Creating content for a presentation can be an overwhelming task. While it’s important that your content is structured as it increases information retention by 40%, it’s also important that your content is compelling and inspiring in order to move your audience to action. The question is how exactly do we create content that is simultaneously structured and inspiring?
To start, ask yourself three questions. The answers to these questions will inform your structure and inspire your framework.
Question # 1 – What do I want my audience to know?
This question deals with your audience’s minds. By understanding the answer to this question, you empower yourself to inspire your audience through intellect. The reality is no matter who your core audience is, there will be a group composed of strong intellectuals. This group will thrive on the answer to this question, because they’re most interested in the knowledge they’ll gain from your presentation. You’re also likely to encounter a group who are not intellectuals; this question is key to helping them understand the information you are looking to share on multiple levels of understanding. After all, a presentation is only effective if the audience leaves with the information and knowledge the presenter hoped to share.
Question # 2 – What do I want my audience to feel?
The first question dealt with the mind, but this question deals with the heart and emotions of a person. Feelings are powerful. In fact, they have the ability to sway our actions drastically. The section of your audience who are not intellectuals will most likely thrive on emotion. When it comes to answering this question, you will need to think through each part of your presentation. Great presenters are able to elicit different emotions during each portion of their presentation. Take the time to think through your key points, stories, and statistics. These will all elicit a different feeling, which is where intentionality comes in: if the emotions you’re conveying don’t line up with what you want your audience to feel, then make sure you redirect how you convey your points.
Question # 3 – What do I want them to do?
No matter what kind of presentation you’re delivering, it’s important to think through what you want your audience to do at the end. This is often referred to as the “call to action.” Whether you’re looking for them to buy a product, give to a charity, or be inspired to learn more, you want to design your entire presentation around this action. By answering this question ahead of time, you give yourself a benchmark to measure your presentation against which will make your content addition or subtraction decisions easy.
By starting with these three questions, you begin your presentation development with the end in mind and are focused on your audience. If you can develop clear answers to these questions, you’ll be prepared to develop and structure excellent content to create a presentation that will both inform and inspire your audience.
Unsure of how to structure your content? Contact the team at Ethos3 to find out how we can help!
