making a presentation on conference participation

Conference Presentation: A comprehensive guide

In this guide learn how to choose a topic, develop content, deliver with confidence, and more.

Raja Bothra

Building presentations

Welcome to the world of conference presentations!

Whether you're an academic, a professional, or simply someone eager to share your knowledge, the art of delivering an effective conference presentation is a skill worth mastering.

In this comprehensive guide, we will walk you through the ins and outs of conference presentations, from understanding what they are to mastering the key elements that make them successful.

So, grab your "presentation slide" of inspiration and let's dive into the world of conference presentations.

What is a conference presentation?

A conference presentation is a means of conveying information, research findings, or ideas to an audience in a structured and engaging manner. It's a platform for individuals to showcase their expertise, share their insights, and foster discussions on topics ranging from academic research to professional insights. Whether you're presenting at an "academic conference" or a corporate gathering, the goal remains the same: to effectively communicate your message.

Types of Conference Presentations

Before we delve into the nitty-gritty details, let's explore the different types of conference presentations you might encounter:

Oral presentation

The quintessential "oral presentation" remains one of the most prominent formats across conferences, be it academic or professional. These presentations typically span a concise 15-20 minutes, providing a platform for presenters to delve into a wide array of topics:

• Research findings : Share your latest research discoveries.
• Completed works : Showcase your completed projects and their outcomes.
• Innovative concepts : Introduce groundbreaking ideas that push the boundaries.
• Theoretical Applications : Explore the theoretical underpinnings of your field.
• Methodologies : Explain the methodologies you've employed in your work.

The structure of an oral presentation allows for a systematic exploration of these topics, followed by a brief Q&A session, providing valuable interactions with the audience.

Poster presentation

On the flip side, "poster presentations" offer a more relaxed and interactive avenue to convey your work. This format involves creating a visual "poster presentation" that succinctly highlights your key points. Here's why poster presentations are worth considering:

• Concise and visually appealing : Posters condense your work into a visually engaging format.
• Informal interaction : Presenters stand by their posters in a common area, ready to engage with curious attendees.
• Networking opportunity : It's an excellent way to network with fellow researchers and gain valuable feedback on your work.

Poster presentations bridge the gap between the visual and the informative, making them an excellent choice for those looking to engage their audience in a more relaxed setting.

Beyond the basics

While oral and poster presentations are the cornerstone of many conferences, there are other presentation formats that cater to diverse objectives and preferences:

• Panel discussions : Experts gather to discuss a specific topic in front of an audience, offering varied perspectives and insights.
• Roundtables : In a more informal setting, a small group of individuals engage in in-depth discussions on a particular topic.
• Workshops : Attendees immerse themselves in hands-on activities to acquire new skills or knowledge.
• Keynote speeches : Prominent speakers take the stage to deliver inspiring talks on topics of paramount importance to the conference audience.
• Lightning talks : These brief, high-impact presentations, typically lasting 5-10 minutes, cover a wide array of topics in a succinct manner.

Selecting the most appropriate presentation format depends on the nature of the conference and your personal preferences. If you're unsure about which format aligns best with your objectives, don't hesitate to reach out to the conference organizers for guidance. After all, the key to a successful conference presentation is choosing the format that allows you to shine and effectively convey your message.

How to structure an effective conference presentation

A well-structured presentation is like a well-composed symphony - it captures the audience's attention and leaves a lasting impression. Here's a step-by-step guide to help you create a harmonious presentation:

1. Begin with a clear introduction

The beginning of your presentation is your chance to make a memorable first impression. Start by introducing yourself and your topic. Use a "clear outline" to provide a roadmap for your presentation. For instance, you can say, "Today, I'll discuss the key elements of a successful conference presentation, including effective structure, engaging visuals, and impactful delivery."

2. Create an engaging body

The body of your presentation should contain the main points you want to convey. Here's where your "slide deck" comes into play. Each slide should emphasize a single point, keeping it concise and visually appealing. Remember the "good rule of thumb" - one slide per key idea.

3. Emphasize with visuals

Visual aids, such as graphs and images, can help "emphasize" your message and make complex information easily understood. However, don't overload your slides with visuals; use them strategically to "get the message across."

4. Maintain audience engagement

Your "presentation style" plays a vital role in keeping your audience engaged. Practice "body language" that conveys confidence and enthusiasm. Maintain "eye contact with your audience" to establish a connection. Utilize gestures to "emphasize" key points and establish a rapport with your audience.

5. Summarize key takeaways

As you approach the "end of your presentation," allocate some time to summarize the key takeaways. This reinforces the main points and ensures your audience leaves with a clear understanding of your message.

Do’s and don'ts of a conference presentation

Now that you know how to structure your presentation effectively, let's explore some do's and don'ts that can make or break your presentation.

• Rehearse : "Rehearse your presentation" practise multiple times to ensure a smooth delivery.
• Use visuals : Incorporate visuals, but don't let them "distract the audience."
• Maintain eye contact : "Maintain eye contact with your audience" to establish a connection.
• Engage the audience : "Give your audience" opportunities to participate, ask questions, or share their thoughts.
• Time management : Stick to the allotted time. "Conference organizers" appreciate punctuality.

Don'ts:

• Overwhelm with text : Avoid adding slide after slide filled with font text. Remember, less is often more.
• Lack of preparation : Don't "rehearse" just once. The more you practice, the more confident you'll feel.
• Reading slides : Don't simply "read your paper" or slides. Your audience can do that themselves.
• Ignoring questions : Always address "questions from the audience" respectfully and thoughtfully. Avoid being unprofessional.
• Going off topic : Stay on track. "Unrelated tangents" can confuse your audience.

Summarizing Key Takeaways

In this comprehensive guide, we've covered the essentials of crafting an "effective conference presentation." From structuring your presentation to engaging your audience, you now have the tools to shine at your next conference.

• Conference Presentations are a means to share information or research effectively.
• Types include oral (concise talks) and poster (visual presentations).
• Other formats like panels, roundtables, workshops, keynotes, and lightning talks cater to different objectives.
• Structure your presentation with a clear intro, engaging body, visuals, audience engagement, and key takeaways.
• Do's: Rehearse, use visuals wisely, maintain eye contact, engage the audience, and manage time.
• Don'ts: Avoid overwhelming text, lack of preparation, reading slides, ignoring questions, and going off-topic.

Remember, a great presentation is not just about delivering information; it's about creating a memorable experience for your audience. Whether you're "presenting at a conference" for the first time or you're a seasoned pro, these tips for presenting will help you make a lasting impression.

1. How can I create the best presentation for my conference talk?

To craft an impactful presentation for your conference talk, consider beginning with a PowerPoint template tailored to the theme of the event. The right template, such as a specialized conference strategy presentation template , can provide a solid foundation for organizing your content. Ensure your presentation flows seamlessly, incorporating bullet points strategically to highlight key information. Moreover, delivering an effective conference paper necessitates practicing in front of a mirror and employing gestures to underscore essential points.

‍ 2. What is the typical length of a conference presentation?

The length of your effective presentation may vary depending on the conference committee's guidelines, but most conferences allocate around 15-20 minutes for each presentation. It's important to remember to keep track of time as you present, as you may run out of time if you're not careful.

3. Do I need to submit an abstract before presenting a paper at a conference?

Yes, you typically need to submit an abstract related to your topic before being accepted to present at a conference. The conference committee reviews these abstracts to determine which presentations are most suitable and interesting to the audience members interested in your research.

4. How can I make my conference presentation memorable?

To make your memorable presentation, use slide decks effectively, and consider the presentation technology available on the conference platform. Emphasize key points and use gestures to engage your audience. Also, e.g., include relevant images and graphs in your slides to help the audience understand your research paper.

5. What should I do if I'm presenting at a conference where the audience is unfamiliar with my field?

If you're presenting at a conference where the audience is unfamiliar with your field, make sure to use simple language and avoid jargon. Provide enough context and background information related to your topic to help the audience understand. Additionally, be prepared to ask a question or two to engage the audience and familiarize them with your work during the Q&A session.

Create your conference presentation with prezent

Before we conclude, here's a valuable tip: Consider using presentation software like Prezent to streamline your conference presentation creation process. Prezent offers:

• Time savings: Prezent can save you up to 70% of the time typically spent on crafting presentations, allowing you to focus on other critical conference preparations.
• Brand consistency: Access to brand-approved designs from Fortune companies ensures that your conference presentation maintains a professional and consistent look.
• Audience engagement: Prezent helps you understand your audience's preferences, enabling you to create presentations that resonate and engage effectively.
• Cost efficiency: By standardizing presentations and streamlining communication, Prezent can cut communication costs by up to 60%, a valuable advantage for conference budgets.
• Overnight service: Take advantage of Prezent's overnight presentation service for tight deadlines, ensuring you receive a polished presentation by the next business day.

In conclusion, a successful conference presentation is all about striking the right balance between structure, visuals, and engagement. Mastering these elements will not only boost your "presentation skills" but also ensure that your audience leaves with a deeper understanding of your work.

So, go ahead, "present your paper" with confidence, captivate your audience, and leave a lasting impression on the conference stage.

Sign up for our free trial or book a demo !  

Happy presenting!

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11 Tips To Make Your Conference Presentation Outstanding

Table of contents.

The world of conferences are great opportunities for like-minded individuals to come together and share their common denominator interest with one another.

Conferences provide attendees with an opportunity to learn and share with others who share similar experiences or interests all under one roof. Conferences are usually large in nature bringing people from across the country, or even across the world, together.

If you find yourself presenting at an upcoming conference, the honest truth is the stakes are high. Oftentimes, conferences have a lot of people in attendance. When you have your moment to shine to share your presentation with a large crowd of audience members, you want it to go flawlessly.

Truthfully, so do we.

That’s why we’ve put together this in-depth blog post to help you navigate the world of conferences and how to master your conference presentation with 11 actionable tips.

Are You Presenting At An Upcoming Conference? We Should Talk

What are conference presentations.

First, let’s get an understanding of what a conference presentation is.

A conference presentation is an opportunity for people to communicate with a large audience of like-minded individuals typically congregating around a common interest or topic.

A conference can vary in length from a one, full day event, all the way up to a week-long program. Conferences are usually a great opportunity for these like-minded individuals to network and learn from one another on new topics, research or major events.

Now that we know what a conference is, there are several common types of conferences you might encounter during your professional career.

Let’s take a look at the common types of conferences below.

Common Types Of Conferences

Although these are some of the common types of conferences you’ll encounter, this isn’t a fully finalized list. There are more types of conferences than simply what’s mentioned below.

However, you’re more than likely to encounter one of the following whether you’re just entering the industry, a student who’s networking or even if you’re passionate on a certain topic and like to be involved in the community.

Academic Conferences

Academic conferences are opportunities for researchers to present their work with fellow peers and colleagues. They’re important because they provide an opportunity for academics from multiple institutions to connect at a single location and network.

Academic conferences can be divided further into professional conferences . Professional academic conferences are geared more towards professors and academics who have spent more time in their field of study such as social sciences or medicine.

On the other hand, undergraduate programs may still hold conferences for academia but these are more geared towards undergraduate students who might just be sharing their semester research presentation.

You might be thinking to yourself, “This just sounds like a research presentation .”

Although you’re not wrong, you’re only partly right.

Research presentations are only one part of the overall academic conference. An academic conference is a combination of multiple research presentations combined into one event. You might have multiple academics speaking at a conference sharing their research presentations, but one does not equal the other.

Annual General Meetings

Shifting gears to the more business side of things, another form of conferences are annual general meetings.

Annual general meetings, or AGM for short, are typically mandatory, yearly gatherings of a company’s interested shareholders which might consist of investors and employees.

At an AGM, directors of a company share with the shareholders the annual report which covers key topics of interest to the shareholders. These key points might include the company’s financial performance, quarterly reports, upcoming yearly vision, plans for expansion, the company’s performance and strategy.

Shareholders who have voting rights often vote on current issues facing the company and which direction the company should pursue. Some of these decisions might include who is to be appointed onto the board of directors, what executive compensation will be, dividend payments and the selection of auditors.

Conventions

Like most conferences, conventions are large meetings consisting of people with a share ideology or profession. You often hear of conventions in terms of entertainment or politics.

On the entertainment side of things, conventions are gatherings where people of the same interest come together to network and immerse themselves in the unifying experience of enjoying the same things as those around you. Some notable conventions you might’ve heard of are Comic Con, Fan Expo and the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Here, you’ll find people sharing a mutual enjoyment of entertainment indulgences.

Political conventions or Party Conferences are the other form of conventions you’ll often hear about.

These are often held by the respective political party where members of said political party come together to network and most importantly, vote on a party leader or delegate.

Press Conferences

The smallest form of a conference you’ll encounter is a press conference.

A press conference is an organized event to officially distribute information from a specified spokesperson. Unlike other public relation tactics such as a press release which is still a tool to disseminate information to the public, a press conference is an alternate public relation tactic where media is selectively invited to attend the event to get the information.

Press conferences are often smaller in size due to the shrinking landscape of media outlets. Additionally, press conferences are usually high-stake events usually having highly notable individuals in attendance or presenting. To limit the risk and maximize the safety of these VIPs, press conferences are usually more exclusive.

This is why press conferences are often reserved for bigger news stories and why journalists who are new to the industry try very hard to get on the good side of these conference organizers. Due to the sheer exclusivity of the event, the opportunity to get a unique news story is greater.

Product Launches

The last conference we’ll go over is a product launch.

A product launch, much like a press conference, is another great public relations tactic used to build anticipation and gain the buy-in of the public. They are a coordinated effort to demonstrate new products soon to be released to the general public.

Famous product launches can be seen executed by the world’s top companies such as Apple, Tesla and Disney.

These companies often use product launches to garner attention for an upcoming line of products that will soon be available to the public. The main goal of product launches in recent years is to drive pre-order sales which help raise capital to bring the product development over the finish line without needing to expend any further owned-capital of the company.

Conference Presentation Tips

No matter the conference you find yourself attending and more than likely presenting at, conference presentation tips remain the same. You can apply the following 11 important points to any conference.

With some slight adjustments to each, you’ll soon be a master of conference talk, being able to command any large room of people and retain the audience’s attention with ease.

1 - Do Your Homework

Before you begin putting together your conference presentation slide deck, you need to first do your homework. With any good finalized product, it got that way thanks to the preparation which went into it ahead of time and your presentation is no exception.

What you might want to consider doing before you begin putting together your slide deck is answering the following questions and drafting an outline.

What key message do you want the audience to take away after the presentation?

What do you want them to feel?

How do you want them to act?

Can I achieve these results with the information I already have?

