So, you’re called upon to make a conference presentation to your colleagues at work. Or, maybe you’re holding a conference with employees or invited to speak at a business conference. The IT department or planners have set up everything, but you’re still not sure how to engage your audience and make the event impactful. Below are some easy and proven tips to help you spice up your audience engagement.
#1. Know Your Audience
One of the most vital parts of a conference is understanding who you will speak to or present to. For instance, the conference outline and presentation for a group of investors will differ significantly from that of the company staff you work with or a totally outside audience.
Understanding your audience also entails getting to know what they expect from you. That way, you can prepare properly and skip unnecessary information or things they’re already conversant with. Your expertise as a speaker or presenter borders on knowing your audience, so you can carry everyone along in your presentation.
#2. Stand Out
To effectively deliver value, you must distinguish yourself by being your authentic self and using speaking and engagement skills unique to you. It starts with picking a presentation, topic, or niche you know well and can present without breaking a sweat. Another secret of expert conference presenters is dressing well and maximizing their personality while speaking. Audiences get bored with casual speaking but think about a distinctive experience, value proposition, or selling point that only you can communicate seamlessly, and you’ll easily win over your audience.
#3. Have a Clear Outline
A well-drafted outline is very important for effective engagement with your conference audience. The outline should highlight the theme of the conference and the major points to present or address. Your type of outline may depend on your audience, their expectations, and the presentation volume. For instance, a scientific or business conference may have a lengthier and more detailed outline than a regular press conference. If you’re prone to forgetting your points, outlines can serve as helpful reminders so you maintain your flow with your audience. It also makes it easier to carry your audience along when you project your outline on a screen or distribute it to them in print.
#4. Make It Interactive
It’s easier to have good control of your audience when a conference is interactive. One of the proven ways to engage well with your audience is by inducing them to participate. Encourage them to ask questions and allow chances for brief discussions during your presentation. Often, question-and-answer sessions create the best opportunity for people to interact actively and feel a sense of belonging at the conference. Q&A sessions will also reveal notable changes you may need to make going into subsequent events.
#5. Leverage Emotions
By triggering their emotional side, you can increase your conference engagements with clients, colleagues, or employees. It does not necessarily mean giving them teary eyes, but if you can locate common grounds, humor, pain points, or shared interests they can relate to, it will be easier to capture their interest. So it all goes down to grasping the nature of your audience before starting the event – their concerns, expectations, and interests, so that you can deliver explosively.
#6. Communicating Effectively
Effective and clear communication is one of the most important things that establish audience engagement at conferences. It’s not just enough to talk; you must ensure you communicate your message clearly and efficiently. Your gestures and body language must be on point and complement the message you’re passing across. Abbreviations, uncommon terms, and jargon may not be necessary. However, if used, they must be well explained to avoid confusing your audience.
You must also learn to speak more slowly, especially if you discover you are nervous. Speaking slowly will help you not to muddle your words, which is a huge turnoff to audiences. You must do all it takes for your audience to understand and engage with your presentation all through. Also, minimize conversational fillers like “ers” and “ums.” Instead, use silence and pauses, as fillers may make you come off as confused or uncertain.
Conclusion
There you have it! Applying the tips mentioned above, you’d see significant results from your conferences and enjoy greater quality interaction with your audience. As you master these skills, you keep improving until you become like some of the best conference speakers you admire!