I'm reading a book on building oral presentations: Resonate. This book advances some familiar advice; in particular the idea of "consider your audience." While this may seem to be so obvious as to be not worth mentioning, it is presented in a way that provided me with some new insight. To paraphrase, the author states "you are not the Hero, the audience IS", and goes on to say that you (the presenter) are more like the "mentor" to the Hero - showing the Hero the path and giving the tools and insights to succeed.
It reminded me of a recent presentation I made where I attempted to connect with the audience by some self-deprecating humor. In short, I claimed to have "stolen" the idea for the research to "advance my own career." While this may have been good for a mild laugh, in hindsight I think it presented "me" as the Hero and not the audience. I failed to consider how the audience should be the center of the presentation, and I'm only the helpful mentor in the background: a bit player, and not the center of the story.
Another useful observation is that I too rarely explicitly consider what I want the audience to "do" with the information I'm providing. Obviously, I would like others to use (and cite) my research, but I haven't explicitly shown at the end of most presentation exactly how others can use their knowledge to be the Hero of the story. In gambling-research, the my audience is often other academics, treatment professionals, industry players,gamblers and government policy makers. Next time, with hope, I'll consider each audience member and provide more of a road map to action - so that the message will not only be heard, but also acted upon.
It reminded me of a recent presentation I made where I attempted to connect with the audience by some self-deprecating humor. In short, I claimed to have "stolen" the idea for the research to "advance my own career." While this may have been good for a mild laugh, in hindsight I think it presented "me" as the Hero and not the audience. I failed to consider how the audience should be the center of the presentation, and I'm only the helpful mentor in the background: a bit player, and not the center of the story.
Another useful observation is that I too rarely explicitly consider what I want the audience to "do" with the information I'm providing. Obviously, I would like others to use (and cite) my research, but I haven't explicitly shown at the end of most presentation exactly how others can use their knowledge to be the Hero of the story. In gambling-research, the my audience is often other academics, treatment professionals, industry players,gamblers and government policy makers. Next time, with hope, I'll consider each audience member and provide more of a road map to action - so that the message will not only be heard, but also acted upon.
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