By asking yourself these questions and acting appropriately based on the answer, you’ll be setting yourself up for a good presentation.

2 - Understand Your Audience

Knowing your audience isn’t just about who they are, it’s about understanding what they’re interested in, how they retain information and what motivates them.

Understanding your audience is the first step of mastering presentation psychology and without it, you won’t have a strong foundation for your presentation. You could have the most visually appealing presentation but if it doesn’t resonate with the audience, it won’t matter.

So before you go ahead and start building a presentation based on what you think your audience is interested in, you should really come to a solidified conclusion and know what your audience is interested in.

3 - Know Your Timing

Presentations range in different lengths. You’ll encounter presentations as short as one minute to others that last over an hour. Start preparing your presentation by knowing what your time limit is.

You can typically find this information out by contacting an organizer of the conference.

4 - Use Visual Aids

Visual aids are tools to help you communicate visually.

Some presentation visual aids you might want to consider using are graphs, tables, pictures and videos. If you really want to be seen as an expert presenter, you should even be focusing on the colors you use for your slides.

Now, it might seem like you need a creative degree to master all this, but the reality is you don’t. Luckily, you can outsource your presentation design to a presentation design agency like Presentation Geeks who not only create top-tier presentation slide decks used by Fortune 500 companies, they also can provide presentation consulting services .

Don’t forget, you yourself are a visual communication tool as well. Be sure to dress appropriately for your upcoming conference presentations because you want to make a good impression. Let’s take a political convention as an example. If you’re running as a candidate to be the leader of a major political party, you want to make sure you peak the audience’s interest and gain their trust by dressing appropriately as superficial as that sounds.

5 - Keep It Simple

Don’t overcomplicate your presentation, especially the slide deck.

It’s crucial to keep your presentation, especially the visual aids portion as simple as possible because too much information will confuse the audience and they will likely forget what you’ve said.

Focus on the key details in your slides and use them as supplementary tools. Many presenters will think they need to have a grand conference presentation with fancy technology, transitional devices and other outlandish tactics. The reality is, you want your information to be easily understood by keeping it simple.

6 - Practice, Practice, Practice

The way to become a better presenter is through practice.

You want to ensure you command the room with your confidence. You won’t be doing that if you’re reading from a paper aloud.

You need to ensure you’re confident. Practice your conference presentation multiple times and consider recording yourself as you do. You’ll pick up on your body language and analyze how well you’re using your body language to communicate what you’re saying. Scan the audience and share your eye contact with everyone. Don’t forget to speak clearly and slowly

7 - Prepare For The Worst

Murphy’s Law states that what can go wrong, will go wrong. You should keep this theory in the back of your mind and expect the worst to happen.

Just because the worst can and probably will happen, doesn’t mean there isn’t a solution. That is why you need to prepare for the worst.

You should be able to present all your conference presentations if the venue changes at the last minute, if you don’t have the technology you were expecting to use, if you forgot your handouts like a conference paper. You should be prepared for the worst but have a solution.

8 - Know Your Space

Let’s say your fortunate, which you probably will be, and the venue doesn’t change last minute. That’s great! Use this to your advantage and get familiar with your space.

Ahead of your conference presentations, you should go and scope out the area you will be presenting to get an idea of how you can walk around, what technology will be present, what the lighting will be light, etc.

There are so many areas of concerns and unknowns that can be addressed by doing a little bit of field assignment homework ahead of time.

9 - Go Beyond The Slides - Engage Your Audience

An audience will more likely remember what you have to say and feel connected by being engaged.

You can engage your audience by targeting more senses of the human body. If you only target their auditory and visual senses, you’ll eventually lose them. Walk through the crowd if you can. Have the audience move their necks, stretch and move!

10 - Get The Audience To Participate By Encouraging Questions

Good presenting is one-way communication.

Excellent presenting is two-way communication.

Another way to go beyond the slides and your one-way presentation speech by giving an opportunity for the audience to ask further questions.

This is not only beneficial to the audience to help them get a better understanding of your topic, but it will also help you to answer questions.

It gets you to reflect on your presentation from an angle you might not have thought of before. Out of all the questions audience members will ask, there is usually one or two awe-inspiring questions that get even the presenter to take a moment to reflect.

Use these moments to better your presentation for the future.

11 - Evaluate & Refine

Speaking of making your presentation better for the future, remember to evaluate and refine your presentation and presentation skills.

A true master of any profession or skill knows they truly aren’t a master because learning never stops. You should take the same ideology and apply it to your own presentation skills.

Whether it’s self-reflection or a survey of the audience after your conference presentation, try and evaluate how well you presented and refine your future presentation based on the presentation feedback you received.

The summary of everything mentioned above if applied correctly will result in your being a master of conference presentations. The great thing about these techniques is they can be applied to any type of conference presentation.

Not only that, but if you understand the basic fundamentals of presenting, you can begin exploring other realms of presentations. To really take your presentation skills to the next level, enlisting the help of a presentation design agency such as Presentation Geeks will help you surpass the competition.

Author:  Content Team

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A Guide to Conference Presentations

Read a summary or generate practice questions using the INOMICS AI tool

Giving a presentation at an academic conference can be both stressful and rewarding. While it's incredibly helpful to get feedback and insights on your project from other researchers in your field, it can also be intimidating to hold your work up for scrutiny from others.

Today we're going to share some tips for making your conference presentations as compelling and distinctive as possible, as well as some tips for dealing with conference day nerves and the post-presentation discussion.

Don't make your audience sit through an uninspired, generic presentation – instead, try to focus on your unique insights and let other conference attendees see your enthusiasm and commitment to your subject. Enthusiasm on the part of the presenter goes an awfully long way to making a presentation more exciting to watch!

Here are our tips for improving your conference presentation.

• Titling your presentation
• How to use slides
• Personable or professional?
• Pitching your voice
• Moving around
• Dealing with nerves
• Post-presentation questions

Download the Conference Monkey Directory - 6 Month Conference List

Give your presentation a fun title

Cute, funny, or pun-based titles are not for everyone, but if you like the idea then it's fine to use a jokey title for your presentation. If that's not your style, then try to pick a title which conveys the interesting big-picture ideas that you'll be discussing, rather than the fine grain details. This helps people from outside your sub-field to know what your talk is about. For example, 'Queen Bee: Social Structures of Hive Species' sounds much more interesting to a non-expert than 'Scent-based communication among hymenoptera'.

Use simple, clear slides

The quickest way to turn your presentation from something interesting to something dragging and dull is by throwing loads of text onto your slides. Whenever you put up a new slide, your audience will stop listening to your speech for a moment while they read the very salient text you've put in front of them. If your slides have long paragraphs on them, then the audience will take several minutes reading the information and not hearing what you're saying during that time.

Counter this problem by using a smaller number of slides – no more than 1 slide per minute of talking, and no more than 25-30 slides in total – and by streamlining each slide as much as possible. If you've spent a lot of time in academia, you've probably become very used to presentations with hundreds of bland, text-heavy slides that distract from the presenter rather than supporting them. But just because this is common, doesn't mean it's the right way to present! Remember, the audience is supposed to absorb information from your talk, not from reading hundreds of slides. Your slides should be minimal, with no more than a few bullet points or keywords on each slide.

A slide doesn't need to fit all of your information on it, as you can give all the relevant details in your talk. The slide should be merely a guideline for what you are discussing. A good slide might have just three keywords on it, which you will discuss in detail. By getting rid of extraneous information, you make it easier for your audience to follow your talk and engage with your points.

Try to cut down your slides as much as you possibly can. Also, try to use illustrations, graphics, or graphs wherever possible to convey information in a visual way. If you're worried about forgetting what you were going to say, then use the notes feature which allows you to add notes which are only visible to the presenter to each slide. This way, you can see the information you need but your audience doesn't get distracted by all the extra text.

You could also try something different: instead of the usual PowerPoint or Keynote, you could try an alternative presentation software such as Prezi, or even consider getting rid of slides altogether if you are a very confident speaker.

Make your presentation more personable

Here's something that many presenters forget: it's okay for your presentation to be a bit personal. You can smile, crack a joke, or refer to examples from your real life to convey your point. Of course, you want to remain professional and not to be too silly or inappropriate. But you needn't be robotic or totally flat. In fact, it's much harder for an audience to engage with a presenter who speaks in a monotone and never injects a moment of levity into their speech.

To get better at this, try to remember to look at your audience when presenting. It can help to have a supportive friend or colleague in the audience who you can look to when you need someone to smile at. Also, feel free to emphasise your points by using hand gestures or by pointing to important information. You needn't stand with your hands pinned to your sides through the whole talk. You can rest your hands on the podium if you have one, or walk back and forth across the stage if you're using a microphone attached to your clothing. You can also emphasise findings that you personally found to be especially interesting, or talk about a finding which took you by surprise. This personal touch will make your presentation more distinctive to you and therefore more memorable.

Pitch your voice at the appropriate volume and speed

This one might sound silly – does it really matter how you speak in a presentation, as long as your materials are good? In fact, yes it does. If your voice is too quiet, your audience will have to strain to hear you, which is tiring for them and makes them much more likely to switch off. Conversely, if your voice is too loud it can be almost painful to listen to. Try to pay attention to the volume of your voice, and remember that most people tend to be too quiet, so you should lean towards speaking a little louder.

Similarly, many people don't realise how fast they speak, especially if they are a bit nervous. Speaking too fast causes several problems: firstly, people will not be able to hear each sentence and might get lost, and secondly, they won't have time to think about your point and consider it before you've moved onto the next point. Conversely, as we all remember from school, there's nothing more boring than having to listen to someone with a slow, droning voice. If in doubt, try giving a practice presentation to friends or colleagues and ask them for feedback.

Feel free to move around

You needn't force yourself to stand stock still while presenting. In fact, it will make your presentation more engaging if you use the same facial expressions and gestures that you would if you were talking to a friend. While it's not a good idea to bounce around and move very fast, as this can be distracting, it is fine to walk around a little, to use your hands to indicate as well as or instead of a laser pointer, or to use your hands to emphasise particular points. Try to use movements that feel natural to you instead of standing totally still, as this will make your talk more dynamic and personal.

Above all, try to relax, and this will help your presentation to be smoother and more natural, which will be appreciated by your audience. And on that subject...

How to deal with nerves when making a presentation

Make sure you're prepared in advance.

The very best way to keep your nerves under control is to have practised your entire presentation from beginning to end beforehand, at least once. A few days before your presentation, recruit a friend or two to sit with you and be your audience. You can practise in an empty lecture hall or classroom if one is available and if that will help you to feel more comfortable. But it's also fine to practise at your house, or even in a cafe or bar if you bring a laptop with you. Run through your whole presentation, including slides, and take note of any areas where you struggled to find the right words or weren't sure what topic to speak on next. That way, you can know which specific topics or slide you need to remind yourself of.

However, it's important not to over-rehearse. You don't need to have your entire presentation memorised, and in fact doing so will only make your presenting style appear stilted and unnatural. You should be familiar with the material you're presenting (and if your presentation is about your research, you are likely to already be as familiar with the material as you need to be), and be able to anticipate some questions or criticisms that your audience might have. But remember that you are already an expert in this area – hence why you're presenting on it at a conference. There's no need to attempt to cram lots of extra information into your brain the day before a presentation; rather, let the knowledge that you already have guide you in how you present.

Make sure the IT equipment works beforehand

One issue that is almost bound to arise when you present, and can be very stressful, is problems with the computer, projector, or slides which you have prepared. Between different file formats, different laptop adaptors, and the difficulty in getting video or sound effects to work correctly in your presentation space, there is a lot that can go wrong.

The best way to deal with this is to make sure you've tested out all of the equipment earlier in the day before your presentation. Don't wait until 10 minutes before you begin in order to test! If there are problems, you need to know earlier so that you can find the correct adaptor, get help from  IT support , and so on. If you're presenting in the afternoon, find a time in the morning at which you can test. If you're presenting in the morning, arrive very early, or consider testing the day before. That way you won't have any last-minute technical problems to deal with.

Tips for dealing with nerves while you're speaking

It's common to feel flustered, hyper-vigilant, or a bit overwhelmed when you start to present. The best solution for this is to give yourself the opportunity to take a few seconds to get yourself together. A good way of achieving this is to have a bottle of water in front of you – if you feel yourself getting overwhelmed, stop talking and have a drink of water and take a deep breath before you continue. It might feel to you as if you are standing in front of everyone and doing nothing for ages, but don't worry, it's only a few seconds and won't feel that long to the audience.

Another common problem is feeling like you don't know where to put your hands, or what to do with your body. If there is a lectern or podium in front of you, then make use of it – rest your hands on either side and grip it gently, which will help to make you feel grounded. If there's no lectern, then a good tip is to gently squeeze together your thumb and index finger while you're speaking; this pressure will help as an outlet for your nervousness which your audience won't notice.

Finally, one great way to reassure yourself during a presentation is to find a friendly face in the audience who you can can look to when you're feeling unsure. If possible, ask a friend or colleague to come along, and catch their eye when you need to. Otherwise, pick an audience member who seems open and friendly and look at them – the point is to think of your audience as a collection of friendly people, rather than as a singular scary judging entity.

When you can keep your nerves under control, your presentation will be more fun for you and more engaging for your audience.

Answering questions after a conference presentation

Even when you've spent a lot of time preparing your conference presentation and trying new presentation tools, there is one aspect of presenting that intimidates many people: answering questions during or after the presentation. At its best, a question and answer session can give you valuable new ideas about your research and help you to anticipate what kind of reviewers' comments you might receive when you publish your work. At worst, a question session can feel like a whole room full of people aggressively criticising your work and pointing out its flaws.

There are, of course, a few things you can do to make audience participation run a little more smoothly.

Keep the discussion to the end of the presentation

Depending on the type of presentation you are giving, generally you should expect questions to come at the end after you have finished presenting. If you are presenting in a workshop or in a teaching session, then there may be clarifying questions asked during your talk too. If someone asks a quick question during your presentation – such as asking you to explain an acronym or to define a term – then you should pause to answer them. But if someone starts to ask a more conceptual or complex question, it's fine to tell the audience to save their questions until the end.

Be prepared

The best way that you can feel more comfortable when fielding questions is to be prepared in advance. While you can't know exactly what will be asked at any given presentation, you can make some educated guesses about the kind of topics that are likely to come up. If there is a point in your presentation that you know is unclear – for example, if you used a highly complex experimental methodology or statistical analysis and you didn't have time to explain it fully during the presentation – then it's likely that someone will ask about this. Also, you can expect typical questions about what your plans are for the next stage in our research, or about how you interpreted your results.

Knowing the topics that are likely to be asked about, you can prepared yourself in advance. One great tip is to prepare extra slides with more information about your methodology or with more data to illustrate your points. When someone asks about an issue that you didn't have time to cover, you can bring up the relevant extra slide and talk them through it. You should also think of a couple of key points that you would use to answer questions about your next project or about the interpretation of your results.

Ignore the rambling and focus on the question

Often times, when people ask questions they may ramble somewhat before getting to the point. Asking questions can be intimidating for the questioner too, so sometimes this comes simply from nervousness. At other times, professors who are used to holding a floor may talk for some time as a preamble to the question. Hopefully, you have a moderator who will encourage the questioners to keep their comments brief.

But if you are confronted with a rambler, then don't panic. You don't need to respond to every single one of their points. Instead, try to sum up the essential gist of their comments and respond briefly to the topic as a whole. You can even clarify their question before responding, by saying “If I'm hearing you right, what you are asking is...” If the questioner has brought up a lot of different topics, then simply pick the one topic that is most relevant to your presentation and respond to that.

It's okay to say that you don't know

Something that often makes presenters nervous, especially if they are new to presenting, is the idea that someone might ask a question which you are unable to answer. Someone could ask for a particular factual piece of information that you don't have, or they could ask you about a specific paper which you have not heard of or have not read. If this happens, you needn't berate yourself or try to make up an answer off the cuff. It is perfectly okay to say that you don't know the answer to that question but you will look it up, or that you haven't seen the paper in question but that you will read it afterwards. You can also offer to discuss the topic further with the questioner after the session is finished.

Don't be concerned that this will make you look incompetent. In fact, being honest about the limitations of your knowledge is one of the marks of a honest and knowledgable researcher and your audience will respect you for it.

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10 Essential Tips for a Successful Academic Presentation at Conferences and Events

Introduction

Academic conferences are an excellent opportunity for like-minded individuals to come together and share their interests with each other. These events provide attendees with a chance to learn and share experiences with others who have similar interests, all under one roof. Conferences are usually large in nature, bringing together people from across the country or even across the world.

If you're scheduled to present at an upcoming conference, it's important to remember that the stakes are high. With a lot of people in attendance, you want your presentation to go flawlessly when you have your moment to shine. That's why we've put together this in-depth blog post to help you master your conference presentation with some actionable tips.

As a researcher or academic, finding the right conference with the right audience and effectively sharing your latest research findings can boost your career and keep you updated on developments in your field.

Developing a conference presentation is similar to developing any other presentation - it requires proper preparation, consistency, and the ability to engage with your audience.

Presenting can be nerve-wracking, even for experienced speakers and performers. However, with practice, anyone can become a skilled presenter.

But, before creating your presentation, there are some other issues that will increase your presentation success that you should start considering well before creating your slides.

Here are some tips that you should keep in mind before starting to prepare your presentation.

• Know Your Audience:

Understanding the background, interests, and needs of your audience is essential to deliver an effective presentation. This will help you tailor your content, language, and delivery style to engage your audience and ensure they can easily understand and relate to your message.

• Define Your Objectives:

Before developing your presentation, you should define your objectives, such as what you want to achieve, what message you want to convey, and what action you want your audience to take. This will help you stay focused and make sure your presentation is clear and coherent.

• Develop a Clear and Concise Message:

Your presentation should have a clear and concise message that is easy to understand and remember. Avoid using jargon, complex language, or unnecessary details that could confuse or bore your audience.

• Create an Engaging Presentation:

An engaging presentation should be visually appealing, interactive, and informative. Use storytelling, humor, anecdotes, or case studies to keep your audience interested and involved.

• Use Visual Aids:

Visual aids such as slides, charts, graphs, or videos can enhance your presentation and help your audience understand complex information or data. However, make sure your visual aids are relevant, clear, and easy to read.

• Practice, Practice, Practice:

Practicing your presentation several times before the conference can help you gain confidence, improve your delivery, and identify areas that need improvement. Consider practicing in front of a mirror, recording yourself, or asking a friend to give you feedback.

• Time Yourself:

Keeping track of time during your presentation is crucial to ensure you don't run over or under the allocated time. This will also show your respect for your audience's time and demonstrate your professionalism.

• Prepare for Questions:

Anticipating and preparing for questions that your audience may have can help you deliver a more effective and engaging presentation. Be ready to provide evidence, examples, or references to support your arguments and handle any challenging or unexpected questions.

• Dress Appropriately:

Dressing appropriately for the conference and your presentation can help you make a good first impression, show your professionalism, and convey your respect for your audience and the event.

• Bring Business Cards:

Bringing business cards with your contact information can help you network with other attendees and potential collaborators or employers.

• Follow Up After the Conference:

Following up with your audience and fellow presenters after the conference can help you build relationships, gain feedback, and explore opportunities for future collaborations or publications.

What is an academic conference presentation?

First, let’s get an understanding of what an academic conference presentation is.

An academic conference presentation is a talk given by a researcher or scholar at an academic conference. The purpose of the presentation is to share the researcher's findings or ideas with other researchers and scholars in the same field. The presentation usually includes the researcher's research objectives, methodology, results, and conclusions. Academic conference presentations can be given in various formats, such as oral presentations, poster presentations, or panel discussions. The audience for academic conference presentations is typically composed of other researchers and scholars in the same field, as well as students and professionals interested in the topic.

How to deliver a presentation at an academic event?

An academic should pay attention to several main points while delivering a presentation at an academic conference:

• Start with a clear message:

Before creating your presentation, establish a clear message you want to convey to your audience. This will help you stay focused and deliver a presentation that is consistent and engaging.

• Keep it simple:

Avoid using complicated jargon or technical terms that your audience may not understand. Keep your presentation simple and clear.

• Use visuals:

Incorporate visuals such as graphs, charts, and images to support your presentation and help your audience understand your message.

• Engage your audience:

Engage your audience by asking questions, inviting participation, and making eye contact. This will keep them interested and attentive throughout your presentation.

• Pace yourself:

Keep a steady pace throughout your presentation, and don't rush through your slides. This will help you maintain your audience's attention and avoid losing them.

• Be enthusiastic:

Show your passion and enthusiasm for your research, and convey it to your audience. This will help keep them engaged and interested in your presentation.

• Be confident:

Believe in yourself and your research, and have confidence in your ability to deliver a great presentation.

• Use humor (if appropriate):

Humor can be a great way to break the ice and keep your audience engaged. Just make sure it's appropriate and relevant to your presentation.

• Manage nerves

Finally, don't let nerves get the better of you. Practice relaxation techniques such as deep breathing and visualization, and remind yourself that everyone gets nervous before a presentation.

How to prepare your presentation slides?

Preparing effective presentation slides is crucial for delivering a successful presentation. Here are some main rules of slide design that you should observe:

• Keep it simple

Avoid cluttering your slides with too much information. Stick to one main point per slide and use bullet points to highlight key information.

• Use visuals

Incorporate images, charts, and graphs to make your presentation more engaging and visually appealing. However, make sure that the visuals are relevant to your content and are not distracting.

• Use legible fonts

Use legible fonts such as Arial, Calibri, or Helvetica, and avoid decorative or fancy fonts. Also, make sure that the font size is large enough to be easily readable by the audience.

• Use contrasting colors

Choose colors that are easy on the eyes and have high contrast to make your text and visuals stand out. Avoid using too many colors or bright colors that can be distracting.

• Limit the amount of text

Avoid putting too much text on a slide. Use short phrases or bullet points to highlight key information. The audience should be able to understand the main message at a glance.

• Use animations and transitions sparingly

Animations and transitions can add interest to your presentation, but use them sparingly. Too much animation or transition can be distracting and take away from the content of your presentation.

• Keep a consistent design

Use a consistent design throughout your presentation, including fonts, colors, and layout. This will help your audience focus on the content and not get distracted by changing designs.

• Test your slides

Before the presentation, make sure to test your slides on the equipment you will be using. Check the font size, color contrast, and overall design to ensure that everything is visible and clear for the audience.

• The maximum number of words

There is no hard and fast rule for the maximum number of words or lines on a slide for optimal readability, as it depends on various factors such as font size, typeface, spacing, and the amount of information being presented. However, as a general guideline, it is recommended to keep the text on each slide concise and to the point, using bullet points rather than full sentences.

• Proportion and alignment

In terms of proportion-related issues, it is important to ensure that the text and any accompanying visuals on the slide are properly aligned and balanced. The use of white space or negative space can be effective in achieving this balance, allowing the eye to rest and making the slide easier to read. It is also important to use appropriate font sizes, making sure that the text is large enough to be easily read from a distance but not so large that it overwhelms the slide.

Managing the presentation time and allocating a Q&A Session at the end of the presentation?

Managing time and conducting a Q&A session at the end of a presentation is crucial to ensure that the audience can engage with the speaker and get their questions answered.

Here are some tips on how to manage time and conduct a successful Q&A session:

• Time Management

When preparing your presentation, be sure to allocate enough time for the Q&A session at the end. Plan to finish your presentation at least 5-10 minutes before the scheduled end time to allow enough time for questions. It's also important to stick to your allotted time during the presentation to ensure that you have enough time for the Q&A session.

• Encourage Questions

Encourage your audience to ask questions throughout your presentation, but also let them know that you will have a dedicated Q&A session at the end. This can help you avoid interruptions during your presentation and ensure that all questions are addressed during the Q&A session.

• Repeat Questions

When someone asks a question, repeat it back to the audience to ensure that everyone heard it and understands what is being asked. This can also help you clarify the question if it's not clear.

• Stay Focused

During the Q&A session, it's important to stay focused on the questions being asked and keep your responses concise. Avoid going off-topic or providing too much detail in your responses, as this can eat up valuable time and make it difficult to address all questions.

• Be Respectful

Be respectful of all questions, even if they are challenging or critical. Avoid getting defensive or dismissive, as this can create a negative atmosphere in the room.

• End on Time

Be sure to end the Q&A session on time, even if there are still unanswered questions. Let the audience know that you are happy to continue the conversation after the presentation and provide your contact information for further discussion.

By following these tips, you can effectively manage your time and conduct a successful Q&A session at the end of your presentation.

In conclusion, delivering a successful presentation at an academic conference requires thorough preparation, clear and concise messaging, engaging presentation design, and effective delivery skills. By following the tips outlined in this article, you can effectively manage your nerves, engage your audience, and communicate your research findings in a compelling way. Remember to practice, time yourself, and be prepared for questions. With these strategies in mind, you can confidently present your work and make a meaningful contribution to your field.

If you enjoyed this article, please do not forget to share it with your friends. And if you need to know how MeetingHand can assist you in planning great academic events, please visit our website or just BOOK A PERSONAL DEMO ith us.!

Home Blog Presentation Ideas The Power of Audience Engagement: Strategies and Examples

The Power of Audience Engagement: Strategies and Examples

Engaging your audience is vital to effective presentations, business interactions, and media communication. It’s a powerful tool that fosters connection, enhances knowledge retention, and drives action. Research conducted on audience engagement informs us that physiological factors like cardiac synchrony can be appreciated when the spectators feel a deep emotional connection to the event they are attending. 

This article explores the importance of audience engagement in presentations, offering practical strategies, rules, and tools to captivate your audience with real-life examples and methods to measure engagement. 

Table of Contents

What is Audience Engagement?

Strategies for audience engagement in presentations, rules of audience engagement, real-life examples of audience engagement, tools for boosting audience engagement in presentations.

We can define audience engagement as the degree of interaction and involvement of individuals in a particular activity or event. It’s not merely about having an audience but cultivating a dynamic relationship with them. This engagement is gauged by the level of attention, interest, and emotional connection an audience has towards the content they are consuming. 

Audience engagement is not a one-size-fits-all concept. It varies based on the nature of the audience, the platform used, and the goals of the engagement. However, at its core, it’s about creating a two-way communication that values the audience’s input and encourages them to interact, participate, and connect – a point of particular interest in motivational presentations. This engagement is beneficial and essential in today’s digital age, where attention is scarce . A high level of audience engagement signifies that your message resonates with your audience and that they are invested in your content or cause.

The Role of Audience Engagement in Business, Education, and Social Media

Audience engagement is pivotal in various sectors, including business, education, and social media. For business professionals, it translates as the cornerstone of customer relationship management. Engaging customers is not just about making sales; it’s about building relationships, cultivating loyalty, and creating brand advocates. Businesses prioritizing audience engagement tailoring their advertising efforts to attend to the customer’s driving factors , often enjoy increased customer retention rates and higher profits. 

Engaging the audience in business environments also involves high-level meetings between organizations and potential investors, as the closer the speaker connects with the audience, the better impact tools like a business pitch may have. 

Moving on to academics, educators strive to captivate their students’ attention, stimulate their curiosity, and encourage active participation in the learning process. Engaging students leads to improved comprehension , better retention of information, and a more enjoyable learning experience. It’s not just about imparting knowledge; it’s about inspiring a love for learning and nurturing critical thinking skills.

We can guarantee that audience engagement is the key to visibility and influence on social media platforms, as experience does tell. The algorithms of most social media platforms prioritize content with high engagement rates, making it more likely to appear in users’ feeds. Therefore, influencers, brands, and individuals wishing to maximize their reach must create content encouraging likes, comments, shares, and other forms of engagement. 

First Impressions and Relevance

The relevance of your content to your audience’s interests or needs determines their level of engagement. To achieve this, understand your audience’s demographics and preferences, then tailor your content to match these. This strategy not only grabs attention but also fosters a lasting connection.

Presenters should research techniques for how to start a presentation to ensure a great first impression with the audience. Our expertise tells us that over 60% of the success rate of the presentation is granted during that first introductory minute, so don’t neglect the first opportunity to connect with your attendees.

Utilizing Practical Information

To engage your audience effectively, provide practical, actionable information. This boosts your credibility and empowers your audience, making them more likely to interact and relate with your content. Remember, the more value you offer, the greater the engagement rate you’ll receive.

Applying Tools to Raise the Impact of Your Speech

To amplify your speech’s impact, leverage tools like visual aids, storytelling , and rhetorical devices. Visual aids such as infographics can simplify complex ideas , while storytelling can evoke emotions and make your message more memorable. Rhetorical devices like repetition can emphasize key points, ensuring they resonate with your audience.

The Power of a Familiar Environment

To enhance presentation performance, create a familiar environment. Use common language, relatable examples, and shared experiences to establish comfort. This strategy nourishes connection, encourages participation, and promotes audience engagement, thereby boosting the impact of your presentation.

Understanding Audience Needs

There are techniques you can apply prior to your presentation to ensure your content is tailored for the target audience. Conduct demographic research to understand their age, gender, occupation, and interests. Next, engage with them through surveys (via email if they signed up for the event online) or social media to grasp their desires and pain points. 

Analyzing their behavior, such as purchasing habits, can also provide valuable information. Consider their cultural and social context to understand their perspectives. Remember always to be open to feedback: this will not only show your audience that you value their opinion but also help you tailor your approach to meet their needs.

Maintaining Authenticity and Consistency

Presenters are often blamed for trying to emulate successful examples rather than using their own voices. First, be genuine. Authenticity resonates with audiences, making your message more compelling. Avoid pretense and remain true to your character, values, and beliefs. Second, maintain consistency. Your message should be coherent and consistent throughout. This includes your speech, visuals, and body language (and yes, this can be pretty evident in your interest in the topic you present). Inconsistencies can confuse your audience and weaken your message. 

Consistency also extends to your brand or personal image. Ensure that your presentation aligns with your established image. This will reinforce your credibility and build trust with your audience. Lastly, practice regularly to maintain a consistent pace and tone. This will help you avoid sudden changes in speech that can disrupt the flow of your presentation.

A compelling example of audience engagement in the IT sector is the transformation of Microsoft under the leadership of Satya Nadella . Before Nadella’s tenure, Microsoft was losing its grip on the market, with dwindling audience engagement. The company was perceived as outdated and unresponsive to customer needs. However, Nadella implemented strategies to reinvigorate the brand and boost audience engagement. He prioritized open communication, encouraging employees to listen to customer feedback and respond promptly. He also championed using social media platforms to interact with customers, providing quick solutions to their problems. This strategy increased audience engagement and improved the company’s reputation. 

The impact of these strategies was measured using social media traffic and lead generation results. Microsoft saw a significant increase in followers on their social media platforms, and the lead generation rate also improved. The positive customer feedback and the measurable results motivated the team to continue pursuing excellence. They realized that their efforts were not in vain and that they were making a difference in the company’s performance. This example reveals the power of audience engagement in transforming a brand’s performance. It also highlights the importance of measuring results to motivate the team and ensure the effectiveness of the strategies implemented.

PowerPoint Presentation Templates by SlideModel

SlideModel PowerPoint and Google Slides templates are a game-changer for presenters, offering a comprehensive solution to design dilemmas. These templates simplify the process of creating visually appealing presentations, allowing presenters to focus on delivering their message effectively. The beauty of these templates lies in their complete editability. Presenters can customize each element to suit their unique needs, ensuring their presentation aligns with their brand and message. Moreover, SlideModel offers a vast selection of templates designed to cater to various business tools. Below you can find some examples of what these templates can do for you.

1. 5W1H Framework PowerPoint Diagram for Collective Thinking Audience Engagement

This framework counting with 5 why(s) and 1 how question is ideal to encourage team members to look for solutions as a group, as it requires a deep understanding of the causes behind a problem, plus an iterative technique of cause-and-effect analysis to reach for an answer.

Use This Template

2. Evaluation Scale of 1 to 10 Graphic for Engaged Presentations

We can imagine meetings where we need to evaluate the conditions created after the impact of some of our choices. This scale of 1 to 10 PPT template helps teams to give a visible score and give the reasons behind their scoring to address the importance of certain topics. Ideal for in-team meetings where we have to determine the priorities for future work sessions.

3. Pros & Cons PowerPoint Template for Activities to Engage the Audience

Present the pros and cons of situations in a format filled with visual aids. By implementing the weighting scale metaphor, the audience can quickly understand why some decisions may have a bigger impact than others, or in case of products, why certain choices shape out the market performance of a product or service.

4. Team Introduction Template to Engage Listeners

Who said that team presentation should be a boring part of the event? By using this striking colored presentation template for PowerPoint and Google Slides, each team member can introduce themselves in a blast, offering a clearer picture of their capabilities for the role they perform. Additionally, presenters can explain the relationships on a hierarchical level of each team member, how they contribute to the project, etc.

5. Customer Journey Storytelling Template for Audience Engagement

Take the typical approach to customer journey analysis and convert it into an engaging storytelling experience with this Mountain Customer Journey PowerPoint Diagram. It allows us to evaluate the progress, challenges, and changes to implement by taking the ideal customer persona or real-life data and evaluate in monthly periods.

Whether you’re presenting a SWOT analysis , a business plan , or a marketing strategy , there’s a template tailored to your needs. This variety enables presenters to choose a design that resonates with their topic, enhancing audience engagement. In a nutshell, SlideModel’s PowerPoint and Google Slides templates are indispensable tools for presenters, allowing presenters to use powerful graphics without requiring knowledge of graphic design.

The Power of Storytelling

Storytelling is a potent tool for audience engagement. It captivates listeners, stimulates their imagination, and fosters an emotional connection. By weaving a compelling narrative, you can effectively convey your message and make it memorable. Stories resonate with people personally, making them more receptive to your ideas. They also encourage active participation, as audiences often see themselves in the narratives, leading to a deeper understanding of your message. Whether you’re presenting a business proposal or educating a class, harness the power of storytelling to captivate your audience and leave a lasting impression.

Open-ended Questions

Open-ended questions stimulate thought, spark conversation, and encourage active participation. Unlike closed-ended questions, which limit responses to specific options, open-ended questions invite a wide range of answers, allowing audiences to express their thoughts, feelings, and ideas freely. This fosters a deeper connection and provides valuable insights into your audience’s perspectives, needs, and preferences. Whether you deliver a business presentation, teach a class, or host a live social media session, incorporating open-ended questions can significantly enhance your audience engagement strategy.

Polls and Surveys

These tools provide a platform for your audience to express their opinions, cultivating a sense of involvement and importance. They also offer valuable insights into your audience’s preferences, enabling you to tailor your content to their interests. 

Real-time poll results can create a dynamic, interactive experience, keeping your audience engaged and eager for more. Remember, the key to successful audience engagement is making your audience feel heard and valued; polls and surveys are excellent tools.

Group Activities 

Group activities promote collaboration and stimulate critical thinking. You can facilitate in-depth discussions, problem-solving tasks, or brainstorming sessions by dividing your audience into smaller groups. This not only keeps your audience actively involved but also encourages them to share their ideas and perspectives. 

Furthermore, group activities can be designed to be entertaining, adding an element of enjoyment to the engagement process. Remember, an engaged audience is more likely to absorb and retain the information you present, making your event or presentation a resounding success.

Wrapping up, the power to captivate your audience lies in your hands. The techniques shared in this article are not just theories but practical strategies proven to boost audience engagement. From understanding your audience’s needs to maintaining authenticity, the impact of these strategies is undeniable. So, don’t just read and forget. Take action. Implement these strategies in your next presentation or event. Remember, the more engaged your audience, the more successful your message delivery. So, get started today and see the transformation in the lasting impact of your talk.

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13 Tips For Your Conference Presentations

Both in academia and professional development, conference presentations are pivotal moments for sharing knowledge and insights. Yet, one of the most daunting challenges presenters face is keeping these sessions lively and engaging, particularly when dealing with complex technical material. 

This article aims to arm you with strategies to inject a dose of entertainment and interaction into your presentations — steering clear of the mundane and elevating your speaker skills to new heights.

Best practices for entertaining conference presentations

First, let’s look at some tips and strategies to help you engage your audience. To enhance your conference presentation skills, be sure to integrate the following key elements:

1. Captivating openings

The first moments of your presentation are crucial to capturing your audience's attention. Think of your opening as the hook that reels your listeners in. A powerful way to start is by posing a thought-provoking question, one that challenges or piques curiosity. Alternatively, a startling statistic relevant to your topic can jolt your audience into keen attention. Or, consider sharing a brief, pertinent story — stories have a unique way of connecting with people on a personal level. Whichever route you choose, your goal is to establish a positive and dynamic atmosphere right from the get-go, setting the stage for an engaging presentation.

2. Interactive elements

Audience participation is a game-changer in maintaining interest and energy in your conference presentation. Why not spice things up with live polls? They're fun and offer instant insights into your audience's thoughts and opinions. Interactive Q&A sessions can transform passive listeners into active participants, creating a two-way street of communication. If the setting allows, hands-on demonstrations can be incredibly effective, especially for more technical topics. These interactive strategies enliven your presentation and foster a sense of community, making your audience feel like they're a part of the journey — not just spectators.

3. Creative visuals and multimedia

In the world of oral presentations, visuals are powerful tools for clarity and engagement. To transform your slide deck from bland to brilliant, consider integrating infographics that distil complex data into digestible visuals. Short video clips can break the monotony of a traditional presentation, offering a dynamic way to illustrate your points. Animations, too, can add a layer of interest and help simplify intricate concepts. These multimedia elements enhance the visual appeal of your presentation and also play a crucial role in keeping your audience hooked — while making complex information more approachable and understandable.

4. Storytelling and narratives

There's a reason why stories captivate us: they weave information into a narrative that's easier to connect with and remember. In your presentation, harness the power of storytelling. Consider framing your talk around a compelling narrative or a real-life case study. This approach can transform abstract or technical data into a story that resonates with your audience. It's about taking the facts and figures and weaving them into a tale that not only informs but also engages and sticks in the memory long after the presentation is over.

5. Humour and relatability

When used judiciously, humour can be a potent tool in your presentation arsenal. A well-timed joke or a light-hearted anecdote can enliven your presentation and endear you to your audience. However, the key is balance and relevance. Ensure that your humour is appropriate for the setting and contributes to your message rather than detracting from it. It’s important to note that while humour can be a great icebreaker or a way to connect, maintaining professionalism is paramount. It's about striking that perfect chord between being engaging and respectful.

6. Audience-centric approach

Every audience is unique, and tailoring your presentation to their specific interests and level of understanding can make a world of difference. Start by assessing the audience's background and knowledge about the topic. Use analogies and examples that they can easily relate to, making your content more accessible and engaging. This approach helps break down complex ideas and ensures that your message resonates more deeply with your audience. By aligning your content with their interests and understanding, you create a more impactful and meaningful presentation experience.

What to avoid in conference presentations 

Navigating the pitfalls of conference presentations is just as crucial as mastering the art of engaging delivery. Here are some common missteps to steer clear of, ensuring your presentation resonates rather than repels.

1. Information overload

In the quest to convey as much information as possible, it's easy to fall into the trap of overloading your slides with text and data. But remember, less is often more. When slides are crammed, your audience can quickly become overwhelmed, leading to disengagement. Instead, focus on the essential points. Use visuals not just as decorative elements, but as tools to underscore and clarify your message. This approach not only makes your presentation more digestible but also helps maintain the audience's interest by providing a clear and focused narrative.

2. Monotonous delivery

The tone and style of your delivery can be the difference between captivating your audience and sending them into a daydream. A monotonous, unvarying delivery is a surefire way to lose your audience's attention. To avoid this, inject variety into your speaking style. Vary your tone, adjust your pace, and use pauses strategically to emphasise key points. These changes in vocal dynamics can significantly enhance the engagement level of your presentation. Remember, your voice is a powerful tool — practising vocal variety can help keep your audience hanging on your every word.

3. Neglecting audience interaction

Beware of falling into the trap of one-directional communication. A presentation is not just about delivering information; it's about creating a conversation. Engaging with your audience through questions and feedback transforms a monologue into a dialogue, making the session more dynamic and memorable. Techniques like posing open-ended questions, encouraging audience participation, and creating opportunities for feedback can invigorate your presentation. Keep in mind, that the goal is to create an environment where your audience feels involved and invested in the conversation, not just passive recipients of information.

4. Lack of preparation and organisation

The cornerstone of any successful conference presentation is thorough preparation and organisation. An unprepared or disorganised presenter undermines their credibility and detracts from the message they're trying to convey. To avoid this, invest time in rehearsing your presentation, familiarising yourself with your content, and organising your material in a coherent, logical flow. This preparation pays off by enabling you to deliver your presentation confidently and smoothly, ensuring that your audience remains engaged and focused. Effective rehearsal also includes anticipating potential questions and practising transitions between topics, ensuring a seamless flow that captivates your audience from start to finish.

5. Disregarding time constraints

Time is a precious commodity in any presentation setting. Overextending your allotted time shows a lack of respect for your audience's schedule and can also lead to waning attention and engagement. To avoid this, practice strict time management. This includes conducting timed rehearsals to get a realistic sense of your presentation's duration and identifying areas where you can trim without losing essential content. Prioritise your key messages and be prepared to adjust on the fly if you find yourself running long. Always consider that a concise, well-delivered presentation is far more impactful than one that overstays its welcome.

6. Ignoring technical checks

In today's digital age, especially with the rise of virtual presentations, technical preparation is non-negotiable. Technical glitches can disrupt the flow of your presentation and disengage your audience. To prevent this, allocate time for a thorough setup and testing of all your equipment. Check your internet connectivity, audio-visual equipment, and any software you'll be using. Additionally, always have a backup plan ready for unforeseen technical failures. This level of preparedness ensures a smooth, uninterrupted presentation, keeping your audience focused on your message, not the technical difficulties.

7. Underestimating visual design

The design of your slides can significantly impact the effectiveness of your presentation. Avoid settling for generic or cluttered slide designs, as they can detract from your message. Instead, focus on creating a visually appealing presentation. This includes thoughtful choices in colour schemes, fonts, and a minimalistic approach to layout and content. Well-designed visual aids enhance the aesthetic appeal and convey your message more clearly and effectively. Bear in mind that your slides are an extension of your communication, so give them the attention they deserve.

Key takeaways

To nail a successful conference presentation, the key is blending informative content with elements that truly engage and captivate. This mix is essential for transforming your conference talk from standard to standout, ensuring it grabs and keeps your audience's attention. Whether you're preparing for an academic conference or a professional event like the WeAreDevelopers World Congress — these tips are your toolkit. 

It's all about finding that sweet spot where professionalism meets creativity, turning your PowerPoint presentation into something both enlightening and memorable. Remember, a great conference presenter informs, connects, and inspires.

What’s a Rich Text element?

The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.

Static and dynamic content editing

A rich text element can be used with static or dynamic content. For static content, just drop it into any page and begin editing. For dynamic content, add a rich text field to any collection and then connect a rich text element to that field in the settings panel. Voila!

How to customize formatting for each rich text

Headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, figures, images, and figure captions can all be styled after a class is added to the rich text element using the "When inside of" nested selector system.

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18 Ways to Make Your Presentation More Interactive

November 10, 2017 - Dom Barnard

It can be difficult to hold your audience’s attention for the entire presentation. According to a  Prezi study , half of the respondents said they did something other than listen during a co-worker’s presentation, including:

• Sending a text message (28%)
• Checking emails (27%)
• Falling asleep (17%)

An interactive presentation is much more likely to keep your audience’s attention and build rapport with them, and there are a few simple ways to achieve this, from live polling to asking questions throughout.

This article explores several different effective strategies for making the audience feel fully involved in your presentation and keeping your audience’s eyes away from their smartphones.

Why involve your audience?

Listening to a presentation for any length of time can be a difficult process. If you don’t involve the audience, they’ll start to play with their phones, talk to colleagues and generally lose track of what you are saying. Once this happens and you start seeing that the audience would rather be somewhere else, you’ll start feeling anxious and might try to speed up the presentation.

To engage a  large audience  fully, the presentation needs to be energetic, purposeful and staged, as if it is a direct conversation between both you and your audience. That way, they’ll absorb your ideas and insights and they’ll have learnt something in an enjoyable way.

1. Plan from the audience’s perspective

Before you start  writing your presentation , think about these points:

• What are the most interesting parts in my topic?
• How much will the audience know about my topic? What level do I target it at?
• Which members of the audience will most likely be disinterested?
• How can I help them learn and understand my topic?
• What is the size of the audience?

You can do this by researching the event or conference, investigating other speakers at the event and even contacting the organisers to find out more about the demographic.

By asking these questions about your audience and identifying answers, you are starting to think about your audience’s interests and needs. Remember, the aim is to give the impression that your presentation has been planned according to your audience’s specific interests.

2. Use an easy-to-follow structure

When building your presentation, focus on giving it a structure which people can easily follow. Start by introducing the core concepts and goals, then elaborate on the various points in a bit more detail, draw logical conclusions and leave your audience with a clear takeaway message. You want to flow naturally from one part to the next like you are telling a big story chapter by chapter.

3. Get the audience immediately involved

You audience will come to your presentation in a range of different moods. Try using a simple ice-breaker to re-energise them and get them focussed on your presentation.

For example, ask people to stand up and introduce themselves to their neighbours, or have them identify two or three questions they would like to hear addressed during your presentation. By starting with an ice-breaker, you show your audience that your talk will be interactive and require their participation.

4. Ask the audience questions during your presentation

The audience’s attention drops to zero after just 10-15 minutes of your presentation. To get their attention back, take a break from your presentation from time to time and interact with your audience. Ask for their questions and answer them during your presentation. This will help clear up any confusion the audience might have.

When planning your presentation, identify opportunities in your material for your audience to ask questions. If you’re not comfortable breaking the flow of your presentation, mention that you’ll be taking  questions at the end  so the audience can prepare some questions.

Asking rhetorical questions as you move through your presentation involves your audience by stimulating their own thought processes. This technique also helps move between sections of your presentation as it establishes a clear transition from one point to another.

If you’re comfortable with taking questions throughout your presentation, use a tools such as  Slido , which allows your audience to ask questions anonymously at any time, so even shy people can participate in the discussion.

Example of what can go wrong with audience interaction

Audience interaction:

Watch how the presenter tries but initially fails to get the audience to interact with the presentation. Notice how he encourages them to get involved and eventually they do join in.

5. Use storytelling to make it more memorable

Since our early ancestors, stories have always been a huge part of human culture and civilisation. Storytelling is the most universal way to captivate your audience’s attention, no matter where they are from or what they do for a living.

Stories are much more engaging and memorable than lists of facts and figures, but you wouldn’t think so looking at the majority of presentations (particularly academic ones).

People automatically tune in when you  start telling your story  because they want to know what happens next. A popular storytelling technique is when you present the status quo and then reveal an improved path to that end goal.

Think of your presentation as one arching narrative. As we mentioned earlier, give it the proper structure with a clear beginning, middle and end. Introduce conflict and provide a powerful resolution that reinforces your key messages.

6. Use non-linear presentation software

Instead of flipping through slide after slide, you can show the relationships between your ideas and give your audience the “big picture” view of your topic. Try letting your audience drive the presentation by laying out all of your main points, and then let them choose which topics they want to go to. Your audience will get a truly custom presentation based on their interests, which they will appreciate and more easily remember.

Prezi, shown above, is a popular non-linear presentation tool.

7. Add in a short video

Billions of hours of YouTube are consumed each month and advertisers have identified videos as having a high  retention rate  for users. However very few presentations ever use videos to engage with their audience.

Find a short video clip that reinforces your story or explains a concept better than words can. You can either embed the video directly into your presentation software or include a link to an external website. Just make sure you test your method on the day of the presentation and have a backup on a USB just in case you need it.

8. Invite people onto the stage

If you’re preparing a particularly long presentation, consider having other people to come on stage and talk for a bit. This will help you narrate the story and make the whole presentation more interactive.

Steve Jobs never pulled off the entire presentation by himself; he always invited several speakers, including designers, partners, and other executives, to help him introduce their latest product. Of course, this technique should always be arranged with your colleagues in advance.

9. Poll the audience

Polls are similar to quizzes in that they engage the audience during the presentation. Polls encourage participants to think not only about your questions but also about their answers. Moreover, live polls help create mental breaks, so your audience can regain attention and stay focused throughout your presentation.

By including everyone in answering the question, you also create a group experience that leaves the audience feeling like they all have been part your presentation.

10. Use (appropriate) humour

Some of the best speeches and presentations in the world feature plenty of humour. No matter the subject, a great speaker will use natural charisma, humour and language to convey their points and get the crowd excited about what they are saying.

A great example of building rapport with the audience through the use of humour is Barrack Obama talking about the government building Iron Man.

Another example is when  Morgan Spurlock  offers individuals the opportunity to buy the rights to name his TED talk—which he refers to again at the end, where he reveals the title. He peppers the entire presentation with humorous commentary that nonetheless supports his point.

Create relevant jokes or find a way to bring out the humour in your subject, and your audience will be much more engaged and more likely to remember your words.

11. Practice your delivery, again and again

Practicing is the most important part of delivering an interactive presentation. You’ll need to practice where to use live quizzes, when to accept questions, which points to emphasise with body language and many more. There are several options for practicing:

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• In front of a mirror  – great for seeing and improving your body language, however it can be distracting to what you are saying.
• To friends or colleagues  – a useful way to get feedback on your presentation, try and action the feedback straight away to improve on it. You can also give the person some key areas to focus their feedback on if you believe you are weaker in those areas.
• Virtual reality  – practice in realistic  public speaking environments , whether it be in a virtual conference room or boardroom. Receive feedback on your speech with voice analysis technology.

With all three of these, you’ll want to work on your tone of voice, accent, pauses between sentences and facial expressions. The most important thing is to talk slowly and loudly enough to be heard and understood clearly.

A list of the best presentation skills courses you can practice with:

• Presentation Skills Training Courses

12. Try and relate to the audience

Make comparisons to events from everyday life that most people are more than familiar with. By making things look simple, not only will you help your audience get a better understanding of the subject by enabling them to visualize the information more clearly, you will also draw a connection between you.

After all, you are all just regular people with similar experience, you just happen to be performing different roles at the moment.

13. Strong body language (position, posture and gesture)

Non-verbal communication plays a large part in how we construct meaning, so it makes sense to consider how to use it in your presentation. You can make things more interesting for your audience by using  your body language  to enhance what you’re saying.

Body language goes beyond reinforcing your messaging – it’s useful from a biological standpoint. As discussed in her  body language TED talk , Amy Cuddy’s research found that using ‘assertive’ body language released testosterone and reduced cortisol in both men and women, thereby increasing confidence and decreasing stress.

An effective presenter pays close attention to the physical relationship with her/his audience. If you stand hidden behind an overhead projector or stand too far away from your audience, they will not develop a bond with you and this will limit the effectiveness of your presentation.

Your posture will also dictate levels of audience involvement. If you’re too relaxed and sit slumped in a chair to deliver your talk, the audience might drift away. Find a comfortable but purposeful position in relation to your audience and adopt an upright sitting or standing posture that allows for movement and gesture.

Audiences respond well to the physical energy and enthusiasm being conveyed by a presenter, and thus the use of clear and controlled gestures will greatly enhance your presentation. Gestures that are open and reach out to your audience serve to extend your presentation to them and thus help them feel more involved.

Examples of good body language:

• Use hand gestures when delivering key points
• Use calm, deliberate movements when highlighting certain information
• Keep arms and legs uncrossed

14. Maintain eye contact with all sections of the audience

Making eye contact is one of the most  powerful techniques  for involving your audience. If used well, eye contact can serve to make your address much more personal and thus more effective. If eye contact is avoided, the presenter can appear to be nervous and unconvincing.

It is important to share eye contact with all members of a small audience or all sections of a large audience. Avoid making eye contact with just the people you know, taking particular care not to deliver your entire presentation to the person who’s assessing your work. Remember that you will need to involve the whole audience if you are to make an effective presentation.

If you are nervous, eye contact can be very difficult to establish and maintain. Remember that some eye contact is better than none and that you should try to build your confidence over time.

15. Use live quizzes to better understand your audience

Live quizzes are a great way to understanding your audience better get them engaging with the material.

For example, if you’re giving a presentation on autonomous vehicles, you could ask questions such as:

• When do you think autonomous vehicles will become mainstream?
• Are you concerned by safety issues?
• If someone is injured or killed by the car, who is to blame?

These will surely create some interesting results which you, as the presenter, can talk about and discuss.

16. Use physical props if possible

You don’t need to be giving a product demo to use props during your presentation. Props are a great way to help the audience visually picture what you are talking about. While talking through your presentation, you can refer to the prop at certain points to highlight your point or make it clear to the audience.

Kenny Nguyen  does this will in his TEDx talk on ‘The Art of Saying No’. He refers to the “sword of yes” and “shield of no.” Naturally he picks up a sword and shield from the table to help demonstrate his points.

Another great example is when  Jill Bolte Taylor  brings a real human brain on stage during her TED talk to explain to what happened to her when she had a stroke. She touched the audience with this demonstration and left the audience in complete awe.

17. Extend your usual vocal range

Your tone of voice, your volume, and other vocal aspects affect how people listen and hear your message.

Julian Treasure’s  TED talk on ‘How to speak so that people want to listen’ is all about this, and at the end offers several tips ‘in our toolbox’ for how to master the use of voice, from changing your speaking pace to speaking in a different pitch.

Get feedback from a friend or colleague to see what works best for you.

18. Use language and literary techniques

Your use of language has a huge influence on the way you engage your audience. It’s important to use language your audience understands and is familiar with.

Avoid using language that is too formal or informal, too technical or too simplistic depending upon the nature of your talk and the knowledge base of your audience. Pitching your presentation at the right level can be a challenge but it is very effective for making the audience feel involved.

There are various  literary techniques  you can use, such as the Power or Three, to give greater impact to your message.

Involving your audience is essential to making an impact. Your presentation should pull them in, get their attention and stimulate their thoughts and understanding. This can be done in a number of ways.

The way that you plan your presentation will be critical in terms of using language and ideas that your audience will understand. You must also ensure that there is sufficient time for questions and discussion. The way that you deliver your presentation should create a bond with your audience.

Your use of eye contact, body language, spoken words and energy should  communicate effectively  and enthusiastically with all areas of the room, thus ensuring that the audience receives positive messages about you and your material.

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How to Encourage Audience Participation During Your Presentation

Audience Participation is an excellent way to make a good presentation into a stellar presentation. It can also be the scariest. That is why most speakers — even seasoned professionals — avoid asking their audience questions. It is too risky. Or is it?

The truth is that the types of audience participation that most speakers use can come across as cheesy or forced. Also, our audiences have been trained to not interact with us. From the time we are in grade school, we are trained to sit still and listen to the speaker (teacher.) Here is the good news, though. Presenters who get really good at audience participation can boost audience engagement dramatically and make each presentation a positive experience for their audiences.

So below, we’ve organized the tools in three parts. Part one covers different ways to encourage audience participation based on how introverted or stoic your audience is. Then in part two, we cover the best techniques to use during the interactive presentation to boost engagement. Finally, in part three, I cover some additional ideas that you want to avoid because they can be risky. By the way, these are the techniques that most speakers try first. Then, when the technique backfires, it makes the speaker less likely to want to ever try again. Again, though, if you avoid the ideas in part three, you have a strategic advantage over other speakers. As you begin to master these skills, you will be seen as a more professional speaker and presenter!

Special Warning about Post-Pandemic Live Polls and Other Technical Audience Participation Tools.

During the pandemic, virtual event organizers found creative ways to keep their audience’s attention during each virtual event. A couple of these virtual audience engagement tools were live chat and the live polling. The technology was added to try to add more interactive elements to the virtual meeting.

Unfortunately, though, this technology just reinforced bad habits. A good team communicates with each other and shares ideas confidently. And a good presenter creates a conversation with his or her audience. This technology didn’t really help with either of these things. In fact, it probably made communication more difficult. So, be careful about inserting these tools into in-person events. You get a much better result by just interacting with your audience verbally.

The Three Absolute Best Ways to Encourage Audience Participation During Your Presentation.

Some audiences will be eager to participate. We call this type of group an engaged audience. However, other audiences will be more stoic. Remember most audience members have been trained to sit still and be quiet during a presentation. So the ideas below can help you get even the most introverted audience to interact with you.

The process all starts, though, with the goal to create a dialogue with the audience versus a monologue. The longer that a speaker talks without getting the audience to do something or say something, the more bored the audience will be.

So a great technique is to ask the audience a question where they can voice their opinion.

Ask an Open Ended, Opinion Asking Audience Participation Question.

The absolute easiest of these audience engagement strategies is to just turn one of your key points into an opinion-asking question. When you do this, instead of you having to prove your bullet point to your audience… Well, you ask the audience to prove that the bullet point is true.

This technique is really simple if you have a well-developed bullet point that includes a result that your audience wants. Here is an example.

Standard Bullet that Most People Would Use.

• Five or Fewer Bullet Points in a Presentation.

However, this bullet has no result built into it. So, as the presenter, I can just ask myself, “If someone does this action, how will he or she benefit from it?” The answer to that is that the person will become a more concise speaker. So, I just add that to the bullet point.

• Limit Your Presentation to Five Main Bullet Points to Become a More Concise Speaker.

At this point, an open-ended question is easy. I just add the words “In what ways would…” to the front of the statement to make it into a question.

In what ways would limiting your presentation to five main bullets help you design a more concise presentation?

So, if I tell the audience my bullet point, I then have to prove to them that the bullet is true. However, if I ASK the bullet in the form of an opinion-asking question, the audience will then prove my bullet point to me.

Think, Write, Share.

The “Think, Write, Share” activity is a fantastic way to get your group to give feedback to you. Before I explain the technique, let’s discuss why it is valuable. Quite often, especially in training sessions, we really want to ensure that the audience understands what we have delivered. We also want to make sure that the audience retains the information. So, many new speakers will just ask the audience a question about the content. Of course, audience members will often be self-conscious about speaking to the group about content that is still fairly new. As a result, the feedback will be minimal.

A better technique is what we call, “Think, Write, Share.” Have the audience think about the question that you ask. After a few seconds, have them write down possible answers. After the group has written quite a bit of content, only then do you ask them to share the content.

For instance, I often start my presentation classes with a question like, “Think about all of the different physical things that happen to a person’s body when he or she gets nervous speaking. (Pause for a couple of seconds.) After you have thought of a few of these things, write down two or three that occur most often. (Wait for everyone to have at least one item written down.) What were some of the things that you wrote down?”

The beauty of this technique is that we aren’t putting anyone on the spot. If the person wrote something down, then he or she will not likely be uncomfortable reading the thing that they wrote to the group. It is an easy way to get the entire group to participate.

Group Discussion and Reports

A variation of Think-Write-Share is Group Discussion and Report. You basically just divide your audience into small groups of five to six people. You can either give each group a different question or have all of the groups ponder the same question. Then, give them a couple of minutes to discuss their question as a group and come to a consensus. Finally, have one member of the group give a report of their findings.

I often use this technique in classes after I assign an activity where groups will be working independently for some time. For instance, in my leadership classes, we have an activity on group problem solving where each group will be practicing the skill independently of each other. As a result, the groups may finish at slightly different times. So, I’ll have the first group begin to discuss summary questions as a team. As each other team completes the activity, I’ll give them the same questions. Once all of the teams are finished with the original activity, I have all of the groups report on the answer to the question. That way, no group is sitting around doing nothing.

Audience Participation Techniques to Get the Audience to Want to Participate.

Of course, good audience participation isn’t just about asking the right questions. There are also important techniques that you can use to (1) get your audience to answer the questions and (2) get more members of the audience to want to chime in.

Try these ideas.

Once You Ask the Question, Wait for an Answer.

When we ask a question of the audience, we often slip into a strange, Star Trek-like, space-time continuum where time slows down. It is easy for a presenter to ask a question, and then right away, answer the question ourselves. It seems like we have been waiting for a long, long time, but in fact, it has only been a slit-second. Quite often, when we ask a question of the audience, the participants want to think about their answers a little. So, it will sometimes take a little longer to get the responses. Don’t worry. If you asked a good question, they will respond.

If You Get No Responses, Re-Ask the Question a Different Way.

If you get answers different than you were expecting or don’t get any answers at all, take responsibility for the mistake. Something like, “Let me re-ask that question. I don’t think that came out right,” is a good way to get the audience focused on the new question.

Give The Audience Atta-Boys.

One of the most important secrets to getting great participation is to positively reinforce the action that you want to encourage. So, when you ask a question of the audience, you want to do two specific things.

• Give an Atta-Boy : Repeat or rephrase the response and tell the person who gave the response how what he or she said was true. For instance, if I asked what happens to speakers when they feel stage fright, and an audience member said, “faster heart rate,” I might rephrase what he said by saying, “Right, the heartbeat speeds up.” If you think about the risk that the person is taking by speaking out loud, you can see how if we don’t reinforce the comment, the person may wonder if what he said was correct. For instance, if I said, “Hhhmmm… Faster heart rate?” and stopped, most other people in the audience will now not want to take that same risk. No one wants to be embarrassed by the speaker.
• Write It Down : Write down the response on a flip-chart or whiteboard. When people see their words on the board, it makes them think that what they said was important. This little measure will both help you build rapport with your audience and help you remember what everyone said. That way, you can use all of the responses as a way to summarize the concept one final time.

A Few Other Types of Audience Participation that Are Riskier. So Proceed with Caution.

Remember, the goal is to open up lines of communication with your audience. You don’t want to make the audience feel like you are manipulating them or forcing them into a box. So be very careful if you decide to add any of these techniques to future events. These are the types of audience participation that typically turn audiences off.

Rhetorical Questions

These are questions that we ask that have an obvious answer. In fact, in most cases, we don’t really expect the audience to answer. I have to admit, when I was being trained as a speaker, my mentor told me to, “Never ask a question of your audience unless you really want them to answer.” The reason for this advice is that rhetorical questions have a high propensity to be seen as being manipulative. Obviously, if your audience feels like you are trying to manipulate them, they will react negatively.

However, audiences trust speakers who they can relate to. They trust speakers who are like them. So, if you begin your presentation with a statement that everyone in the audience will agree with, it can sometimes build that rapport. For instance, I might start a presentation class with a statement like, “Would you agree that most people have at least some type of public speaking fear?” Another option might be, “Would you agree with me that most business presentations are pretty boring? So if you are just a little more interesting than the last person who spoke, your audience will think you were great, right?”

Yes/No or Show of Hands Question

Personally, these types of questions are not my favorite. I tend to not use these a lot, myself. However, they do have a certain use. This is a great way to call attention to a group that you want to set apart as elite. For instance, if you have the top salespeople stand at the sales convention, you make the ones that had to remain sitting think, “I want to stand up next year!”

One of my friends leads big 300+ person seminars where he charges a nominal fee for attendees to come to the seminar. However, he has a smaller group of attendees who participate in his one-on-one ad group coaching sessions, and they pay an extra fee for this service. Anytime he has new openings in this coaching group, he will recognize the group at one of his big meetings. He will just say something like, “Can I have all of my Platinum Group please stand?” Then as they are standing, he will say something like, “If you have questions about any of the content that I’m covering, make sure and ask one of these folks.”

Basically, by separating out the coaching group, he has generated interest from the audience. Quite often, he will have participants coming to his registration table asking about how to join the group before he has even started to promote it. So, later in the meeting when he hands out the application to the entire audience, he gets more applications returned.

A Contest or Game

If you want to reinforce content that you have shared earlier in your presentation, sometimes a game or contest can add some fun.

Back when I used to do a lot of sales training, I used to use this technique a lot. Salespeople are really competitive. (They also don’t pay attention to training much, LOL.) So, if I had a two-day sales course, I might end the first day with a Jeopardy-style game show. I’d divide the class into a few teams, and the winning team might win gift cards. Obviously, this isn’t going to be the best way to end all meetings, but in certain situations, it works really well.

Use Audience Participation in Your Presentations to Make them Interactive

Regardless of which type of activity you choose, add in some type of audience interaction. It will make your speeches much more fun and interesting!

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8 ways to make your presentation more interactive

Get your team on prezi – watch this on demand video.

Chelsi Nakano April 29, 2016

In a recent survey we conducted with the help of Harris Poll, almost half of the respondents admitted to doing something other than listening during a co-worker’s presentation—popular answers included sending a text message (28 percent), checking email (27 percent), and falling asleep (17 percent). To say the least, it can be difficult to hold an audience’s attention, let alone get your message across when presenting.

One of the best ways to get your audience to stay focused is to make them feel like they’re a part of your story. There are a few simple things you can do to get your audience to participate in your presentation, by making it more interactive—here’s how.

1. Break the ice. Each of your audience members comes to your presentation in a completely different mood. A simple ice-breaker can put everyone on the same level and energize them for your presentation. Get your audience to do a simple exercise to reset their minds and refocus on your talk. For example, ask people to stand up and introduce themselves to their neighbors, or have them identify two or three questions they would like to hear addressed during your presentation. By starting with an ice-breaker, you show your audience that your talk will be interactive and require their participation.

2. Tell stories. Stories are food of the brain when it comes to the presentations, according to professional public speaking coach Nathan Gold . Storytelling is the most universal way to captivate your audience’s attention, no matter where they are from or what they do for a living. People automatically tune in when you start telling your story because they want to know what happens next. You can go further than dropping a few anecdotes into your speech. Use the storytelling technique that Nancy Duarte found after studying hundreds of TED talks : Present the status quo and then reveal the path to a better way. By following this formula, you set up a conflict that needs to be resolved. You’ll have the audience hanging on the edge of their seats, craving to hear the end of your story.

3. Add videos . With over 6 billion hours of video being watched each month on YouTube alone, it’s hard to believe that still so few presenters use them in their presentations. Videos are a great tool when it comes to giving an engaging presentation. Videos can evoke emotions in an audience that could be otherwise quite difficult to elicit. Find the clip that will put your audience in the right mood and that reinforces your story. With the seamless integration of YouTube videos in Prezi, there is no excuse for not using them.

4. Embrace the power of non-linear presenting. The Prezi experts agree that the real power of Prezi lies in the ability to present your non-linear story. Instead of flipping through slide after slide, you can show the relationships between your ideas and give your audience the “big picture” view of your topic. Try letting your audience drive the presentation—lay out all of your main points, and then let them choose which topics they want to zoom into. Your audience will get a truly custom presentation based on their interests, which they will appreciate and more easily remember.

5. Ask questions during your presentation. Presentation expert and best-selling author Carmine Gallo pinpointed that the audience’s attention drops to zero after just 10 minutes of your presentation. That’s right, 10 minutes. To get their attention back, Gallo advises creating soft breaks within your speech. Therefore, take a break from your presentation from time to time and interact with your audience. Ask for their questions and incorporate them already during the presentation. Tools like sli.do allow audience members to ask questions anonymously, so even shy people can participate in the discussion.

6. Poll the audience. Live polls are an incredibly effective tool for instantly engaging with your audience. Unlike rhetorical questions, polls encourage participants to think not only about your questions but also about their answers. Moreover, live polls help create mental breaks, so your audience can regain attention and stay focused throughout your presentation. By including everyone in answering the question, you also create a group experience that leaves the audience feeling like they all have been part your presentation. With sli.do , you can integrate live   polls seamlessly into your prezis and engage the participants without the need to switch between screens or applications.

7. Use props. You don’t need to be giving a product demo to use props during your presentation. Props are a great way how to help the audience to wire in another senses to absorb your message. So bring props on the stage and show them during the right point to help the attendees visualize what you are describing verbally. Neuroscientist Jill Bolte Taylor brought a real human brain on stage during her touching TED talk to explain to what happened to her when she had a stroke. She touched the audience with this demonstration and left the audience in complete awe.

8. Share the glory. Don’t steal all the glory for yourself. Share the stage with other presenters or the audience members to help you narrate the story and make the whole presentation more interactive. Steve Jobs never pulled off the entire presentation by himself; he always invited several speakers, including designers, partners, and other executives, to help him introduce their latest product. Do the same. Bring someone from the audience onstage and get them do something relevant and fun. This technique should always be arranged with the volunteer in advance.

Juraj Holub is the Social Media and Content Specialist at Sli.do . Sli.do is an award-winning audience engagement platform for live events that allows everyone in the audience to ask questions and vote on live polls via their mobile devices. Sli.do also allows Prezi users to seamlessly integrate live polls into their presentations.

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5 Ways to Create Audience Participation in Presentations

How many presentations have you attended that could have been delivered more effectively as an email?

You know the drill.

The speaker unleashes a tidal wave of PowerPoint slides with graphs and charts going every which way.  It’s hard to pay attention. They rarely ask questions or solicit feedback to involve the audience.  To add insult to injury many speakers will read the slides.

That’s bad. Really bad. Because the world has changed, and so have your audiences.

Not including time for audience engagement in your events and presentations might have worked in the past, but today’s audiences have higher expectations of being involved with learning and interacting.  So, you need to make the time!  Just consider how audiences have become more hands-on in reaction to major recent changes:

20 years ago – Internet searches and YouTube videos :

About 20 years ago Amazon.com was created, kind of when the Internet got really popular. Today, when my friends or my brother and I have an argument about who’s the best sports athlete we don’t just guess – we Google search it to see who is right.  And, we Google it on our smart phones. You probably do that, too.  And when I need to fix the dishwasher, rather than call a plumber, I go on YouTube to find videos. You probably do that, too, and so do your audiences . Do-it-yourself videos have changed your attendees’ behavior.

10 years ago – Mobile/Social enables content creation, sharing, collaboration and critiquing :

When the iPhone came out about 10 years ago that really started a social mobile revolution. Now, where I live in Minneapolis Minnesota, over 85% of the people have smartphones! That means 85% of the people are content creators, because the phone in their pocket is a tool for creating content and sharing that content. They don’t need anything else. They have the tools and experience to create content and share or critique it or collaborate with others about it.

Today – More people with advanced education :

In the United States there are more college and master’s degrees per person than ever before. In the last 20 years the number of U.S. master’s degrees has more than doubled.  And the number of college degrees per capita went up over 40 percent.  The number of secondary degrees is the highest ever.  That means your audience is more educated, so you’ve got smart people in the room. With Audience Response Systems (ARS) you have a way to Google them and get them involved in what you’re trying to do, rather than force them to just sit and listen.

If you think that you don’t have time in your program, you better make time! Because your audiences have the tools to figure out what the answers are to their problems and go solve them.  You’re better off using that audience collectively, engaging them to create something greater, instead of just having a speaker and leaving all that brainpower and willingness left fallow.

So, you don’t have to be the person who drowns your audience under waves of PowerPoint slides.  Instead, follow the suggestions below to get your audience involved and help them pay attention to you!

1. Schedule audience participation into your presentation

Yes, you need to plan audience interaction in your presentation.  I would recommend 10-20 minutes.

Why?  Because attendees stop paying attention after 10 minutes AND your presentation is probably the third one of the day. They can only take so many graphs and charts.

If you can get them to consider rhetorical questions, participate in small group conversations or ask you questions, then you will win.

2. Help people participate during your presentation

For audience interaction – speakers should inspire the audience to act.

When we looked at the reasons people attend conferences words like Try, Share, Meet and Discuss bubbled up to the top.

Along those same lines the key audience participation words are  ask, answer, poll, rank, vote, play, capture, collect, discuss, display, share .  Notice: “sit and listen” are not on the list.

These are the actions that you can inspire your audience to take.

3. Think about attendee engagement as “Googling the audience”

If your audience could answer questions for you as quickly as Google – what would you ask them?  What questions should they be asking themselves?

Here are 10 questions senior leaders should be asking but are afraid to ask .

4. Create a feedback loop

A feedback loop is a way to take all of the small engagement conversations and bring them back to you the speaker. This might be through live polling results, conversation recaps, Q&A, word cloud or some other technique.

For example, sometimes speakers ask the audience to discuss a ___________ that ____________ (example: discuss a leader that inspires you ).  Then, attendees form groups of 2-3 and talk for a few minutes. Where does that conversation go afterward? Is the information fed back to the audience? Or do they keep it themselves?  Savvy presenters will ask someone to share these conversations.

