PRESENTATION

ADVICE EBOOK
SERIES NO. 3

make
t o y o u r a u d i e n c e .

DAMON NOFAR // @damonify

Hello, my name is Damon. I am here today to give a
presentation on how to communicate more effectively
with your audience. My research shows that…

This is not how you make love to your audience. You

have to grab your audience’s attention in order to get
your ideas across. And here is how you do it.
[3 ]
questions
you need to
ask yourself
 Who is my
1. audience?
Probably the most important question to answer before
a presentation. By knowing your audience you can
establish a common ground and take full advantage of
the purpose of your presentation – whether it is solely
informative or of a persuasive character.

Age, culture, and knowledge are all factors you need to

consider when analyzing your audience. Another
important factor is the formality of the presentation. A
formal presentation for an informal public is probably as
boring as it gets. Always meet the needs of your actual
audience.
 What do they
2. already know?

To connect with your audience, you need to know the

level of knowledge they have about your specific topic.
Many people simply stop listening when the presenter
talks about something that they already know, or even
worse, something that they do not understand at all.

The more you know about your audience, the better

you can plan your presentation and keep it engaging for
that particular group.
 What are their
3. expectations?
If you want to satisfy your audience, you need to know
their expectations. Are they there to learn something
from you? Inspiration? Or, maybe you are doing a sales
pitch? Whatever the purpose, if you have an idea of
what they expect from you, you’ll be able to tailor your
speech and make it more exciting.

For example, a professor who is doing a presentation

on creativity and innovation should assume that his
students are expecting an amazingly engaging and
creative presentation. Anything less than that, and the
presentation will fail.
[ Once you know your audience,
you can use these simple advice
to connect with them ]
Don’t present,
converse!
Have you ever been to a presentation where you
suddenly notice that you are looking at the presenter
without hearing anything? This happens when the
presenter is not engaging enough. A presentation
needs to be a two-way communication in order to be
effective.

Involve the audience, ask questions, talk about things

they can relate to. This two-way strategy allows the
audience to actually process what you are saying
instead of passively listening. Try this principle and your
chances of influencing and persuading others will
significantly increase.
Don’t get them
bored!
Good slides will help you a long way here but you need
much more to keep the audience from yawning. One
essential point goes hand in hand with ‘knowing your
audience’; you must adapt your presentation to the
environment. How formal do you have to be? What
words can you use? Use humor or not? All this is
crucial to keep the audience engaged and attentive.

Another simple, yet important, aspect has to do with

enthusiasm. If you don’t show passion and energy in
your presentation (like the majority of professors out
there), don’t expect others to care either. You need to
sell your presentation with your combination of body
language, eye contact and energy. If you fail on this,
don’t expect your beautiful slides to help you.
Don’t be too
self-centered!

me me me
me me me Nothing is worse than going to a speech and listening
to the presenter whine on and on about themself. The
speaker must have a sense of what the audience want
to hear and adapt to that. People want to know what
they can gain from your presentation, thus you have to
put them in the spotlight.

No matter your accomplishments, stay humble and give

the audience inspiration to take with them. Give
practical advice and tools they can use and your
audience will remember you.
[ The best advice is to remember
a great presentation you have seen,
and figure out why you liked it so much ]
[ ]
Get inspired and learn from others!
 PRESENTATION
ADVICE EBOOK
SERIES NO. 2

Icons used in this presentation

Man by Eugen Belyakoff from The Noun Project
 PRESENTATION
ADVICE EBOOK
SERIES NO. 3

make
t o y o u r a u d i e n c e .

DAMON NOFAR // @damonify