If you have a really boring subject to present, one great way to make it interesting is by letting your audience do all of the work.
While this might sound like I have stolen a page from Timothy Ferriss's playbook, it is actually a very effective means of crafting a killer presentation. Rather than giving your audience all of your content, ask them questions and let their answers form the basis of your presentation. Your job is to arrange the material so it meets your selfish goals as a communicator.
Let me tell you how this might work.
I'm creating a presentation on financial concepts. I have created a number of courses in a similar vein, including a really fun 8 hour one I deliver to Winery employees, via The WISE Academy in Napa.
But I wanted to try a new angle for this one. I am going to have attendees list the costs of creating a product and then rearrange the items identified so that they end up on the correct financial statement. So the first pass will take every expenditure identified and subtract it from revenues to produce a totally incorrect estimation of net income. I will then explain concepts like matching and revenue recognition and move the items around until eventually I end up with a closer approximation of GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principle) income. And while I'm at it, I will have something called a balance sheet.I'll move some items from the Income Statement to the Balance Sheet. When I'm finished, it will be really clear how different the two financial statements are. I might provide some supporting handouts, but won't use a single slide in the course of my presentation.
While this might sound like I have stolen a page from Timothy Ferriss's playbook, it is actually a very effective means of crafting a killer presentation. Rather than giving your audience all of your content, ask them questions and let their answers form the basis of your presentation. Your job is to arrange the material so it meets your selfish goals as a communicator.
Let me tell you how this might work.
I'm creating a presentation on financial concepts. I have created a number of courses in a similar vein, including a really fun 8 hour one I deliver to Winery employees, via The WISE Academy in Napa.
But I wanted to try a new angle for this one. I am going to have attendees list the costs of creating a product and then rearrange the items identified so that they end up on the correct financial statement. So the first pass will take every expenditure identified and subtract it from revenues to produce a totally incorrect estimation of net income. I will then explain concepts like matching and revenue recognition and move the items around until eventually I end up with a closer approximation of GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principle) income. And while I'm at it, I will have something called a balance sheet.I'll move some items from the Income Statement to the Balance Sheet. When I'm finished, it will be really clear how different the two financial statements are. I might provide some supporting handouts, but won't use a single slide in the course of my presentation.
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