5. Consider Live Polling, Interactive Q&A or Interactive Trivia

If you have a large audience, then Live Polls, Interactive Q&A or Interactive Trivia would be a great way to get people involved with you.

If your event is not providing an event app, then you may consider an audience response app to scale up your audience participation and attendee engagement. There are several options available and most have a basic interactive Q&A and Live Polling feature. Solutions like SocialPoint include the Interactive Trivia .

Also, these audience response apps have live results displays so you can create a feedback loop. Yeah!

If you don’t know how to use the technology read this guide:  How to Prepare Your Speakers to Use Audience Response Apps .

The Big Finish

Don’t let your next presentation be a tidal wave of PowerPoint slides. Incorporate 10-20 minutes of audience participation activities into the presentation.   We promise that you will see the results in your post-event feedback forms.

Have an awesome next event!

If you need game ideas to increase audience and attendee engagement in your events and trade show booths try our game selector tool below. It will help you generate more fun, excitement, and results.

Related Articles

• Posted on 22 Dec 2017
• By Samuel J. Smith
• In audience engagement

Written by Samuel J. Smith

Samuel J. Smith is a thought leader, researcher, speaker and award winning innovator on event technology. In 2011, BizBash Magazine added Sam to its annual innovators list. Since then, Sam has won awards from Exhibitor Magazine, IBTM World, RSVP MN, International Live Events Association and MPI for innovation in event technology.

10 Ideas to Make Your Conference More Interactive

If you're hosting a conference, you should know one thing: the expectations are different. These days, people want to participate in the events they attend, and experts confirm that gatherings must have an interactive component to be successful. 

Karen Harris, the CEO of cmi, a management agency that represents a roster of speakers internationally, added that "Speakers who are used to standing on stage and delivering a canned speech aren't going to make it. The demand is definitely up for the attendee to be a participant in the conversation rather than just a passive listener." - Mark Murphy, The Next Time You Attend A Conference, Expect It To Feel Different  

This insight may be information you already know, but increasing participation at your event is easier said than done. If you've never thought of ways to engage an audience, you may be racking your brain, wondering how to make your conference more interactive . But don't worry. For ideas on how to get attendees to engage and participate, there are ten tips you can use.

1. Have a Great Host

You can't have an interactive conference if you don't have a host who's comfortable interacting with people. The best thing to do is to hire a professional who understands how to make your attendees feel like royalty. This person should be attentive and alert, knowing how to ask engaging questions and play off people's comments in a fun, appropriate way. 

They should champion attendees by listening to them, gathering their questions, and using their input to guide the conference. And a good host should be a master at having intriguing conversations with speakers that they know audience members will love.

2. Diversify Topics & Hire Keynote Speakers

Another great way to make your conference interactive is to include a range of relevant topics. For example, if you're having a marketing conference, discuss current trends, the industry's future, ways to have engaging staff meetings , remote team-building ideas , and other intriguing topics. 

‍ With a diverse list of subjects, audience members will be excited to attend every session, and they'll be more likely to interact if there's a good keynote speaker at each one. The presenters at your event should be knowledgeable and engaging, so don't hire people who will simply give a PowerPoint presentation. Instead, find keynote speakers who are genuine thought leaders that know how to energize your conference .

‍ 3. Provide Time for Q&A

When your event covers interesting topics, you can bet your guests will have questions. The best way to gather and address them is with dedicated time for Q&A towards the end of each session. So, encourage speakers to leave room for questions in their presentations. For example, if they're allotted one hour on stage, they can use 40 minutes for their presentations, while the last 20 minutes are for Q&A. 

4. Use Live Polling and Feedback Tools

One of the easiest ways to increase participation at your event is with live polling and feedback tools. This technology is the perfect way to keep your attendees engaged during and between sessions. 

With the right tool, you can ask questions and garner input using live word clouds , ratings, user voting, quizzes , and live photo sharing . These activities will give your moderator and keynote speakers additional ways to increase interaction, and there are multiple tools that offer these fun features.

For example, Slides With Friends provides pre-made, ready-to-play decks for live polling and feedback. That means you don't have to create a game to make your conference interactive unless you choose to customize a deck. Additionally, attendees can use their mobile devices to submit answers, so it's easy for them to enjoy this tool as well.

5. Incorporate Visual Content 

Presentations with nothing but bulleted lists and a sea of words will no longer cut it at conferences. People want to engage with unique content that catches their eye and gives them a reason to focus. That means speakers must have visual material, like infographics, videos, and interactive PowerPoints . These assets will do wonders in keeping your audience's attention so that they respond to questions, ask questions, and participate in activities. 

6. Make Your Event Social Media Friendly

Without a doubt, your event should be social media friendly. Attendees should be able to connect, share, and learn the latest updates about your conference on all the major social media networks.

You can do this by implementing the following tips: 

• Create an event hashtag for guests to follow and use when posting about your event
• Hire a social media manager to post and share top moments from your conference
• Have photo-worthy environments and encourage people to take and share pictures
• Launch a social media contest to attract engagement and award the winner

Social media is all about connection, so it should be a primary part of your conference engagement strategy. And if you use it properly, attendees will feel a part of your event, whether it's virtual, hybrid, or in person. 

7. Offer Networking Opportunities

Events provide relationship-building opportunities, and you need to ensure your conference delivers multiple chances for people to connect. You can easily achieve this goal with breakout sessions, happy hours, or fun hangouts before or after tackling a particular day's agenda.

And these ideas are not limited to in-person conferences. 

You can have virtual breakout sessions, virtual happy hours with icebreaker games to boost conversations online, and virtual hangouts like online workouts. Every networking opportunity you offer in person can also happen virtually, so make sure you give online attendees a chance to connect with others as well.

8. Alternate Between Solo and Panel Sessions 

Listening to one speaker can be powerful, especially when the presenter has a deep understanding of what they're talking about and delivers insights in a fun, unique way. However, it's also great to invite a panel of speakers to discuss and debate some of the hottest topics your audience will find interesting. 

Your conference should have a mix of both solo and panel sessions. That way, your attendees can hear a range of voices, learn different opinions, and ask questions to various experts. Giving your audience many people to listen to will give them many reasons to participate.

9. Have Games & Giveaways 

Everyone loves friendly competition, so why not have it at your event? Games and giveaways are two of the best tactics to make your conference more interactive, and they're not hard to incorporate. You can have attendees play short, pre-made trivia games before a particular day of the conference starts. That way, guests are amped before the first session begins.

Additionally, during a session, you can ask keynote speakers to do a giveaway. For example, if they recently published a book, they can give one to whoever answers a question correctly.  

10. Offer Live Entertainment

Attendees will likely lose their initial steam and excitement as your event goes on. This response is natural. Even with great speakers and interesting topics, people can eventually get tired at a conference.

‍ However, if you want to energize and re-engage your audience, consider using live entertainment. You can hire a comedian, musician, or someone intriguing, like a magician. You can also provide entertainment at the end of the day and offer drinks, food, and games to create a hangout where people can unwind and truly have fun. 

Meet Expectations at Your Next Conference

Making your conference interactive isn't as hard as you think. With the right strategies, you can get your audience so excited to participate that they can't wait to attend your next event. So, take time to figure out which tips you want to implement to get your guests engaged. Then, you can host the fun conference people expect. 

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How to Get People to Actually Participate in Virtual Meetings

• Justin Hale
• Joseph Grenny

Stop the multitasking already!

One of the most challenging aspects of a virtual meeting is keeping people’s attention. It’s important to be thoughtful about how you engage attendees. In the first minute of your meeting, help participants experience the problem you want them to solve by sharing statistics, anecdotes, or analogies that dramatize the issue. Then emphasize shared responsibility for solving it. Define a highly structured and brief task they can tackle in small groups of two or three people and give them a medium with which to communicate with one another (video conference, Slack channel, messaging platform, audio breakouts).  Then have the groups report out. Never go longer than 5-10 minutes without giving the group another problem to solve. The key is to sustain a continual expectation of meaningful involvement so participants don’t retreat into an observer role. When that happens, you’ll have to work hard to bring them back.

In these difficult times, we’ve made a number of our coronavirus articles free for all readers. To get all of HBR’s content delivered to your inbox, sign up for the Daily Alert newsletter.

These days it’s hard to get people to pay attention in any meeting, but when people aren’t in the same room, it can be especially difficult. And it’s particularly annoying when you make a nine-minute argument, pause for an expected reaction, and get: “I’m not sure I followed you” which might as well mean: “I was shampooing my cat and didn’t realize I would be called on.”

• Justin Hale is a speaker, training designer, and master trainer at Crucial Learning . He is the lead engineer in designing Crucial Learning’s updated Getting Things Done® and Influencer course. He has also facilitated classes and delivered keynote speeches on crucial skills and principles to hundreds of clients and audiences around the world.
• Joseph Grenny is the author of the New York Times bestselling book, Crucial Conversations . He is also the cofounder of Crucial Learning , a learning company that offers courses in the areas of communication, performance, and leadership.

Partner Center

Audience Response System (ARS) Software for Polling, Audience Q&A, and Session Evaluations

We are excited to announce that Conferences i/o has been acquired by LCvista! Learn more here .

The 3 Keys To Maximizing Audience Participation on Conferences i/o

1. display instructions on the big screen.

At the start of each session, have your presenters display an instructional slide that informs attendees how to access Conferences i/o. Make sure the URL for your application is clearly visible to the audience.

We’ve even created some template slides that you can customize and provide to each of your presenters, or insert into the start of their presentation decks.

Download Template Slides Here

2. Make A Verbal Announcement

This is a crucial part in the process… As the instructional slide is being displayed on screen, have each presenter or moderator take 30 seconds to get the audience’s attention and make a quick announcement, encouraging them to participate. We’ve even provided a template script that you can follow (below).

“Welcome everyone. We’re going to be using a great tool called Conferences i/o that will allow you to interact with us during the [event / session]. If you have a mobile device (smartphone, tablet, laptop, etc.) please take 30 seconds right now, take out your device and go to [INSERT CUSTOM URL]. The URL is also being projected on the screen at the front of the room.

Conferences i/o will allow you to ask questions, respond to polls, and provide evaluation feedback in real-time throughout the [event / session]. Again that URL is [INSERT CUSTOM URL].”

Getting everyone’s attention with the verbal announcement is critical. Giving attendees the verbal call-to-action to ‘ go to the app right now ‘ will have a drastic impact on participation, compared to simply displaying the instructions on screen.

3. Play The Attendee Instructional Video

We’ve also created a short ( < 2 minute) Instructional Video that walks through how each feature works, and encourages attendees to participate. As a supplement to the verbal announcement you can also play the Instructional Video at the start of each session.

Access The Attendee Instructional Videos Here

Other Ways To Help Maximize Participation

If you’re providing informational folders or brochures to attendees, include instructions on how to log-on to the app inside the folder. You can print the instructional PPT slide and use that as the content for the handout.

Pre-Event Email

Send an email to attendees prior to the event, explaining what Conferences i/o is and how it works. A link to the attendee instructional video (mentioned in #3) works well for this purpose.

Provide the attendees with the link to your Conferences i/o app and encourage them to bookmark the link, or save the page to the home-screen of their mobile device for easy access once they are on-site at the event.

If you’re using Twitter for the event, send out a few tweets with a link to the App URL and append your event’s #Hashtag.

Engage Your Audience. Get Started Now!

11 Engaging Ways To Interact With The Audience

Hrideep barot.

• Body Language & Delivery , Presentation

While delivering a speech, have you ever glanced at the audience to see their reaction to what you’ve said, only to realize that there is no reaction at all because almost everybody has zoned out? Alternatively, have you ever found yourself sitting in the audience, daydreaming your way through an incredibly boring speech?

In both of these cases, it wasn’t the audience but the speaker who was responsible for the audience’s lack of attention.

That’s because it’s the speaker’s responsibility to interact with the audience, and to deliver a speech that’s not just informative but also engaging.

And avoiding–sometimes downright shaking off–this onus is a mistake that many, many speakers make. Often at the cost of the success of their own speech.

Audience Participation is active response by an audience to a live show or broadcast.

Grabbing and holding onto the audience’s attention is not an easy fear. However, it’s not impossible either.

If you don’t want crickets from the audience the next time you deliver a speech, it’s important to not deliver crickets from your end too. That is, don’t just dive into your speech and refuse to resurface from it. Instead, you need to interact with your audience. You don’t have to talk at them. You’ve got to talk to them. And since talking is a two-way process, you want to hear their response too.

Interacting with the audience might sound difficult, but it’s not, really.

There are many engaging ways of interacting with the audience, like playing games, having live Q & A sessions, getting them to join you on the stage, using props, and organizing Give-Aways!

The strategies you chose depend on the overall goal as well as the duration of your speech. Also, you need to do some advance preparation by researching your audience and what it’s going to be primarily composed of.

But first, why should you interact with the audience?

Importance Of Interacting And Connecting With The Audience

There are many reasons why it’s absolutely imperative for a speaker to interact with their audience. One of the primary reasons is that speeches often last for a very long time.  Interacting with the audience gives them a reprieve from listening, and offers them an opportunity to speak out. This makes them feel more involved with and connected to the event and with you i.e the speaker.

 The interaction will also work to make your talk memorable, and make the audience connect with you. If the audience has fun and feels a kinship with you, they will make conscious attempts to pay attention to your speech and engage with you. Also, it’s more likely they will be drawn in to hear you speak again in the future.

Another reason why it’s important to interact with the audience is because audience’s attention span is limited. If you don’t successfully keep them engaged, then sooner or later, they will start fiddling with their phones or simply zone out. Yikes!

Engaging Ways To Interact With The Audience

Now that you know the importance of audience interaction, let’s move onto the next step: how to interact with the audience.

1. Tell A Story…And Ask Them To Guess The End 

Stories are a necessary ingredient in most public speeches. This is because they lend a personal note to the talk, and make the experience more memorable for the attendees. However, one way of taking storytelling up a level is to involve your audience in it. A great way of doing that is by asking your audience what you think will happen next.

This will make your audience think and even analyze what you’re saying. This renewed attention is likely to last for longer than the duration of your story and to spill into your general talk, as well.

Even better: ask your audience what happens in the end, but don’t immediately tell them if they’re right. Hold onto the ending for a while, and weave in the answer where you feel it fits better during the rest of your talk. For instance, when you feel like you’re beginning to lose their interest again–throw in that ending!

The following is a great example of how you can use storytelling to ramp up your presentation! Notice the speaker’s body-language, their story selection, as well as the delivery of the same. 

