Are you searching for ideas on improving your audience’s engagement with your presentation? Before you renovate your slide deck, consider implementing video.
Video effectively communicates information with your audience and increases attention to the content you’re presenting. Video is a helpful visual and audio aid for your audience to refer to during your presentation. After all, videos are simply another method of disseminating information.
However, you will have to learn how to balance video and text to ensure a successful presentation that captures and retains your audience’s attention. I’ve compiled five methods of incorporating videos with your content and ensuring that your audience responds well to its inclusion.
The number one reason to implement video into your presentation is that it’s engaging. Most presentations tend to feature static images and numbers, so adding video helps to diversify your presentation’s content. Video introduces movement to your slides, effectively capturing your audience’s attention and engagement. Videos implemented within presentations can be an effective means of delivering information and generating discussion among your audience.
Videos are valuable for presenting conceptual topics, too. Thousands of videos exist that condense content, highlight key points, and make it easier for your audience to comprehend and learn about various topics.
Videos are also helpful audio and visual aids that help your audience throughout the learning process. If you’re teaching or lecturing, consider adding a video if you feel it would be a valuable resource for your audience.
Video also benefits you as the presenter. Videos give presenters a moment to catch their breath and recollect their thoughts before continuing to present. Videos are practical aids if you are doing a long presentation or repeating it for several audiences.
Background video is not as expected as other video formats. Background video is what it sounds like; it’s a video playing in the background as you present. For example, it could be a moving background, a tutorial, lyrics to music, or an aid to your lecture.
Background videos can be particularly distracting for your audience, making them a bit impractical for engagement compared to other formats. If you plan on using background video in your presentation, I recommend implementing it as a moving background while you speak to your audience. It can be engaging for some audience members to view a moving background instead of a static slide.
Short-form video is less than 60 seconds of total run time. Short-form videos tend to receive higher engagement rates among audiences because it requires less of their attention span to comprehend the content of the video.
While short-form video is a great asset in your presentation, do not include more than a few. These videos start to get repetitive, so your audience begins to pay less attention. Short-form video is most effective when used sparingly throughout the presentation, not as the main focus. Too many of these videos in your presentation mean engagement will drop off because your audience will treat them as long-form videos instead.
Some ideas for implementing short-form videos in your presentation include explanations, quick demos, product or organization testimonials, and advertisements. You could also use it to implement humor but do so sparingly.
Long-form videos run for ten minutes or more. Long-form videos are not as engaging as short-form videos, as the engagement rate falls to around 50%. Do not let this metric dissuade you from utilizing long-form videos in your presentations. This video format is incredibly useful for sharing important information and condensing it into one piece. Most lecture-based and organizational videos tend to run a bit longer, so using long-form videos might be unavoidable.
Long-form video is most effective when you use it very sparingly in your presentation. You should implement long-form videos only once throughout your slides. These videos leave an impression on your audience if they are engaging or disseminate critical information. If you’re presenting a topic you’re relatively unfamiliar with, then a long-form video is especially useful. Long-form video is an efficient way to share information, give the presenter a break, and help your audience become more familiar with the knowledge you’re introducing.
Gifs are videos that continuously loop and do not require you to take action for them to play. Gifs add variety to your presentation by creating movement on the screen. Gifs will not take up too much slide or file space. In my experience, I have seen presenters use gifs as a way to add comedy to their presentations. You can use gifs as a learning or visual aid, add humor, or provide a break in static text to engage your audience.
As with any other video feature, gifs should not be the feature of your presentation. Use this type of content no more than three to four times. Your presentation needs a balance between animations and static content so your audience isn’t overwhelmed with constant movement. Too many gifs can take away from your presentation and make you seem like a less credible presenter because gifs tend to be humor-focused.
Animations bring features like text, images, charts, and elements to life. Animations can be a fun way to add movement to your presentation and keep your audience engaged with your presentations. Movement on-screen catches your audience’s attention and makes them more likely to engage with your presentation.
When used sparingly, animations are fantastic for engaging your audience or visually showing how something would work. However, too many animations or unnecessary animations distract your audience from important information. I recommend using animations to make your slides more interesting for your audience.
Video in your presentation improves your audience’s engagement and attention to your content while being another source of information you can use to share with your audience and ensure they understand the main ideas behind your presentation. Video is practical in delivering and effectively communicating content. Do you have videos you want to incorporate into a future slideshow? If so, contact me today to get started on a beautiful slide deck and guidance on videos for your next presentation.
