I’ve noticed that seminar presenters are generally well versed in their subject and they sincerely want to “teach” the audience what they know. That’s a problem. They present too much detail. It’s as if the audience asks, “What time is it?” and the seminar presenter goes on and on about how the watch was built. It wasn’t until I read a few paragraphs of John Campbell’s book, “Speak for Yourself” that I got it. He said:

“The great danger with centering your talk on the needs of the topic is that you waste your own time and that of the audience with irrelevant detail.”

“If, on the other hand, your first action is to look at what your audience already knows about the topic, what it needs to know, what it wants to know and how it will use the information, then you are far less likely to waste time during the preparation and delivery phases of your talk. So the first step should be to research the audience; leave the topic until later.”

-John Campbell
Speak for yourself
A practical guide to giving successful
presentations, speeches and talks
BBC Books, 1990 ISBN 0-563-21511-9

Next time you plan your seminar, if you REALLY want your audience to react to your call to action at the close, plan it around their needs – then weave your seminar points into what they want to know.