The worm must taste good to the fish, not the angler: tips for convincing presentations

By Sabine Walter
01 Feb 2019

According to a study by the market research institute INNOFACT, the average working person spends 100 hours a year creating presentations. 100 hours - that's more than 2 weeks. This makes it all the more shocking that over 80% of these presentations are rated as boring by the audience, partly because the presentation is not built from the audience's perspective and the form, namely the PowerPoint template, determines the content.

With these simple basic rules, you can make your presentations convincing

The fish eats the worm - Presentation techniques - Organisation Development | Executive Coaching
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First the "what", then the "how".

These questions will help you to understand the "what", i.e. to structure your content:

  1. What do I want to achieve with the audience with the presentation?
  2. What does my audience already know about it? (I can build on that).
  3. What else does my audience need to know in order for me to achieve the goal of my presentation?
  4. How can I reinforce positivity? How can I ease my audience's worries and fears?
  5. What benefits are attractive to my audience?
  6. How can I combine these content building blocks into an arc of tension so that my audience is hanging on my every word from the first minute to the last?

Speaking confidently in front of an audience

Once you have gathered the content of your presentation, think about the "like", i.e. the nature of your presentation. These questions will help:

  1. How can I connect with my audience as quickly as possible, break the ice and create a benevolent atmosphere?
  2. What content do I support with visualisation so that it stays in the memory longer?
  3. Which medium is suitable for this?

In conclusion: At Your audience of yourself and what you have to say, you don't need PowerPoint to convince. On the contrary, speaking freely with individual visualisations created on the flipchart, for example, can be a differentiating feature in today's world.

If you want to develop free speaking and convincing presentations as well as dealing with critical questions into an outstanding strength, register for our seminar "Inspire instead of present an. In these two days you will learn how to prepare presentations efficiently and convey them in a way that is appropriate for the audience. You will have your stage fright under control and develop joy in presenting. In short: You convince with what and how you present it and inspire your audience.

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