Episode #269: The Use of Evidence In Your Presentations

We flagged this point last episode and today we are going to look at the use of evidence when giving presentations. I often mention the two modern dilemmas of being a presenter. We now live in the Age of Distraction where audiences will rapidly escape from us to the internet, if we haven’t sufficiently captured their attention. Sometimes, even when they are interested, they are still multi-tasking. They are listening to us and scrolling through their social media at the same time. This habit has solidified and it is a nightmare today to get our message across. The other dilemma is we are in the Era of Cynicism. Fake news is now a thing and our audience’s sensitivity to the validity of information has become more acute.

Both of these drivers make our job even harder than in the past. If we fill our presentations with “editorial” or “opinion” we are likely to lose the attention of the listeners. They are there to gain some benefit from giving us their attention and as riveting as our opinion may be to us, it may not ignite much interest in the audience. If we don’t bring some concrete insights, backed up with proof and evidence then the hands will be reaching for their phones immediately. The Era of Cynicism means the evidence had better be highly credible and employing numerous sources. Talking about findings from your own research is good, but could be greeted with doubt, if you don’t mention the detail on how the findings were assembled.

When we are designing our talk, we have access to some useful tools. DEFEATS is a handy acronym for remembering the different types of evidence we can draw upon to convince or impress our audience that what we say is true.

D-Demonstration. This might be something that can be shown physically during the presentation or something that we can show on screen, using software, audio or video. It has to be congruent with the point we are making and provide a visual reinforcement of our key point.

E-Example. The best examples are those which are most relevant to the members of the audience. We should try and know who is in our audience and think what would be an example that will resonate with as many people as possible. If the example is from the same industry and a similarly sized organisation then it becomes more meaningful for the audience. I attended a talk given by a senior executive from a major organisation, who used examples within that context. The problem was that the audience were all small to medium sized companies and there was nothing to relate to.

F-Facts. Facts are provable and can be verified independently. A claim is not a fact. We need to be able to cite where the fact can be checked, if we are asked. When we show graphs, for example, we should have the source of the data prominently displayed. Most people won’t bother to check the data, but they feel better knowing they can do so if they wish.

E-Exhibits. This is usually something physical we can show to the audience. In some cases, it may also be shown as an image. In both cases we have to make sure the audience can see it easily. If it is a physical object, hold it up around shoulder height, rather down around the waist. Also, don’t wave it around – hold it still, so it easy for the audience to see.

A-Analogies. We referred to Analogies in Openings Part One in Episode #264. We are trying to simplify something complex for our audience. We compare two things which have no natural connection to make the point clearer. For examples, we compare flying a passenger aircraft and speech making. There is no natural connection between them. Now we connect them. “Flying a passenger plane is like giving a speech. The take off and landing for aircraft are the most dangerous periods of the flight. In the same way for speeches, openings and closing determine our impression with our audience”. This connects two ideas and makes them more accessible for the listeners.

T-Testimonials. Social proof has become extremely powerful today. Testimonials are not our primary form of evidence, but they lend credibility to what we are saying. A recognized expert supporting what we are saying gives our point more power. In our case, the most famous investor in the world Warren Buffett is a huge fan of Dale Carnegie and often mentions the impact the training had on his career. We could never afford to pay him to do that, but he does it anyway, because he is a true believer and that make it even more powerful.

S-Statistics. The best statistics are third-party numbers. If we quote our own research, that is okay, but it is not as convincing as also having an independent organisation’s statistics.

When we are designing our main argument, as we get to the key points, we should be trying to match them with hard evidence to prove the point. If we do that, then we will have a much better chance of keeping the audience with us right through to the end of our presentation. If we can do that in today’s distracted and cynical environment, we will have been highly successful.