You submitted a book report. We expected a blockbuster.

Don’t just educate your audience. Captivate them.

You were assigned a multi-step task:

• Research a topic
• Summarize the contents
• Pluck out the highlights
• Transfer your knowledge to a presentable medium
• Inform others of your research

The first four steps are straightforward.

It’s the last step, specifically that part about ‘others’, that trips most people up.

Others are people. People with a lot already on their mind. People under pressure. People with little or no time to waste. People who feel they could but merely haven’t yet done the same research you did.

Knowledge is becoming less sufficient for people.

People expect knowledge delivered at 60 frames per second, in surround sound, in ultra high definition, with an Academy-award winning screenplay, direction, acting…you get the point.

What does this mean for you?

It means that when you finish preparing your presentation, start replacing words with pictures, with audio clips, with video, with color, with…anything besides words.

Memorize and rehearse what is in your presentation, and replace its content with an outstanding supporting cast.

That won’t just inform. It will catch on. And it may even spread.