In your next presentation, you have information to impart that is technical, detailed, or full of jargon or special terms. Some of you would even call it….boring. One frequently asked question is how to make it clearer and easier for nontechnical people to understand. Another is how to make it more interesting.
First things first; how to make it easier to understand. In Melissa Marshall’s four-minute TED talk,Talk Nerdy to Me, she notes four great tips for talking nerdy:
Make it relevant. Why does your listener need to know this? What difference will it make to them? If you don’t make relevance clear, they may well tune out.
Dump the jargon. I know that the exact terms are important, but if you listener doesn’t understand them, game over. Spell out acronyms, write key terms on a whiteboard or a slide. Offer definitions when using new terms. Use everyday language whenever you can.
Keep it simple. No matter how exacting your presentation is, if it goes over their heads, you have failed to communicate. New information goes down better if tied to something we already know, which is why metaphors and analogies are so powerful. Show the big picture first; it’s about making it accessible not dumbing it down.
Kill the bullets. Instead of long lists of words, show pictures. Or add pictures to your words so people can see and hear what you are talking about. A schematic, a photo, or even a real widget to pass around the room; all of these help understanding far more than more bullets.
Once you are clear, you will want to focus on making technical or detailed information more engaging or interesting to your listeners. How?
Shorten your presentation and lengthen your Q&A. If you can get listeners started on questions, you can adapt the presentation to their level of interest.
Involve listeners actively. Put listeners in breakout rooms to solve a problem. Ask them provocative questions, encourage them to ask questions, give them a quiz, ask them what happens next. Think about how to get people interacting with each other, with the content, or with you.
Use a nontechnical format. Turn your presentation into a song or a chant. Use a mind-map. Have them learn and then teach each other the content. Show a video. Make a model. Draw a picture. Show product or props. Give a demo.
Tell a story. Something that went wrong. A problem that had to be solved. Dial up the drama—“it was a dark and stormy night.” Ham up the dialog. Act out the parts. Use a little emotion. Ask them for ideas. Whatever you do, be sure to end on a positive note. Solve the problem. Have a happy ending.
No one said it would be easy, but next time you present technical material, try one or more of these ideas to bring your presentation to life and bring kudos from your audience.