Is Your Presentation Leaving Your Audience in a Jam?
They say variety is the spice of life.
You're a multifaceted business owner. You've got talent, you can do oodles for your clients and you want to be able to show them what you've got to offer.
So it makes sense that when you're giving a presentation that you let the audience know ALL that you can do for them, right?
Well, actually that might leave your audience in a bit of a presentation jam.
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When you've got a lot to give – how much do you offer during your presentation?
The answer to this sticky situation can be found in jam.
Yep – the sweetness that you spread on your toasted English muffin is your persuasion secret weapon.
Now, let me explain what jam has to do with how you create a presentation.
Several years ago two professors; one from Columbia University and one from Stanford wanted to test the notion that variety is the spice of life.
If you give consumers more options, they're likely to find the right option for them and purchase a product.
What these researchers did was set up two different displays of jam in a grocery store. One display featured twenty-four different flavors of jam that you could sample. And the second display only had six different types of jam.
What did they find?
Is variety the jam of life?
The researchers found that large display of jam got loads more attention in the grocery store. People stopped to try more often, but only 3 out of 100 shoppers would actually purchase any jam.
While the second, smaller display got slightly less traffic, but the shoppers who stopped were more likely to buy the jam. In fact, 30 out of 100 people would buy the jam when there were only six different options.
So what does this mean for you as an entrepreneur who speaks up for their business?
It means the more that you offer your audience, the more options that you give the audience on how to work with you, the more likely they're not going to do anything at all.
A confused mind doesn't buy.
When you are overwhelmed with too many options to choose from, your go-to default option is not to do anything at all. Not to make any kind of decision and just walk away.
What does this mean for your persuasive presentation?
For your next presentation what you should be doing instead of showcasing how talented you are and how many different ways you can help your audience, focus on the one natural next step that you can take with your audience to make your connection deeper.
It could be something as simple as them coming up to talk to you after the presentation, or signing up for your newsletter or scheduling a free consultation with you. But it has to make sense for your audience and the relationship you have with them.
