When is the last time you really enjoyed being presented to? When you were the receiver of a presentation that was relevant to you, the message resounded within you, and you walked away clearly understanding how the information could be used by you?
Probably too long.
Let’s face it, there are a LOT of bad presentations – whether it is a sales presentation, company or team meetings, civic event, or any presentation.
Why is that? Aside from the style of the presenter, most bad presentations are simply focused on the wrong person/group. They are too often focused on the presenter AND the presenters company or product or topic.
That’s why one of my universal ‘calls to action’ for everyone is that our messages in presentations and conversations (any type of communication for that matter) are more powerful when we focus on THEM! A focus on What’s in it for Them (WiifT) from the open of the communication to the close makes the message relevant and interesting to them.
And what does that mean to you? You will have a more engaged, focused, and willing recipient for your message. (See, I didn’t forget to make this message about you 🙂 )
To engage your audience, it’s incredibly important to tie the message about YOU into what it means to THEM. Who wants to listen to 10 or 15 minutes of background on the speaker and their company? Does anyone really care if you have been in business for over 75 years? About three minutes into the “background” about you, they have disengaged – you can see it in their body language.
Instead, focus on WHY it is beneficial to them that your company has been in business so long. Will it mean a better product? Or more expertise that will solve a problem for them?
There are typically some skeptics about this focus of WiifT. That is why I enjoy putting participants in our Powerful Presentations workshop through practices where they often learn more from being the receiver of others presentations than when they do their own. Being on the other side allows them to feel what its’ like to have a lot of information shared AT them and not tied specifically TO them.
Sharing information adapted to your audience, with only detail that is important to them and connecting what we want to share into WiifT statements is not easy. But it is worth the effort for an engaged audience!
So, stop the me, me, me focus of your presentations and information sharing and make it about them, them, them.
How much effort does it take to link the WHAT of your message to the WiifT? Post your comments and let the rest us know we are not alone!
