The Perfect Presentation – What Does It Look Like?
Given a choice, would you rather sit through a presentation, or have a conversation? If you are like me, you would choose a conversation any day. But the fact is, there will always be presentations. The goal is to avoid creating a boring presentation.
I recently attended an analyst meeting to hear presentations from new tech companies.
The stakes were high. Something like a billion dollars was on the table.
After the meeting, when one analyst asked another what he thought of a particular company, the second analyst answered NOT what he thought about the company, BUT WHAT HE THOUGHT ABOUT THE PRESENTER.
In my opinion, other companies had more investment potential. But the analysts were responding to a gut feeling about the PERSON, not the COMPANY.
So the company with the most engaging, most charismatic, most compelling personality at the top got the highest ratings — above those companies led by less inspiring figures.
But I wasn’t surprised. I had trained that young business leader. And I knew in advance how the analysts would likely respond.
It all comes down to a truth that prevails in business, as in life. The analysts, being human, were led by their hearts, not by their minds.
How Can You Achieve Results In Your Presentation?
In this series of articles, I want to share the exact same secrets I’ve shared in best-selling books, and in the coaching of thousands of business leaders, politicians, celebrities, and sports figures.
Let’s begin with the basic idea of presentation structure and design.
The Perfect Presentation has just five components:
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- Powerful Start
- One Theme
- Windows (Examples to back up your theme/message)
- Ear (Speak conversationally)
- Retention (strong ending)
Put them together, and you’ve got what I call THE POWER FORMULA.
Sound simple? It is — but first, you have to master the art and science of the Perfect Presentation.
In the next article, I’ll show you how to begin to build the Perfect Presentation with a powerful start.
