I said it in the intro but I'll say it again, most presentations are boring. Even worse, most are sleep-inducing. There's a name for this affliction, is called the sleeping sickness. But have you ever wondered why this occurs? I can think of at least four reasons. One, speakers don't know how to structure their presentations. Two, they don't understand the information processing needs of the audience. Three, they don't assist the audience in their processing. Four, they can't find the right stories. You'll tackle the first problem of structure in the next video. In this lesson, we'll tackle problems number 2, number 3, and number 4. How does information processing work? This is not a trivial question, because information processing is a complex process. Because of this complexity, we often forget to help our audience process our message. Getting the message across is always a challenge in any given situation, let alone a speech. But what does getting the message across really mean? Psychologically, it means the audience has learned and accepted your arguments and is now inspired to take actions. But to get to that outcome the audience must first attend to the message, comprehend it, and hopefully have the emotions and imaginations start. This diagram summarizes the process and the acronyms ACE and ALIAs will help you remember it's components. We can think of attention, comprehension, and emotion, or ACE as a precondition to getting your message accepted, learned and then hopefully it inspires action in your audience or ALIAs. Let me take a few moments now to comment on this model. Remember, attention has to be sustained throughout the presentation. Nearly eliciting the attention is not enough because the audience would inevitably be distracted, which is why it is important that your audience is able to follow your presentation. That is why you want to use simple language. If the audience doesn't comprehend what you're saying, they're likely to drift away. When this occurs it's much harder to regain the attention. Saying something provocative for example, can bring them back. But the provocation should be in good taste. For instance, asking thought-provoking questions or cold calling an audience members can arouse the attention. Changing your delivery style is another way. It also makes your presentation more interesting. Next, emotions are extremely important. Because we tend to notice anything that heightens our feelings, blaming on evolution. But when the feelings are linked to an issue, we also begin to feel differently about the issue. Emotional stories can be used to heighten our attention to the issue which make it more memorable. Acceptance of your message as we learned earlier, is an important sign that you have succeeded in your persuasion attempt. To gain acceptance, remember to speak to the self-interests of your audience or what is important to them. Also, just because people understood what you have said, is not a guarantee. The idea had been persuaded. Learning is important under some circumstances. For instance, during educational lectures. But most of the time during ordinary presentations, the audience will usually forget what is being presented and will only remember the [inaudible]. So it's important that you use simple and vivid language. This will help the audience to think differently about the issues being discussed. Finally, if well-delivered, the audience may be inspired to take actions. If appropriate, you can also include incentives. How do the model appears sequential and stylized? The processing occurs very quickly, and may not be so neat. To help you remember some of these suggestions,. remember this phrase, "changing PRIESTS". This bizarre imagery will help you remember. The phrase "changing PRIESTS" is a gentle reminder to always employ tactics that can help your audience in their processing. It represents: one, varying your delivery style. Two, being provocative. Three, playing to what's important to your audience, which may include incentives. Four, including emotional stories. Five, using simple, vivid language. The final obstacle to a good presentation is finding good stories. Where do good stories come from? They can come from anywhere. But you have to generate those stories yourself, if you want your presentation to be personal. Start by recalling as many stories as you can, and then choose the ones that are most appropriate for your presentation. This is called brainstorming, and it takes time. But don't censor any stories just yet. Go for quantity. Just jot down your stories and index them. "Creative geniuses simply produce a greater volume of work, i.e. quantity, which gave them more variation and higher chance of originality." "The odds of producing an influential or successful idea are a positive function of the total number of ideas generated." Here are some triggers that can help. You can start by recalling stories about people and events. This can relate to yourself your or relationship with colleagues, your family members or friends. These stories may have happened at another time and place. When you generate these stories, reactivate the emotions felt. If the stories are personal, the audience will see an interesting side of you. For instance, as a person of Asian origin, I find that when I tell poignant stories about my culture it always pips the interests of my audience. You can also go back to some human truth, cite famous myths or fables. They usually resonate with the audience because they relate to some fundamental truths about being human, and you can mix the different kinds of stories up. That way your presentation will be really interesting. But a note of caution, if you do cite a story of an ancient religious text, make sure it is appropriate to the audience. Religious stories may not always go down well with some audience. To summarize, make sure you ACE your presentation so you get the desired ALIAs, and you do this by changing PRIESTS.
