My best tip: It’s not about you.
March 6, 2010
If there’s one “rule” that I wish presenters would remember, this is it:
It’s not about you.
As a presenter, it’s not about you, it’s about the audience. That’s why the audience analysis step is so important. You can’t make it about “them” if you don’t know who they are. The impact you have comes from their understanding, remembering and acting on your message. And that’s going to only happen if you keep asking:
What’s in it for them?
Why do they care about what I have to say?
What problem of theirs am I helping them solve?
I’ve left many presentations wondering why I cared, what I was supposed to do, or both.
Don’t let your audience leave that way. Instead, make them feel good by knowing why they care and what they need to do.
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Audience…..Audience….Audience….
I learned a lesson the other day….There is a saying “You treat people like you want to be treated”….but it’s not really true. “You treat people like they want to be treated”. I started to notice how certain people communicated and shared information. Some people were very verbose and others were very direct and concise. By starting to notice people’s daily communication styles I started to figure out how to effectively present to them. It not only changed my slides but my verbal communications as well.
Dave: Well said, sir! Scott Berkun’s post on his blog echoes your comment as well.