Nothing causes the audience at a business presentation to tune out faster than a speaker who does nothing more than read from a slide show. Even when they’re interested in the topic and need the information to do their jobs more effectively, a poor presentation will leave them uninspired and bored. If you make the presentation, your image and brand will suffer, too.
Thanks to interactive tools and technology, you can say goodbye to the days of boring business presentations. Using tools that support real-time interaction and feedback allows you to make more dynamic presentations that grab your audience’s attention and won’t let go.
Why Audience Engagement Matters
The last thing you want when making a business presentation is to put your audience to sleep. Do you really want to look out at the crowd and see people checking their watches, doodling, using their phones, or staring off into space?
Engaging your audience and keeping them interested in your talk requires working on your public speaking and presentation skills as well as delivering information in such a way that it comes alive. The better the audience engagement, the more responsive they’ll be to your message, whether selling a product to a new client or training a user group on new product features.
Interactive Tools To Use in Presentations
One of the best ways to keep an audience’s attention involves bringing them into the conversation using interactive tools that integrate with your presentation software. These tools turn what could be an otherwise run-of-the-mill presentation into something memorable, inspiring, and useful.
Consider some of these options:
Collaboration Tools
Technology like whiteboard cameras can automatically capture anything written on the board and send it to attendees' mobile devices or computers, whether in the same room or attending remotely. This instantly transforms the presentation staple into a collaboration tool others can build upon.
Virtual Reality
Incorporating virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) into your presentations can literally transport attendees to another place and introduce new dimensions and experiences.
Conversational Presentation Software
Advanced presentation software offers presenters increased capabilities for customizing their presentations to the audience. Instead of sticking to a script, interactive tools allow the guests to select the topic they’re interested in, and the presentation adjusts to that preference. The presenter has the capability to toggle between topics, incorporate new visuals, and zoom in or out on images to create an engaging and impactful experience.
Social Media Integration
Social media is an incredible interactive tool for promoting your presentation, gathering feedback before, during, and after the session, and engaging in conversations with attendees. Social media integration works especially well when making live presentations online, as attendees can instantly ask questions and make comments in real time.
Even if you aren’t using social media, online presentation platforms have interactive tools that allow attendees to communicate with the presenter in real time. Incorporating Q&A sessions, live polls, and other interactive elements can help keep everyone on the edge of their seat during the presentation.