10 Step Guide to Making An Interactive Presentation
The worst kind of presentations are when you present and nobody’s listening, or even worse, when you’re stuck listening to a presenter who couldn’t seem to care less about the topic. We’ve all sat through more than our fair share of those. According to a biologist from the University of Washington School of Medicine, people stop paying attention and lose interest in a presentation at around the ten-minute mark.
The best way to update your presentation is to make it interactive. Make your audience feel like they are part of the process as active participants. Presentations are used to convey information, sell a product, or demonstrate a technique to an audience. In order to keep your audience off their phones, you need to get them in on the action and propel your existing, dull presentation into an interactive one. If you’re looking for interactive presentation ideas, here is our ten-step guide to making your presentation go from boring to exciting!
Table of Contents
The Benefits of an Interactive Presentation
How to Make a Presentation Interactive
Start with an Icebreaker
Use a Co-Host
Add Videos
Quiz the Audience
Use Props
Allow Breaks
Create a Hashtag
Take Advantage of Data
Add the Unexpected
Send Post-Presentation Surveys
Summary
The Benefits of an Interactive Presentation
In-person presentations often have the advantage of being more impactful because there is more interaction between the speaker and the audience. However, the big downside is that the audience is limited by the number of seats available. However, virtual learning is no longer just a trend – it’s permanent. Enter the digital interactive presentation. Going digital allows you to address an audience around the globe, but because you’re virtual, you’ll need to pay special attention to making your presentation engaging.
Interactive presentations are the best way to increase engagement and help your audience retain information. Your goal is to break up the presentation into smaller sections that are easier to digest instead of a one-way information transfer where the audience only retains a fraction of the content. Benefits of an interactive presentation include:
Higher audience engagement
Enhanced information retention
Personalized presentations
A more compelling experience for both the presenter and the audience
How to Make a Presentation Interactive
Whether you’re presenting in-person or online, there are more than a few ways to make your presentation memorable, including:
Start with an Icebreaker
Use a Co-Host
Add Videos
Quiz the Audience
Use Props
Allow Breaks
Create a Hashtag
Take Advantage of Data
Add the Unexpected
Send Post-Presentation Surveys
Continue reading our guide below to make sure you’re equipped for your next interactive presentation!
1. Start with an Icebreaker
Ease your way into a topic by introducing fun facts related to your topic or even just getting personally acquainted with members in your audience. Building rapport is a sure way to set the tone and increase interest in what’s to come. Instead of asking simple questions that will get one word answers like “How is everyone,” try short games like finding out what everyone has in common or having a pop quiz about the topic at hand. Ice breakers are meant to create an atmosphere of inclusivity and encourage everyone to speak.
Try one of these non-cheesy icebreaker questions:
If you were the weather, what would your forecast be?
What is one thing you look forward to doing when you retire?
Which cartoon character would you like to be best friends with?
What is your morning beverage of choice?
What fictional world or place would you like to visit?
2. Use a Co-Host
Having a co-host can be a simple way to break up monotony by going through slides in the form of a back and forth discussion instead of a speech. One person can monitor the room for questions or any reactions while the other is speaking. Invite subject matter experts to co-host your presentation to build up credibility and ease your speaking burden.
Co-hosts aren’t just more interesting for the audience, they can also help you, as the speaker, feel more confident. For the most benefit, each presenter should play to their strengths. Co-hosts can ask questions that the audience might have and get the conversation started with the audience. As with any presentation, with a co-host, you’ll still want to be well prepared, but leave some room for spontaneity.
3. Add Videos
Do you remember which class you most looked forward to in school? It was always the class where the teacher played documentaries or videos instead of writing on the board and assigning worksheets. Surprisingly, nothing has changed for us as adults either.
Most people equate videos with the most interesting part of a presentation. That’s why it’s critical to incorporate this simple yet effective method of making your presentation interactive. By offering multiple types of information delivery, both visual and auditory learners will be able to follow along. Videos can emphasize and validate your argument while giving you a break from a long presentation.
Embedding videos into your presentation is simple with Issuu’s Video feature! Simply use our Link Editor tool to create a bounding box and insert the video directly into your publication. You can also choose to have it autoplay.
4. Quiz the Audience
Quizzes are a great way to get feedback mid-presentation and gauge the audience’s engagement and understanding of the topic. It’s never too late to adjust your presentation method if people aren’t grasping the topic at hand. Don’t make your audience feel as though they’re being tested on whether they paid attention or not, but use this opportunity to clarify any questions or understand what you should cover in depth versus what to quickly summarize. If quizzes are not applicable, polls are also a good way to recognize the audience’s point of view or hear stories or information that they may have to add.
If your presentation isn’t in person, remember to add clickable buttons to make sure the audience knows your presentation is interactive!
5. Use Props
Whether you are presenting a sales pitch or a presentation for school, props are a good way to bring your information to life. Find the right moment to switch things up from watching a screen to demonstrating your product in person. Visual aids are a good way to bring back your audience’s attention while enhancing the impact of your message. Just keep in mind that the props should be relevant to the topic or can be used as an effective metaphor.
