Set Your Destination
This step: Finding The Zone of Engagement
The task of designing your presentation will become simple and easy, once you Set Your Destination. In other words, when you decide exactly where you're taking your audience.
The secret to engagement is to make that Destination somewhere where the audience wants to go. If you've ever been to a presentation where you were disengaged, it would have been because you weren't being taken towards a destination that was relevant or of value.
The video below is about finding the Zone of Engagement. This video will get you thinking about:
- how your expertise can be a problem
- avoiding the audience's existing knowledge
- misunderstanding what your audience really wants.
Once you've watched the video, answer the four questions to help to drill down into what will be engaging for your particular audience.
Video Transcript
In this video we’re going to give you an overview of the main tool that you’ll be using for planning
your presentation – the SpeakerMap™.
Why do we call it a map? Because we think it’s useful to think of a presentation as a journey that
you, the presenter, are taking the audience on. So you, as the presenter, need to map out the route
that the journey is going to take.
At a practical level, the SpeakerMap™ is a way of organising your content. It’s a series of boxes that
contain the information that’s in your presentation. Some of the boxes have three or more pieces of
material in them – that’s why it looks a bit complicated.
But if we take it back to just the main boxes and give you the big picture view, it becomes easy to
understand
.
The first box is Set the Scene. The purpose of Set the Scene is to get your audience focused on what
you’re going to be talking about. Set the scene gets the audience engaged.
The second box is the Destination Statement. On this journey, you’re taking your audience to a
specific destination. So you’ll state your destination using a short, impactful sentence – your
Destination Statement. The Destination Statement gives your presentation focus and clarity.
The next three boxes contain the main body of your presentation in a logical sequence. We call this a
3Q sequence as each box is based on a question and there are three boxes. Each box is expandable
allowing you to easily adjust your presentation to different lengths.
Inside each box of the 3Q sequence are Assertion-Evidence Combos. An assertion is a statement of
fact or opinion. And Evidence is back-up material that makes your presentation persuasive and
engaging.
When finally you reach the last box, you’ve arrived at your Destination. So you’ll state your
Destination Statement once again. The repetition helps your audience to remember it and it also
gives a sense of completion.
Now we’ll show you a short video of a live presentation, created with the SpeakerMap™ so you can
see what a presentation designed with this tool is like.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can the SpeakerMap™ be used for any length presentation?
Yes, it uses a modular design of sequences and by placing sequences inside sequences you can easily adjust the length of your presentation and go into depth in selected areas.
Why are there only three boxes in the center section?
To prevent you from overwhelming the audience with too many sections. By thinking in groups of three you are forced to organise your content in a way that makes it much easier for your audience to absorb.
Is there a presentation designed using the SpeakerMap™ that I can watch?
Yes indeed. If you register for Nail that Presentation (below) you can get to see a demonstration video right away.
