The Importance of Brevity When Presenting Technical Information to Non-technical People
The Speech Improvement Company
Coaching executives to speak confidently, authentically, and persuasively when it really matters
by Laura Mathis Executive Communication Coach
Think back to your English classes in school. Do you remember the Haiku poems you might write for your mom on Mother’s Day, or about love on Valentines Day?
Haikus’ present us with nuggets of wisdom and beauty. The simplicity of the 5-7-5 syllable format forces distillation and brevity. They are also a written surprise. The unexpected challenge of decoding a well-crafted haiku mentally engages your reader or listener.
Yes, it’s your job to communicate the technical information. But shouldn’t presentations also inspire? Can they be evocative as well as informational?
When crafting a presentation, give yourself time to identify a theme you can carry through. This could be a symbolic idea, a powerful phrase, or a unifying creative thread.
When presenting technical information to non-technical people, a helpful approach is to use more brevity, which encourages the distillation of your primary point or data.
With brevity comes simplicity. Edit out extra elements with your visuals. Remove slides. Put less on each slide.
Take the time to master being direct and offer your unique perspective or analysis and get there quickly.
An unexpected bonus of using brevity is that it helps you stay on time. If you are asked to speak for 45 minutes, instead speak for 35 minutes, leaving time for Q and A or open discussion. Or even end early! No one has ever complained about that.
One final thought to leave you with:
Humans aren’t moved to action by ‘data dumps,’ dense PowerPoint slides, or spreadsheets packed with figures. People are moved by emotion. — Jonathan Gottschall
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