Did you know that the attention span of us, humans, has dropped to 8 seconds? Thanks to technology, the figures are expected to drop even more in the coming years.
Serving them (technically us) monotonous blocks of bland text will do more harm than good. The very thought of meetings (aka long, boring sessions filled with indistinctive PPTs) may fill your colleagues with despair even before entering the room.
So, what can you do as a speaker to have an engaging conversation with the audience and convey meaningful and digestible messages in the process?
Yes, a video presentation can be the easiest and best solution for that.
It is no secret that humans are visual creatures. A good orator of the 21st century needs stunning visuals to move the audience. So, here are ten creative video presentation tips that will empower you to deliver engaging content and leave the audience wanting more.
1. Tell a Story
Stories are an excellent way to convey your message, all while keeping your audience engaged and interested. Whether it be oral or visual, a good presentation must always be based on a clearly-defined storyline.
This is especially critical if you’re presenting a sales pitch. You need to craft a story that addresses and solves the pain points of the audience. You need to break down complex information into digestible nuggets.
And the video format is an excellent way to do that. You can introduce a character (say, Arnold), and build the story around that protagonist. Use humor, voice modulation to highlight key points, and a lot of hand gestures.
If you’re looking out for a video editor online that’s easy to use, powerful, and, most importantly, has the needed features to create a video presentation, you can try out InVideo.
2. Include Questions
Along with a solid story, questions can give your audience more reasons why they should listen to you. If you can creatively include the pain points, the better. Questions can also act as an excellent opener for your video.
For example, if you’re presenting a video about ergonomics, you can start with the question, “When was the last time you had neck pain while at work?”. This would convey your offering and can attract the right audience – in this scenario, the ones who are having difficulty with posture.
3. Use a Bold, Memorable Statement
Repeating a statement throughout your presentation can help the audience think of your product, service, or idea, even after leaving the room. Try something that rhymes and depicts your offering in a single sentence. For example, something like “Go green; save Earth.”
4. Say Yes to Contrast
Thoughtfully using colors throughout your video presentation can have a charming impact on your audience. You don’t want to overdo this part, but contrasts of elegant colors can be instrumental and the easiest way to grab attention.
5. Use Audio to Delight
Acoustic is as important as visuals. In fact, stunning visuals alone won’t make your presentation convincing – even silent films uphold intriguing background music as an unavoidable part of their narrative.
Online slideshow makers like InVideo make it a child’s play to include soothing tracks and transition audio effects to your video presentation. The right set of tracks can set the mood and help craft an emotive video that will reverberate with the audience.
6. Use Infographics
One way to break down complex information into digestible nuggets is with the help of infographics. In many parts of your video, explaining each and every point with words may make the least sense, or let alone be time-consuming.
For that purpose, you can utilize infographics and pack huge amounts of boring data into graphs, pie charts, or percentage bars.
7. Break the Fourth Wall
Breaking the fourth wall is a method used by the film industry to indulge the audience even more. By doing so, the audience will feel like they are part of the story, and is especially useful if you are part of the video.
While preparing the footage for the presentation, you can directly look at the camera and speak as if you’re actually talking to a member of the audience. Close-face shots with friendly facial expressions can enhance the effectiveness of this technique.
8. Use Simple Words
Jargons are cool – until the audience fails to recognize them. See video presentations as a medium to convey your message, just like talking to a friend. You never have to use tongue twisters or let alone hold your breath to deliver 20 words in a go. Speak naturally, use short, simple words, and, more importantly, speak the language of your audience.
9. Keep It Short
Although the attention span associated with a video is higher than with text presentations, there is always a point beyond which it is impossible to gain the audience’s undivided attention. Some experts believe that to be three minutes, but with stunning visuals, you can go beyond that.
The idea is to be as concise and engaging as possible. Among others who are fond of elaborating presentations to the point, the audience may start questioning their own existence, try being the savior who takes minutes – and not hours.
10. End With a Strong CTA
Statistically, the last few seconds of your video will be most remembered by the audience. To make the best out of it, use attention-grabbing visuals, audio, and of course, a strong CTA. You don’t want to be that unfortunate soul who made an excellent presentation and left the audience clueless about what to do next.
In Conclusion
A picture is worth a thousand words – a video presentation is more than that. As repeatedly stated, craft a story that resonates with the audience, deliver the punch lines, and use stunning visuals to glue the audience to the screen.
Undoubtedly, with a video presentation, your persuasive powers will be elevated to unimaginable levels – which your colleagues with text presentations can never comprehend. Try the video format for a time or two, and the next time you are up to present something, the audience will be eager to see your creativity unfold.
