You told your audience who you are. You told them your name, you told them your bio. Now it’s time to reveal your motivation for presenting. Why are you on stage? Make it very clear. Let me give you some examples. For instance, you can tell your audience what is your relationship and your perspective relative to the topic you are presenting.
Another thing you can show them is how much you’ve invested in the topic, how high your stakes are in the topic. Another thing that really works well it to show how passionate you are about the topic. Because chances are that if you care— and if you show that you care—you audience will care as well. You see, your motivation is contagious, and if you show your motivation, your audience’s motivation will come out and blossom automatically.
Now, a different thing. At the beginning of your presentation, sign an ideal agreement with your audience. You will not need a fountain pen. You will not need a suit. But what you need to do is to reveal the structure and timing of your presentation. Let me give you an example. You can start off by saying “During the talk I will tell you 3 stories that will last 5 minutes each.”
By giving this mental map to your audience, they will know all the time exactly where you are in your presentation and when it is going to end. In this format, to the right you see the ten lessons that make up the module, and, at the bottom, you always have a timeline that tells you the progress of the video.
If your audience feels in control, they relax. And when they relax they open up and they’re more available to digest your content. Motivating your audience and revealing your structure are extremely beneficial in order to make your presentation a success.
Summary:
- Your motivation is contagious, show it clearly
- Reveal your structure and timing, it will calm and open your audience