As always if you have your own ideas on the topic let me know as I’d be happy to include them in this developing list.

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