YOU TOO CAN BE AN IMPRESSIVE AND MEMORABLE PRESENTER

You will , in your career, be required to make two types of  presentations : either to “tell” the audience what they expect to know or to “sell” an idea which the audience does not know. Each situation requires a very different style.

• “TELL” :  When you are sure WHO the audience is and are clear about WHAT they are expecting too know. This is where you MAY structure your presentation in terms of bullets. If you do not know the audience or if you are not sure if they are eager oto know what you are planning to say, the bullet style does not work.
• “SELL” : Generally you are safer in using STORY style. If you are trying to sell an idea or a product and if you are not aware of how prepared your audience will be to know what you have to say, use storytelling. A storyteller always sounds brilliant and memorable because every story has an emotion, a plot and an outcome. A bullet presentation is flat.  

SOFTWARE CASE

Recently someone made a PowerPoint presentation to me about a software that helps HR departments keep track of the performance of the employees. Those 25 slides consisted of a list of “important” concepts and concerns to “think about” and so on. It was full of charts and data. Most of it I forgot the next day!

As it happened, days later, I met a user of the software for a few minutes and told me, in simple English, how the company had a very crude manual system and how the software , which costs very little, saved the work of 3 people in the department . And how the management was impressed with him because he suggested it. I remember most of it even now and what is more I feel I  have a favorable opinion about the software. . The first presenter came off as earnest but tedious. The second presenter came off as brilliant and focused.

TELLING FORMAT

Outline based bullet presentations are like manuals or textbooks. They have a lot of content structured as preface, contents, chapters, sections, charts and periodic reviews. But they do not appeal to the audience unless there is an overarching motivation like an impending examination etc.  

 During such presentations, the presenter verbally provides details of each bullet item and says, at many points in the presentation, with forced lines like “this is important, so I’m going to talk very fast to get it all in” enthusiasm. Such presentations are so unmemorable that presenters must resort to tricks in order to ensure that the audience retains anything at all. Because their formula is “tell them what you’re going to say, say it, then tell them what you said.” But they do not know that this works only when the audience is eager to know what you have to say. Many times it is not. And in such cases the “telling” style falls flat.

To make matters worse they use acronyms like “SWOT” and “KISS” or use jargon like “Leverage on our strengths” or “Optimize resources” or “use appropriate tools”.

STORY / SELLING FORMAT  

While most people like, remember and repeat a story they have heard, they cannot come up with a story themselves woven around what they want to say. That’s why they fall back on the bullet list. 

To help you come up with a story, remember that …

1. A story is a narrative with a plot
   (sequence of situations faced, options, decisions and actions) …
2. undertaken by a hero
   (protagonist, the good chap, the one who acts )……
3. who faces choices and dilemmas in achieving a worthy and difficult goal…
   (It is always better if the goals are stated not only in operational terms but also in terms of the larger payoff ... like what the hero was trying to accomplish, or fix, or avoid in his own life or someone else's life )
4. In spite of challenges posed by a villain / external / uncontrollable circumstances

This may seem obvious but there’s more to see than what meets the eye at first glance : If you receive two circulars for attending meetings ; one stating that the meeting is to

• “The western regional manager will review the sales performance of his region.using the normal templates and formats”
• “Satish Pradhan - our new regional manager of west - will present how he made an unusual decision to set a target of achieving 25% growth in the region where the market was declining, and where his own sales team was against it. In spite of this he achieved it through the same sales team through using a new performance planning system which he introduced in 3 phases.”

Which meeting will you be keen to go to ? 

In which meeting you feel the presenters will make better presentations ? 

Which presentation you are more likely to remember ?

I think you got my point. However please remember that  EVERY story may not be worth telling. And also that the bullet presentations are not always dull.