14.10.2016
Speakers Excellence: Knowledge Forum on October 14, 2016
First participation as member of "TOP 100 Excellent Entrepreneurs"
This year marked the first year the IT-Personalberatung participated in the Knowledge Forum at the Porsche Arena after being selected as "TOP 100 Excellent Entrepreneur" by Speakers Excellence.
We were once again inspired by the demanding, compact transfer of knowledge through top speakers as well as by the numerous suggestions to explore new avenues.
This year, we were particularly impressed with Mr. Matthias Pöhm's lecture titled "Are you still delivering presentations or are you already captivating your audience?", which we would like to share with you:
Matthias Pöhm acts on the assumption that in the course of a conventional presentation, and especially during PowerPoint presentations, about 7 in 10 listeners "tune out".
This leads us to the exciting question: "How do I keep the audience's attention during the entire presentation, how do I captivate the audience and how do I deliver my message?"
It can certainly not be achieved by showing boring slideshows with "supervised reading".
But how can it be achieved?
By delivering the message to the heart and not just to the brain!
As always, emotions are the key to gaining attention! A presentation has to build up suspense, a necessary part of the speaker's training. Introductory phrases and pauses can be used to create tension. "Using pauses gives your audience time to reflect on your message". Rhythmic pauses during a message show the strength of the speaker's convictions.
As founder of the "Anti PowerPoint Party", Mr. Pöhm suggests that PowerPoint should only be used as a supporting tool. PowerPoint decreases the energy of the message because it turns the listener into a supervised reader.
For Mr. Pöhm, movement is connected with the act of creation. The manual creation of a diagram, for example by using a flip chart, involves the audience, creates suspense and pays off. If transparencies and pictures are used, they should be used on a large scale and be announced with a grand flourish to create suspense. Exciting, isn't it?
Mr. Pöhm is a master of rhetoric who captivates his listeners and even makes them laugh. We were greatly impressed.
The next Knowledge Forum in Stuttgart will take place on October 20, 2017.
