Make Every Presentation a Conversation

All I really need to know about presentations I learned in kindergarten.

Well, maybe not all — but one core principle that should be at the heart of every presentation we give.

I was reminded of it recently at the annual K-to-2 “Variety Show” held at my children’s school.

The charmingly clumsy 90-minute extravaganza featured songs, dance, skits, standup comedy and more. About an hour into the show, the kids in the audience were getting restless — lots of chatter and running around. 

Just one thing managed to cut through the distractions and command their attention. And it worked every single time. It can work for us, too.

What is this magical concept? Interaction.

Any time there was a routine that included audience involvement — riddles, jokes, magic tricks — the kids immediately settled down, listened carefully and eagerly offered responses (and spoilers).

And that’s exactly what all of us as presenters need to do. We need to truly engage with our audience. 

Don’t settle for Q&A.

For years, the common blueprint for a business presentation was to deliver 50 minutes of content with 10 minutes of Q&A.

That’s what passed for interaction.

But in an age of easy distraction where people literally have a world of other things they can be doing right at their fingertips, that model just doesn’t cut it anymore.

In fact, I’m not sure it ever really cut it. For as long as I’ve been out in the world of work people have been complaining about having to sit through presentations. The ones that really captured our interest were the exception, not the rule. 

Our teachers showed us the way.

But think back to your kindergarten days. Here’s how a typical lesson went:

Teacher, holding up an object, asks: “Can you tell me what this is?”

Kids: “A clover!”

Teacher: “Yes, very good! How many leaves do you see? Let’s count them together.”

Kids: “One, two, three!”

Teacher: “Do all clovers have three leaves?”

Kids: “No!”

Teacher: “How many do some of them have?”

Kids: “Four!”

Teacher: “And what does a four-leaf clover mean?”

Kids: “Good luck!”

And so on …

This method worked, and not just because the audience was a bunch of kids, but because it satisfies people’s natural desire to get involved, feel part of a group and receive positive reinforcement.

Try these techniques.

So the next time you’re putting together a presentation, here are some simple interactive moments to build into it:

• Ask a “true/false” or multiple-choice question. “Who thinks [A]?” “Now who thinks [B]?”
• Have them fill in the blank: “Life, liberty and the pursuit of ______.”
• Ask for a show of hands: “Who here dislikes giving presentations?”
• Offer prompts like, “Has this ever happened to you?” or “Does this sound familiar?”
• Pose rhetorical questions, as in, “All morning I reminded my son not to forget his lunch again. Five minutes after he left, what do you think I discovered on the kitchen counter?”

Once you’ve set the tone and earned some trust you can escalate the interaction with deeper questions, exercises, role play or problem-solving. But do not skip the preliminaries! Kicking off a talk with, “Turn to a neighbor and …” will send people like me fleeing for the exits.

Plan interactive moments every one or two minutes and I guarantee you’ll grab and hold their attention. It works for audiences large and small, in-person and virtual. In fact, it’s even more important for virtual.

Interaction allows you to gauge the room.

One important side-benefit of this approach: you’ll very quickly get a sense of whether the audience is with you or not. For instance, if they won’t respond to a simple true/false or yes/no question, you’ve got your work cut out for you.

But knowing this allows you to shift gears — go faster or slower, wider or deeper or ask them what their most urgent question or challenge is.

You can even say, “How’s this tracking? Is it in line with your expectations? What more would you like to know?”

That’s the beauty of making it a conversation — a dialogue instead of a monologue. It allows you to continuously take the temperature of the room, adjust accordingly and deliver a more compelling, effective experience for everyone.