KNOW, the Magazine for Paralegals Spring 2014 | Page 11

KNOW Why
execute.
Mistake: Not building anticipation and emotional peaks

Your presentation’s missing ingredient.

Don’t Be Boring
By Nancy Duarte, Duarte Inc.

people make in presentations.

Do you get the feeling people

aren’t connecting with your message on a personal level? Maybe
you put a lot of time and hard
work into your presentations,
only to receive blank stares from a
tuned-out audience.
Here’s my secret: The easiest
way to get your audience to care
is to add elements of emotional
contrast. Emotions have a tendency to pique our interest, and
incorporating both positive and
negative emotions into a presentation can transform a stagnant
message into something stimulating. Here are common mistakes

Mistake: Leaving out the human
connection
Are you making an effort to
add genuine feeling to your talks?
An audience that doesn’t have
any emotional attachment to a
message will become disconnected, distracted, and, worst of all,
bored. Evoking laughter, gasps of
awe or fear, concerned looks, and
even applause throughout your
talk are all signals that you’ve
triggered an emotional reaction
in your audience. Audiences love
these moments, but they requiresome additional effort from the
presenter to both dream up and
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The best moviemakers understand emotion is the secret to
avoid boredom. Emotion is measured beats. Beats are the smallest structural element in a movie;
there can be several in one scene.
Scenes are analyzed so there is
a shift of emotion. Screenwriters
ensure that emotions are moving
between pain and pleasure so
the audience remains engaged.
Moving between analytical and
emotional content works well.
Deliberately build emotional
peaks in your talk, taking your
listeners on a journey of tension
and release.
Remember, contrast is critical
for keeping the audience interested. You don’t need to get rid of
your data-rich graphs or statistics, just find ways to sprinkle in
some humor, suspense, or story.
Inventory your slides, identify
content that can be transformed
from analytical to emotional, and
change it wherever appropriate.
Involving your listeners emotionally helps form a relationship
with you and your message. Your
audience will thank you with
their laughter, tears, applause,
and attention.
Graphic Credit: Jonathan Valiente
Nancy Duarte is CEO of Duarte,
Inc. and the author of Resonate,
Slideology, and The HBR Guide to
Persuasive Presentations.