Get Their Attention and Keep It

Everyone reading this blog has likely seen and been bored by a PowerPoint presentation. In fact, if you're like me, you've also been on the giving end of one of those presentations, because that's what you were asked to do. People able to hold the audience's attention are often credited with charisma, and this might be true, but can this skill be learned? How do you keep their interest?

Having spent the hours, days, weeks, or a lifetime of research filling fifteen to thirty minutes, you developed what the authors of Made to Stick call The Curse of Knowledge. You know how to communicate the punch line, but you don't know how to develop the interest that led you to it. Consequently, the presentation comes off as dry and boring.

Unexpectedness
Adding an element of surprise can be problematic, because in doing so, you must reinforce the essence of the subject you developed. Shocking people for the sake of shocking them, as I mentioned in an earlier post, is just a gimmick.

A good example of surprise that the authors use is Jared of Subway. Nobody expected anyone to go from 425 lbs to 180 lbs by eating fast food. So completely did Jared's story obliterate people's perception of the effective ways to lose weight that the process of finding and broadcasting it had to overcome great bureaucratic and legal hurdles to get the needed permission to use that story in the company's advertising (More on that later).

Lacking the element of surprise, you can still generate interest by implicitly pointing out gaps in the knowledge of your audience. The interest isn't built in the punch line, but in how the mystery unfolds. You know something they want to know. Each question leads to another question, and as you ask the question, it makes the audience realize that they, too, want to hear what you have to say about the answer.

That said, it must be a question that has no clear answer, or one that suggests the audience's longstanding beliefs, or schema, will be changed once the answer is revealed. Asking the audience what the square root of pi is will not interest or engage them. Suggesting the audience's understanding about, say, global warming is wrong based on new evidence, might.

Even those lacking in charisma are capable of learning how to make a presentation (or advertising) interesting. The challenge is in getting the audience to think about and become engaged with the message. Revealing the unexpected at key intervals will help you do just that.

Get a Free Copy of Made to Stick
So much do I believe you need to read this book, that I am offering two free copies to members of our audience. There are two ways to earn one. I wanted the way to win be fair and objective, but relatively easy, so I decided against a complicated formula relying on a judge's decision. Here's how you do it.

1. Be the first to comment on this post. Be sure to put your email address in the correct field, as I'll need it to get your correct address so that I can send it via Amazon.
2. Find a specific post. Who was the first blogger I ever highlighted from this blog? Find the post, and comment on the post I referenced. Check back here and let us all know when that it's done. The first person to do this gets a free copy.

Even if you've already read the book and want to send a copy to someone you know, go ahead and participate, and I will send it to that person. - Cam Beck

Comments

[Lewis Green]

Cam,

Great post! I read the book (and have a copy so save your giveaways for another reader), and learned some good usable strategies and tactics. And I have mostly made my living writing and speaking for 35 years, so I feel that is a good testament to the power of Made to Stick.

I place my surprises at the beginning of my presentation with a story that will resonate and will be relevant with and to my audience. No powerpoints for this guy.

[Mario Vellandi]

Cam,
I'd love to improve my presentational skills; it's one facet of a larger personal foray into better communication. Having recently started reading Dale Carnegie, I've found it an excellent complement to previous studies with NLP.

If you have an extra book, I will gladly read it.

[Cam Beck]

Thanks to Lewis' generosity, Mario will get the first copy. One copy is left, but it's a little more difficult to earn.

[Ann Handley]

#2 above: I'm guessing it was David Armano -- am I right?