EYN#055: The 5 Commonest Tech Presentation Problems

You got me. "Commonest" is not the most elegant word. But you know what I mean - and I needed a punchy title that fitted in 50 characters.

So, here are the 5 most "commonest" challenges I've observed with my actual eyes whilst running the Technical Storytelling program over the last 2 years.

2 years … can you believe it. I celebrated the Elevated You 2nd birthday this month. I've worked with hundreds of people in pre-sales, consultancy, product groups, engineering and more and here's the most common feedback I give.

Let's run through it in a "Top Of The Pops" reverse order (international and young readers may need to look that up). Older British readers can imagine the pumping backing music as you read.

5. Slow Down

People often speak too fast. They bombard, overwhelm and daze the audience. The impact: poor engagement, confused people and a waste of time.

Two common causes of this. First, some people get nervous and speed up under the pressure. Second, some people naturally speak and think very quickly.

So what to do? People with nerves (most of us), it's about chilling out, deactivating and being positive. Breathing and visualisation really helps with that.

For those that think and speak fast all the time … be audience centric. It's not about the pace you want to speak at, it's about the pace people need to hear it. Aim for 150 words per minute.

Practice with a free teleprompter app. Set it to 150 words per minute and get used to what it feels like.

4. Be More Bambi

Imagine a spectrum with the dictionary at one end and Bambi at the other. The dictionary is a list of words in alphabetical order. Literally no emotion. Bambi is the Disney movie famed for having everyone in tears of emotion.

When we present tech subjects we get a bit close to the dictionary from the spectrum. Pure facts, architectural diagrams and rational arguments. We forget that the people in the audience are emotional human beings. We need to balance the logic with an emotional connection.

Why? Well it helps persuade and it helps with recall.

Tell stories, use anecdotes and talk to the why, not just the how.

3. Amplify Not Distract

This is all about the visual aids. Slides are not your notes.

The split brain problem is where you distract your audience with your slides, not amplify your narrative. Wordy, overwhelming slides are a great way to disengage your audience and reduce your impact.

Put your bullet points in your notes and use your slides to amplify your message. Use pictures and diagrams that build with your narrative.

Keep it simple.

2. Be Relevant

People deliver the right message but to the wrong people. Examples could be too much technical depth to a senior leader or not enough depth to a highly technical team.

Be audience centric. Know your audience. If you know your audience you'll be relevant. If you're relevant, you'll be valuable. If you're valuable, you'll be successful.

1. Less Is More

The most common feedback I give is "less is more". People think that if they say it, people will hear it, understand it, internalise it and recall it. But that's not how the human brain works.

What you transmit does not equal what is received.

Therefore, in order to land a message with impact, you need to focus on saying LESS things well. Not MORE things badly.

Identify the 3 or 4 things that you really want your audience to remember and build everything around those. People won't remember 19 things, or 27 things or 1143 things. They might remember 3 or 4 things if you present them well.

There we go. The 5 commonest pieces of feedback I give. Which ones affect you?

Hope this helps

Ben