Carol Loria, President ERI:
There is nothing worse than speaking in front of a group of people and having them look bored to tears.
What keeps your interest when attending a presentation?
Here are just a few pointers I’ve learned over the years:
- Highlight only 2-4 key points that you hope to make in each 90 minutes of presentation and for each point present research and/or, theoretical framework followed up with clinically relevant examples. Use case examples and anecdotes.
- Put the audience in an active listening mode occasionally throughout your presentation. You can do this by posing some thought-provoking questions. While you won’t have time to entertain answers, it is often helpful to present some questions for them to mull over. For example, as you begin to present a new technique, you might say, “Can you think of a patient that this technique would work for? Can you think of a case where it would be a challenge due to co-morbidity?”
- Use audio-visuals if…….They support what you will be discussing and offer further clarification.
Do not use AV’s if they complicate the material by presenting more material than you are planning to cover.
Remember to be prepared to go ahead without the AV’s should there be a glitch! The show must go on!
What are your tips to keep engaged when presenting an in-service?
Stay tuned; next time we’ll be talking about 10 words you can use in your in-service.
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