Capturing and keeping the audience's interest

To capture your audience's interest, you need a lively introduction with a 'hook'; that is to say a way of making the audience want to know more. Some ways of doing this are:

• identify a problem you know they would like solved

• "trail" some new and interesting information that you are going to unveil

• ask rhetorical questions (questions to which you don't expect an answer: what exactly went wrong? where does that leave us? how can we interpret this?).

Once you have the audience's attention, you should ensure you keep it by:

• making clear, brief points

• using simple visual aids to highlight specific points (these should be vivid and with only minimal information)

• using humor if it is appropriate to your topic

• summarizing key points.

The body is the 'real' presentation. If the introduction was well prepared and delivered, you will now be 'in control'. You will be relaxed and confident. The body should be well structured, divided up logically, with plenty of carefully spaced visuals.

Remember these key points while delivering the body of your presentation:

• do not hurry

• be enthusiastic

• give time on visuals

• maintain eye contact

• modulate your voice

• look friendly

• keep to your structure

• use your notes

• signpost throughout

• remain polite when dealing with difficult questions.

Main body of a presentation

Focus

The form of a presentation may vary taking the format that is most appropriate to its subject. First and foremost, this is true of the main body of the presentation: subject logic here fully dictates techniques, including the number of sections. Four logical, easily digestible parts, one moving to the next, are now standard.

Main body of a presentation

Background information
Problem definition
Possibilities
Proposals

Use of signalling words and phrases

Signalling to the audience where they are throughout the whole of a talk:

• marking the start/finish of each key point

• identifying every new idea, argument, topic

• linking and sequencing information.

Now, ... Now for ... Now then, ...

Right. Right then, ...

Let me

draw your attention to ... point out that ... focus on ... digress ...

Let me outline

the idea the plan

Let me remind you

that ... of ...

Let me

go on move on turn

to the second part of ...

Next we come to ...

Turning now to ...

As I mentioned

earlier, ... at the beginning, ... in the first part of my talk, ... a few moments ago, ...

As I've already said ...

I’ll

come return

to that to this point to this problem

later in a few minutes