Take Steve Jobs for example. He introduced the first Macintosh computer at its launch in January 1984.
“You’ve just seen some pictures of Macintosh, now I’d like to show you Macintosh in person. All of the images that you are about to see on the large screen will be generated by what’s in that bag.”
When he brought out the computer from a paper bag and inserted a floppy disk, the computer came to life and displayed a series of messages and images in various fonts created from MacWrite and MacPaint. He let the computer speak for itself and it produced more impact than any number of slides could have.
6. Allow Breaks
Whether you’re having a day-long seminar or an hour-long presentation, well-timed breaks are necessary to hold your audience’s attention. If your presentation is short, take advantage of other shorter interactive elements in your presentation! Now would be a good time to bring in that pop quiz you were saving or that short video clip. By dividing up your presentation and adding in interactive presentation ideas, you can deliver your message in bite-sized pieces that are far more memorable.
Mental breaks keep your presentation from dying within the first ten minutes. No matter how impactful your introduction is, it’s often difficult for the body of your presentation to continue to hold everyone’s attention. Therefore mental breaks that take the shape of a Q&A session or changing the type of multimedia can be powerful.
7. Create a Hashtag
Most of us are familiar with hashtags from Instagram or Twitter. They are generally used to group posts together and when used properly they can even increase your reach. Creatively written hashtags are the perfect way to continue the conversation long after the presentation.
Hashtags can be followed and used to create a community where everyone contributes to the discussion. They can reference a specific product, group of people, industry, event, or location. Hashtags are the ultimate interactive element as they promote user-generated content. Your presentation’s message increases its reach exponentially because your audience is now also able to share and retweet posts.
For example, National Geographics uses the #NatGeoExplorer hashtag to highlight the adventures their Explorers go on on Instagram.
Another successful hashtag campaign was Coca-Cola’s #ShareACoke hashtag. Customers personalized their coke can or bottle with their names or short messages and shared them on social media. Their message was simple. Coca-Cola was personalized for the masses. The brand wanted customers to know that even though the taste is the same everywhere, there were specific bottles that were meant to be theirs.
8. Take Advantage of Data
Data and statistics always go hand in hand with presentations. However, their importance is often downplayed by how it is delivered. It’s very easy for the audience to zone out when lists of percentages and numbers are being read out. The solution? Create a storyline. Integrate data into a real life application and highlight how this statistic impacts the bottom line.
By building a storyline into your presentation, you draw your audience in while data cements your message. Forbes mentions an easy way to make data digestible simply by using “is the equivalent of.” Equating data or facts to something relevant to our everyday lives is an easier way for your audience to visualize and process. The example they used is “Strawberries are packed with vitamin C. In fact one serving of strawberries is the equivalent of eating five oranges.”
9. Add the Unexpected
One of the best ways to grab your audience’s attention is to surprise them by contradicting common beliefs. Our cognitive schemas often make it difficult for us to retain and accept new information. Therefore by introducing information that counters our previous beliefs, the rest of our presentation will become that much more compelling. We’re shocked into listening closely to see if we agree or disagree and whether we can accept and adapt it in our schema.
Another common perception to break as a presenter is the barrier between the audience and the presenter. When the audience is included as an active participant, your presentation automatically becomes interactive. Start your presentation by finding out how knowledgeable your audience is about your topic so you can match their expectations and adjust accordingly. Keep them guessing with intermittent check-ins to gather questions or take into account any feedback the listeners may have and adjust your presentation accordingly.
10. Send Post-Presentation Surveys
Similar to creating a hashtag, sending out post-presentation surveys are a great way to carry on the discussion after the presentation. It’s an additional opportunity to send along more information about your product if your presentation was a sales pitch. Surveys are also the best way to get honest feedback and measure the effectiveness of your presentation, so you can use the feedback to update your future presentations. Below are some quick tips when creating a survey:
Have clear questions that are easy to understand.
Keep your surveys short. People are more inclined to answer a survey when they can see all the questions on one page versus multiple.
Primarily use multiple choice or yes/no questions and leave room for an “Other” answer.
Incentivize your survey to motivate your audience.
Summary
So much goes into creating the perfect presentation. From gathering information and data, creating the slide deck, practicing your speech to the actual delivery, it can sometimes take weeks if not months to get it just right. Even with well designed slides, expert-backed research, and the most interesting topic, the key to a powerful presentation is in its delivery.
Armed with our ten strong strategies for creating an interactive presentation, your next presentation is set to wow and raise the bar. Issuu offers the perfect interactive presentation tool whether it be for school, your next big sales pitch, or even a webinar. Our multitude of interactive features will modernize your presentation into a dynamic experience. Gone are the days of draining hour-long lectures and speeches. Try it for yourself and utilize our ten interactive presentation ideas to make sure your presentation leaves a lasting impression.