Credit: You're about to give a big speech. It's filled with facts and figures.
You wish you could omit the dry data, but you have no choice. Your subject matter requires a deep dive into hard numbers and devilish details.
A fact-laden presentation does not mean you must put people to sleep. To enliven your content:
Spark a dialogue. Skip the data dump in favor of a question-and-answer format. Divulge bite-size bits of detail in response to the audience's queries.
If it's impractical to take live questions from the crowd, organize your speech as a series of commonly asked inquiries - and then answer them.
"The problem with data is it's hard to digest if the speaker spits it out at you without stopping for 20 minutes," said Joey Asher, president of Speechworks , an Atlanta-based communication-skills training firm. "If the audience can drive the process by asking questions, they're more likely to understand it better."
Tell a story. Before you plunge into the weeds, give people a reason to listen. Pose a riddle that you promise to solve. Build suspense as everyone wonders how you'll resolve a dilemma. Describe how a long-suffering individual or group can benefit from what you're about to propose.
"Present data as part of a larger story that listeners care about," said Asher, author of " Riveting Data ." "Start with the big issue - what big concern people have - and use your story to put the data in context."
Invite feedback. Many speakers subject their audience to dozens of slides packed with graphs, statistics and bulleted lists. But don't feel obliged to march through a long slog of slides.
"Don't overwhelm the audience with data," Asher said. "Smart business folks have a tendency to be blind to the audience's ability to grasp this stuff."
To gauge the group's receptivity to hearing more details, solicit input. For example, invite listeners to vote on whether they want you to share supporting data - or skip ahead.
Lighten your tone. If you're reciting reams of data, you may assume you should speak with dispassionate authority. And that can lead you to deaden your enthusiasm and adopt a detached, robotic delivery.
But if you want people to retain facts and figures, turn your voice into an asset. Inject a dramatic flair into your speech, modulating your tempo and volume to emphasize the story behind the numbers.
"Speak like you're speaking with intensity to a friend," Asher said. "Avoid the corporate monotone and flat affectation that so many business people use."
Tap the power of silence. Separate your core message from the details by altering how you speak. Pause just before you make your most crucial points to signal that what's coming next carries special weight.
"I speak slowly, look at the audience and use the power of the pause," said Molly McPherson , a communication consultant in Portsmouth, N.H. "That way, they know what I'm about to say is important."
Pick a captivating visual. Start with the conclusion that you want everyone to reach. Then cite details to flesh out your case.
A professional speaker and trainer, McPherson begins her presentations with what she calls a "BLUF slide" (bottom line up front) - a compelling visual image that encapsulates her overall thesis.
Before presenting research data to marketers, for instance, she showed a timeline of a company's sales before and after it experienced a public relations crisis. From there, she analyzed how viral media can cause reputational damage to an organization.
"It's the kind of slide where you don't have to write anything down," she said. "It just sticks in your head."
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
