Presenation tips experiment

There has been a lot of discussion about presentations in my classes. This caused me to think about how to best present materials to all age groups and demographics. I've been doing many presentations where I've watched people's eye's glaze over and drift into a fantasy world of dragons and coco puffs...or maybe that's just me. But the point is I've discovered a couple of different ways of presenting seemingly boring material into something that can be somewhat entertaining.

Here are some tips that I learned about giving a somewhat motivating presenation

1. Know your audience:
There is Emotional Motivation. This is just some fancy title for "knowing your audience and how to motivate them". Emotional Motivation is very important in giving a presentation. I think having a focus group should be done before a presentation is given or atleast a good introduction quesiton to see where the group is at. It seems strange how people can know so much, but not do anything. Telling them more information, statistics, or whatever isn't going to motivate them to do anything. People are strange, what else can I say. According to my classes we are more emotional creatures, and it is easier to motivate people emotionally than it is to motivate them intellectually. With that said get to know the audeince before making the presenation

2. Testimonials or discussions are useful
Peopele seem more willing or open to change when it is not "the expert" telling them. I suppose its the mentality of "if they can do it I can do it" or "they tried this maybe I should too". Either way its pretty beneficial to the people listening and you don't have to talk so much. Also with the discussion YOU might learn something new. Although beware of those that actually don't know anything that try to take over the discussion, you still need to maintain some control over the discussion.

3. Silence the routy kid
In one of my presentations there was an annoying little kid that wanted all the attention. He was being disruptive and it took all the self control to not yell at him. Thinking back on it I should have just disciplined him. This might have saved me from losing 2 of my other students. Granted there are those that you can easily play off of, but you have to be gifted at it. Note to self it's ok to not be the favorite at the presentation. However, it could cause people to like you more if you silenced the routy kid

4. Powerpoints aren't always the best way to go
After a college career of doing powerpoints it isn't the best tool in the real world. I think people start to roll their eyes and the meer sight of a power point projector. Or atleast my group did. Granted they are easier to create and takes some of the eyes off of you. But people seem to associate it with something already really boring. Some people are able to entertain and give great presenation with it. Maybe I'm just not one of them. Utilizing other techniques like facilitated discussion or hands on demonstrations seems to be more effective than a powerpoint.

Anyway I'll probably expand more on these tips as I experiment with different groups. It should be fun.