Goals create context and understanding, and evoke feelings. Our brains are constructed to constantly calibrate against our expectations. Therefore, it is important to give your listeners an expectation in the form of a goal for the session you are about to have. Determining goals becomes the first natural step if you want to succeed with your presentation. As soon as you start formulating your goal and desired outcome, Hilma AI can begin to coach you with content.
Read the article about how goals work in Hilma.
Our brain wants clear goals, otherwise it gets bored!
One key element that all successful presentations share is a clear purpose: why the audience has been gathered and what they should understand and be able to do when they leave. If you have multiple messages to convey, it's essential to focus on one idea at a time to maintain clarity and impact.
Clear goals provide us with a sense of purpose, direction, and meaning. They enable us to focus our time, energy, and resources more effectively. With a clear goal in mind, we can filter out distractions and make decisions aligned with our objectives, leading to greater productivity and effectiveness.
In a presentation, your primary aim is to guide your audience toward understanding and acquiring new skills. No matter the topic, your goal should align with the goals of your listeners. This alignment is what makes presentation goals so unique and powerful.
What do our brains need?
To grasp the importance of a clear presentation goal, you first need to understand how our brains work when we listen. One of the brain's key functions is to predict what will happen next and then compare those predictions with reality.
Imagine you’ve booked a bus trip to Alingsås, but midway through, you realise the bus is heading in a completely different direction. Naturally, you’d ring the bell and get off. The same thing happens in a meeting room—if the brain doesn’t understand where it’s headed, it checks out and stops paying attention.
Listeners' expectations
Our brains crave clarity. Ideally, even before a meeting begins—or at least early on—we need to understand why we're there and what we’ll gain from it. This allows the brain, which loves to match expectations with reality, to stay focused and ensure it’s on the right path toward achieving the meeting's objectives. Without this clarity, the brain shifts its focus to more immediate, concrete goals outside the room. That’s simply how we’re wired.
Effective listening always involves a clear sense of expectation. So, if you want your audience's attention throughout your presentation, make sure they know from the start what they’ll gain by the end of the journey. 😊 Hilma helps you set a clear goal.