Why it’s better to think twice when you’re doing it “for the audience.”
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Transcript
I'm just quickly going over this graph,” she said.
Speaker:And she's doing it with good intentions.
Speaker:Because that thing she's going quickly over is actually
Speaker:not that hard to understand.
Speaker:Also, it's probably not the most exciting part of her presentation.
Speaker:So, just going quickly over it, seems like a great service to her audience.
Speaker:Except that usually, it's the exact opposite.
Speaker:Because she's going over it so quickly that her audience doesn't even have
Speaker:the time to read the graph, let alone understand it, let alone question it.
Speaker:What was easy for her is hard for her audience if only for the simple fact that
Speaker:it is new and that the time available wasn't enough to fully grasp it.
Speaker:When in doubt, assume that it's harder to see the point than you think it is.
Speaker:Rather than go quickly over something that is easy, ask yourself, how to
Speaker:focus on the most relevant bits.
Speaker:Rather than go quickly over something that is unexciting, ask yourself
Speaker:how to make it more exciting.
Speaker:Lighting the path.
Speaker:Is the presenter's job, not the audience’s.
Speaker:And part of that is making sure that your audience has the time to fully
Speaker:grasp what you're telling them.
Speaker:Focus on the relevant parts, make sure they have the time to fully grasp it,
Speaker:make it easy for them to understand it, and if it's unexciting, make it exciting.