2. Ask Them Questions

Another great way to make your presentation interactive is by asking your audience questions. Like guessing what happens next in a story, this will pique their interest, and get those analytical wheels in their head turning.

You could directly ask an audience member a question. Or, you could request the audience to answer with a show of hands. There are many ways of going about this. Just make sure that you prepare your questions beforehand.

Here’s an excellent way through which you can incorporate questions to ask your audience! Notice how the audience interaction improves with the speaker actively asking them questions.

3. Use Props!

Another excellent way of engaging your audience is by using props. Props not only make the presentation more fun and visually appealing, but if used right, will also make it easier for the audience to understand your message.

However, one thing to keep in mind before using props to spruce up your presentation is to keep in mind that the prop shouldn’t just be an added accessory. It’s not just there to be an entertaining element. Don’t choose a prop that seems redundant.

Rather, choose a prop that drives forward the point you’re trying to make. There are many props that you can use: a chair, a doll, a stick, a flower…Anything can be turned into a prop!

Below is an excellent example of how you can effectively use props to ramp up your presentation! Keep an eye on the speaker’s use of prop, and the way they use it to make the presentation better!

4. Play A Quiz!

Another way to engage your audience more deeply in your presentation is by quizzing them!

If you wish to quiz the audience to get an idea how of how familiar they are with the topic, you can add the quiz at the beginning of your speech. This can be a great bonding experience for them. Alternatively, you could add the quiz somewhere in the middle of your presentation, when you feel like the audience’s attention has begun wandering to other things.

Like the props, make sure that the quiz is relevant to the topic at hand. Also, keep in mind to prepare the questions beforehand. If you don’t want to hand out actual papers to the audience, you could have them directed to a website that they can use to solve the quiz on their phones.

Following is a how to on making an interactive quiz using PowerPoint! You can use the format in the video. Alternatively, you could take inspiration from it and come up with your own idea or go the other way and use a quiz website!

5. Invite Them To Join You On The Stage! 

If you want to take the audience’s involvement in your speech to the next level, you could invite them to the spot traditionally thought to be reserved for the speaker: the stage.

This is an excellent way of adding a kick of anticipation to your speech.

There are many ways in which you could do this. You could ask for volunteers, and then invite them on stage for an activity or game. Or, you could ask if anyone would like to add something to what you’ve just said, or talk about their experience, and hand over the mic to them!

6. Alternatively…YOU Get Off The Stage!

If you aren’t comfortable inviting people on stage, you could go the other way and step off of it yourself.

This is an amazing opportunity to directly interact with the audience and to make them feel like you’re one of them. Direct, face-to-face interactions with the audience members are a great, great way of making your speech memorable. Not just this, but the increased proximity adds that personal touch to the speech that so many speeches lack.

So, next time you’re delivering a speech, don’t be scared to push past the boundaries of the stage!

7. Get Them Moving!

Having to sit still for prolonged periods of time is a doorway to boredom. And boredom is what makes the audience tune out your awesome speech.

So, if you feel like you’ve spoken for a long time without giving your audience a break, get them moving! You could do this by making them play a game. Or, you could simply request them to stand and do a couple of fun exercises like clapping their hands or jumping!

Not only will it increase the overall energy level in the room, but it might also successfully draw out that sought-after burst of laughter from the audience!

Ellen DeGeneres is known for her audience interaction! Here’s a clip of how she keeps her audience moving! You can take inspiration from her approach to improve your audience’s engagement and get them moving!

8. Play Games With Them!

Who doesn’t like a good game, right? Especially if it’s a two-hour presentation, games are a great way of refreshing your audience and giving them a break from the monotony of listening.

Also, games don’t necessarily have to be just for fun and frolics. You can customize a game that actually adds to your topic. For example, you could use live polls or have a live Q & A on a website. You could also have an impromptu debate competition to give them a chance to tell what they think about the topic.

9. Get Them To Tweet

Gone are the days when cellphones were a luxury–or a distant dream. Today, anybody and everybody have a cellphone in their pocket. Although the general goal is to keep the audience’s attention off of the cellphone and focused on your presentation, there are ways in which you can use to your advantage the underlying human instinct of fingers twitching towards phone screens.

One way of doing this is by using Twitter. You can have a unique hashtag for your talk, and encourage the audience to tweet their questions, suggestions, or ideas on it. Then, address them live! This is an excellent way of engaging people who are shy or simply don’t wish to speak up.

10. Invite An Expert Panel

An expert panel is a great way of piquing your audience’s interest. Inviting guest speakers also gives the audience a break from having to listen to the same speaker for long stretches of time, and also makes it a more educational experience.

However, make sure that the speakers are relevant to and well-versed with the topic at hand. You could ask the audience to prepare any questions that they’d like to ask the speakers in advance. This will keep them interested and engaged throughout. Also, having distinguished speakers will improve the attention level as well as anticipation for your event!

Following is an excellent expert panel discussion that shows how it can improve audience’s interest during a speech! As you watch, try understanding why particular experts were invited to the panel. You can use the information to invite a panel to your discussion, depending on the topic at hand.

11. Incorporate Giveaways And Gifts!

Giveaways are a great, great way to increase your audience’s excitement levels. After all, who doesn’t like to win something, right? You could have a prize for a game, or simply give a small token of your appreciation to the audience at the end of your speech.

The giveaway doesn’t necessarily have to be something grandiose either! In a room full of people, the chance of winning even a small gift will work to boost anticipation–and competition! Also, gifts can also be branded to work as a Brand Goodwill, which will work to promote your company!

Need more tips for how to interact with the audience? Check out our article on Interactive Presentations: 7 Foolproof Ways To Engage The Audience!

12. Adding Augmented Reality

Another excellent way of getting the audience up and engaged is by using augmented reality. Virtual event planning is in high demand, and while the cost might be a little steep, it definitely pays off. That’s because AR is slowly seeping into all aspects of our life, and events are no exception! 

AR is an excellent way to visually engage the audience. Not only this but its relative “newness”, when compared to the other items on this list, make it a novel and memorable audience experience. It also boosts audience interaction and makes the event more lively and fun. 

So, if you can work through the tech and cost required, make sure to use it in your next speech!

Here is an example of how augmented reality can be employed to take your presentation’s visual engagement to another level! As you watch, keep a careful eye on the speaker as well as how they use AR to draw in their audience.

Here is an example of augmented reality use in a presentation. As you watch the video, notice the way in which the speaker employs the technology and drives forth his point

13. Introduce A Fireside Chat

Fireside chat are another great way to boost your audience’s involvement. Fireside chats are an excellent alternative to traditional Q & A sessions and speeches. So what’s a Fireside Chat?  Basically, a Fireside Chat is an informal conversation between a presentation moderator and the audience. The concept has evolved into a two-way debate and has been popularized by tech startup community events like TechFire and StartUp Grind. 

Fireside Chat are an excellent way to glean the audience’s insight in a first-hand manner. If done successfully, they can make the speech or presentation a wholesome, interactive and unforgettable experience. 

The following video demonstrates how having a Fireside Chat can boost the audience’s overall experience and also make it a better experience for the speaker. As you see it, keep a lookout on both: the audience as well as the moderators and how they both interact with each other. 

The following video demonstrates how having a Fireside Chat can boost the audience’s overall experience and also make it a better experience for the speaker. As you see it, keep a lookout on both: the audience as well as the moderators and how they both interact with each other.

14. Using Live Barometers

Live Barometers are an excellent method to not only engage the audience but also to get their insight into important parts of the presentation. Live Barometers, also called body voting, involves the moderator introducing a statement to the audience. Say, something like, “The Glass Ceiling Doesn’t Exist.” 

Next, the audience members move either left or right depending on what they feel about the statement. The degree to which they move depends on how much they agree/disagree with the statement.

Next, the moderator can ramp up the interaction by asking people why they feel a certain way about the presentation. Audience members can also debate with each other. If, by the end of the session, someone’s opinion alters, they can move along the two extremes! 

Here’s an excellent example of how you can incorporate live Barometers in your speech to make it more engaging & how you can frame your questions for the audience. 

Here’s an excellent example of how you can incorporate live Barometers in your speech to make it more engaging & how you can frame your questions for the audience.

15. Gamefying The Presentation 

If you don’t want the audience to be physically moving while playing a game, you could also have them play virtual games. Virtual games not only add a dose of fun, but they are also more feasible as not all members are required to physically move, which can be a barrier if you have limited space.

There are many different games that you can get the audience to play. Polls are one example. You could also have a live quiz set up for the audience. You could also have a trivia–or even play charades! 

16. Using Videos 

Using Videos in your presentation to increase audience’s interest might sound like overused advice, however, it’s overemphasized for a reason. Videos are an excellent, cost-effective way to add a dose of creativity to the presentation.

If you’re on a tight budget or have time constraints that make it difficult to be more creative with your involvement tactics, sticking to the basics is a great way to not totally neglecting it. Videos provide a reprieve from the monotony of a slideshow, and if your lineup is creative and novel, videos can work just as well as the other elements mentioned above! 

Understanding The Learning Pattern Of Your Audience 

If you want to have an out-of-the-ordinary and personalized strategy to ramp up your audience’s engagement, figuring out their learning pattern well in advance is a great way to go! 

We’ve written extensively on this topic here 6 Types of Learners (And How to Speak Them for Maximum Impact) . But you can read on to get the gist…

Broadly speaking, people’s learning types are as follows: 

Here is a more in-depth explanation of how you can use the audience’s learning pattern to make your presentation more interactive:

Visual/ Spatial Learners

Visual Learners gain information through visualizing relationships and ideas. They learn from essays, charts, diagrams, maps, pictures, etc. i.e through a variety of visual elements.

How To Engage Them: If you wish to engage them, ramp up your use of the above-mentioned elements in your presentation, and also use videos, games, props, and Augmented Reality! 

Solitary Learners

Solitary or interpersonal learners prefer learning alone, as opposed to learning with other people or a crowd. They retain information best when they’re doing it by themselves, rather than when they have company.

How To Engage Them: While it’s not possible to be physically alone during a jam-packed presentation, you can use their individualized temperament by employing interactive methods that require them to work alone like quizzes, using Twitter, having a one-on-one discussion by inviting them on stage, having individual giveaways, etc. 

Kinesthetic Learners

As the name itself explains, kinesthetic learners have a more hands-on approach to learning, as they learn through the use of their body and experiential learning. They learn through body and hand movements, and by physically manipulating objects in their surroundings.

How To Engage Them: To involve this type of audience, it’s best to use live Barometers, getting them moving, giving physical giveaways, and playing live games. 

Reading/Writing Learners

Writing Learners have a learning pattern that follows putting things into pen-and-paper to glean a better understanding of things. They learn through text perusal, note making, exhaustive research, etc.

How To Engage Them: If you feel that your audience is going to be composed majorly of writing learners, then increase your use of quizzes, questionnaires, and surveys to ramp up their involvement. 

Group/Interpersonal Learners

These types of learners learn best with group collaboration rather than by themselves. They’re the opposite of solitary learners, and work excellent in group settings and with other people.

How To Engage Them : Group discussions, team games, panel discussions, fireside chat, etc. Are great ways of getting them up and involved in your presentation! 

Auditory Learners

Auditory learners, as insinuated by the name, learn best when information is narrated or verbally spoken. Learning, for them, is better done through means like a creative song, or a podcast, or other auditory mediums.

How To Engage Them: If you wish to involve them better in your presentation, then the best way to do so is by using audio stimuli like group discussions, podcasts, videos, live debates, physical and virtual games, etc! 

How Do You Get The Audience To Participate?

You’ve done the research. You’ve done the prep. And so, using every ounce of your courage, you go ahead with your strategy to engage the audience…

…And they don’t respond.

What do you do in this situation?

Do you just give up and move onto the next part of your speech?

Or do you attempt to get them to engage again?

Hint: It’s the second option.

To help you out, here are a few ways using which you can deal with an unresponsive audience:

1. Focus On The Ones Who Are Responsive

When a presentation isn’t going as expected, a lot of us tend to hyper focus on the bad instead of the good. This might make you even more nervous, and cause you to mess up your presentation.

So, instead of focusing on those who aren’t paying attention, try to keep your eyes on the ones that are. Involve them further in your presentation. It will help you plow through the rest of your speech with confidence.

2. Encourage Them To Participate

There are many ways in which you can do this. You could directly ask someone to answer a question. Or, if you prefer a more roundabout way, you could ask the question to the audience in general. It’s important to create an atmosphere that encourages audience participation. Don’t shut down people if you don’t agree with what they’re saying.

Let them speak, and then tell them respectfully where you think they went wrong. Don’t lose your cool if someone asks too many questions or keeps repeating the same question. Also, try and give the audience regular breaks to collect their thoughts and themselves.

3. Change Your Strategy

Another way to get the audience interested is by switching up the format of your speech. While this might seem daunting at first, if you’ve practiced your speech well enough, shuffling things around shouldn’t be that much of a problem.

So, if you’ve just wrapped up a long stretch of talk and feel like you’ve lost the audience and the next part of your speech involves more talk…

Switch it up.

Push ahead that Q/A you’ve saved for the end of the speech.

Or, play that game you were supposed to play halfway through your presentation.

Switch your strategy!

4. Don’t Take It Personally

Another important thing is to not take your audience’s lack of attention personally. Or, even worse: To get offended and let them know you’re taking it personally. There’s nothing worse then losing your cool at the audience, and once you do this, there’s no going back.

Rather than letting it get to you, move on. If you get angry or let your frustration show, it will show the audience that you’re truly not worth their attention. Not to mention you’ll lose the few people who were actually interested in what you had to say–as well as future public speaking opportunities that might’ve come your way from someone watching in the crowd.

5. Make It A Learning Experience

Use what you learned from your experience with an unresponsive audience to prepare for any future instances when your audience might not be as interactive as you’d hoped them to be.

List out where you think you went wrong, what you could’ve done to improve the speech, how the audience reacted to the things you did to refocus their attention, etc.

Next time you’re preparing to deliver a speech in public, prepare in advance. This way, you’ll have a strategy to fall back on if things go south.

Need more tips? Don’t worry! We’ve written article on 5 Ways To Grab An Audience’s Attention When You’re Losing It! Check it out for some more help!

To sum up, keeping the audience interactive and encouraged doesn’t need to be a daunting task. All you need to do is strategize beforehand by sprinkling interactive activities like games, Q & A sessions, give-aways, etc. throughout your presentation, you can keep your audience’s attention piqued. And keep your cool if things don’t go the way you planned: after all, you can always switch things up.

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