It’s August. Who doesn’t want to lounge in a hammock right now? Well, there’s another “hammock effect” we need to discuss.
We all have a plan for how we’re going to start a presentation. Start with a joke. Start with a shocking statistic. Start with a question. Maybe you try to channel your inner Tony Robbins and start with an inspirational quote. Either way, you put some effort into how you start a presentation.
Of course, you end with a big finish.
You also start with 70% of your audience’s attention and end with 100% of their attention. But the plot gets lost in the middle with a dip to 20%. This is the hammock effect.
Shout out to Conversations that Win the Complex Sale for coming up with this concept.
But what can you do about it?
3 easy ways to avoid the hammock effect in your next presentation:
😂 Humor
Laughter relieves stress and boredom and boosts engagement. (Don’t take my word for it. That’s straight from Alison Beard in Harvard Business Review.)
91% of people prefer brands to be funny, and 72% would choose a brand that uses humor over the competition (Gretchen Rubin, Marketing Dive). Weaving some humor into your presentation boosts engagement to bend the hammock effect, but who knows, it just might give you a competitive advantage.
📙 Storytelling
Stories are remembered up to 22 times more than facts alone. That’s not some statistic I made up because it sounds good. It’s from a Stanford marketing professor named Jennifer Aaker. You need data to make a business case to buy, but build those proof points into a story so your audience is still paying attention as you make those key points.
And if you have eight and a half minutes, Jennifer Aaker will give you a storytelling masterclass for free.
💬 Conversational open-ended questions
Make it a dialogue, not a lecture. Be as intentional about planting questions in your script as you are about plotting out any of your proof points or anything else on your agenda.
Yes/no questions are a road to nowhere. If you want to learn where your audience wants to go (and how you can help them get there), provide an opportunity for them to share.
Here are 4 open-ended question ideas to get you started.
Your company has had a lot of success in [extrapolate a niche from a prominent client or cluster of clients]. Why did you choose that niche?
If everything goes perfectly this year, what will your end-of-year readout look like?
What are one or two things keeping you from reaching your goals right now?
What is your approach to [this category] today?
What other questions do you like to use? Add them to the comments below and I may include a h/t to your input in a future newsletter.
Come back in September to go back to school for Storyboarding 101. The secret to creating the perfect slide deck happens before you start a single slide!