Martin Evans from Tandem Comms shows how engaging with your audience how to make a success of using AI in presentations
I’ve got a really important presentation ahead! I want to nail it. I want to grab attention with a winning story. I want to engage and influence my audience. I want them to understand my point of view and buy-in to what I am trying to say.
But I don’t know how to structure my talk. I’m not sure how I can really, no I mean really…. grab attention. I haven’t a clue what slides would work best and add impact.
Does that sound sort of familiar?
When Jon asked me to write a short article about presentation skills and use of AI I was initially similarly stumped. So, what did I do? I asked for AI to give me some ideas.
Here’s what it gave as a summary:
‘Artificial intelligence (AI) can help with many aspects of presentation creation, including writing, design, and delivery. AI can help make presentations more efficient, consistent, and visually engaging’.
There you go …,I’ve cracked it!
Aha, but it’s not a simple as that.
Let’s quickly look at where AI excels:
- Ideas. It is great at generating ideas – a story – an analogy – a hook – a key theme. It won’t do the detail but it will give you some concepts to explore.
- Review. If you write you speech out in full it will assess your content. It will make clear the phrasing you use and the language complexity. It will also give you an idea as to how long the presentation will take.
- Design. AI is brilliant at creating images for slides. It will give you ideas. I say images because I always preach that your presentation slides are not your handout You need to reduce or bin the text, simplify your slides and use an image wherever possible.
So, what about the human element?
That’s the most important part, right? Emphatically YES.
- You. AI sounds like, well sounds like AI. You need to turn a potential AI draft into how you speak, with your nuance and style. An AI script sounds stilted. Authenticity is vital – you need to sound like YOU. That includes making mistakes and perhaps not being the most articulate. You can still capture your audience and get your point across. I have heard many presentations from people who are not the best presenters, but they are true to themselves and I’ve seen audiences spellbound by that.
- Emotion. Humans have empathy and emotional resonance that AI lacks. It goes with the point below – knowing your audience. Also responding during the presentation, as to how the audience are reacting. Particularly during questions you will quickly get a view of what has excited them (or not). Winning hearts and minds is not an AI strength – that’s up to you.
- Audience. You know your audience and potentially the individuals in it. You should have a view of what spins their props and indeed what might get them agitated – hearts and minds again. AI does not do that, although you can use AI to research specific members of your audience. AI might give you the bones and structure of a speech, but we have the flexibility and audience knowledge to be flexible and make changes.
That’s a very quick mind dump about AI and you and the balance in presentation skills.
The first coffee is on me
Helping and supporting organisations and individuals to tell their unique story, through presentations – persuasion – negotiation – influence – in the media – in crisis or when planned, is what I do with TandemComms. I’m always delighted to explore how I can help you – no commitment and I’ll buy the first coffee.
Here’s to a successful 2025 where you will no doubt smash those presentations, in your own way.
Thank you Jon, for the opportunity to give my 2 pennorth.
Martin Evans – www.tandemcomms.co.uk