The Five Types of Presentations

Written by   on   in   with No comments

Informational ("What I know…")

Status reports, conference research presentations, issue overviews…this is the most common presentation and inherently the most boring. The presenter is focusing on a simple transaction, transferring information to their audience.

  • Follow the What->So What->Now What test to make sure you select only the most essential information and keep it relevant to your audience’s needs.

Personal Story ("What I learned…")

Stories help illustrate greater truths, they also humanize concepts in a way that facts and data simply can’t. The best stories provide entertainment on the way to a lesson.

  • Adhere to the drama triangle, that all stories have tension and there is usually a hero, a victim, and a villain. 
  • The hero needs to be fighting against something in order to ideally benefit the greater good. But, before you go and constantly make yourself the hero of every story, remember humility helps sell lessons learned.

Tribute ("What I admire…")

This approach is inherently emotional since it usually commemorates one of life's big moments: awards, weddings, retirement, and even eulogies. Your job is to make the case for the actions and impact of another, by illustrating how they’ve been special and made a difference.

  • By and large, be careful not to insert too much of yourself into a tribute. 
  • You are a witness to someone or something's greatness, not the focus. 
  • In fact, one of the nicest and most compelling things you can say about another person is that you could never or could only ever hope to accomplish what they have.

Persuasive ("What I believe...")

In any pitch, you are diagnosing a problem, proposing a solution, and selling the benefits of that solution. There is still a very personal element to that line of thinking, which you can use to your advantage.

  • Develop your persuasive argument by incorporating the three pillars of persuasion: ethos (personal values), pathos (emotion), and logos (logic). 
  • By mixing each, you can build the strongest act of persuasion possible.

Motivational ("What world I want to live in…")

They are about making people "see the stars" and are built on aspirations. Often, the motivational approach is the opposite of persuasion, because you ask the audience to dream and have faith, not consider numbers, data, or even precedent. Because you have a lot less concrete information to speak from, this approach is the most likely to make use of famous quotations, historical achievements, and "what if" thinking.

  • A good place to start when planning a motivational talk is by recognizing prevailing thinking and looking for ways to challenge validity.

References

Share:

The 3-Minute Rule

Written by   on   in   with No comments

Learning how to structure your presentation effectively so that it concludes all the important and relevant information inside the three minutes, evolution allotted minutes. 

The objective is to feed your information and easily comprehensible statements and naturally graspable stages that would allow your audience to format a core understanding of the value of your proposition effectively.

If you want them to see your proposal the way you see your proposal, your audience must conceptualize your idea. Contextualize how it would benefit them, and then actualize it with potential engagement or further interest.

The essence of a successful presentation is to WHACK your story. 

WHACK

  • What is it? (50% or 1 min 30 secs)
    • What is the most significant need that your product or start-up fills?
    • What problem does it solve?
    • What makes it unique?
  • How does it work? (30% or 1 minute)
    • Does your presentation explain why the elements of your offer are valuable or important?
    • Does it explain how your product works or how to achieve your goal?
    • How can you deliver on your promise?
  • Are you sure? (15% or 20 seconds)
    • Is your information backed by a fact or a figure?
    • Does your presentation prove something?
    • Has a third party verified your claims?
    • What have you said that someone might not believe?
    • These should only back up or verify your offer and should come only after.
  • Can you do it? (5% or 10 seconds)
    • What have you done that's similar that proves you can do it?
    • How have you trained for this?
    • Do you have the necessary connections?
    • What are the repercussions of underperformance?

Opening

  • Why? - Your reason for being.
    • Tell them how you came to be involved in your idea and how you figured out it was good.
    • Tell them why you are excited about your idea.

The All-Is-Lost

  • Create a moment by bringing up a problem that is jeopardizing or might jeopardize the success of your project.
  • Don't let your audience find a negative out by themselves.

The Hook

  • It is the one thing or element about your idea that makes your audience go "oh, that's cool".
  • It comes near the end.

The Edge

  • It is a story that has a little oomph to it, one that you can justifiably end with.
  • Find a story and at least for a second, make your audience think "oh, I didn't know that".

The Callback

  • It is the moment you say "See what I'm talking about?"
  • It is the moment you repeat the reason for being and verify it.
  • The callback tells your audience "now you see it too, don't you?"

Example of a Slide Deck

  • All-Is-Lost. One slide (optional).
  • The Hook. One slide.
  • The Edge - One slide (recommended to use one image).
  • The Callback - No slide (it must be spontaneous for your audience).
  • Can you do it? - One slide (optional, just explain it).

References

Share: