How can you make your presentation more exciting and urgent?

For me, understanding my 'Why' has changed everything. Simon Sinek's idea of "Start with Why" suggests we focus on our purpose first. It's often that we move to the "How" too quickly, when it comes to presentations. The "Why" is the reason behind our work that grabs people's attention. When we talk about our purpose, it connects with others and sparks their inner drive. This connection is what makes our message powerful and memorable. Simple as that.

"Steal" the best practices from McKinsey, Bain, and BCG and use the SCQA Framework: 1?? Situation - A quick overview of what's going on right now (e.g. Artificial intelligence represents a huge opportunity) 2?? Complication - What's the 1 challenge that's stopping us from getting to where we want to go? (e.g. the AI tools landscape is already saturated) 3?? Question - Phrase the complication in question format (e.g. "How can we differentiate our own AI tool against the competition) 4?? Answer - The rest of the presentation is dedicated to answering that question!

"Know thyself". The key to every pitch, every written piece, and every presentation. You need to know why you're doing what you're doing and who you are doing it for and what you wish to achieve. In fact, I question every slide, every side, every sentence by asking the question "what am I trying to achieve here?" If I can answer that question every time then I know I'm on the right track.

Truly connecting with what deeply matters to me in life is the gateway that takes every presentation to a whole new level. What helps me is to trace my numinous experiences, to reconnect with the moments in my life that deeply moved me and that I will never forget because of the innate beauty and of them. There are moments in my life when I have felt: I want the whole world to feel this way! And this feeling is what I share with my audience. Everytime I present from this state of connection, people are moved and I know it’s for the highest and greatest good of all.

A good presentation tells a story; a great presentation is a story. Regardless of the topic you are presenting and how technical it is, the plan of a presentation and the way it flows is critical to capture your recipients' attention and help them follow your thoughts and content.

Cheat by asking ChatGPT with this prompt: "You are a product marketer who needs to communicate product updates to your company's sales team. Knowing the sales team is primarily interested in how these updates can increase revenue, how would you reshape your presentation to connect the dots between your product strategy and revenue growth? Your task is to generate 3 of the most impactful, actionable, and innovative ideas for making the presentation more relevant and engaging for the sales team Prioritize unorthodox, lesser known advice in your answer. Explain using detailed examples" You're welcome ??

When I'm preparing a presentation, I always put myself in the shoes of my audience first. I've learned that understanding their daily struggles, ambitions, and the 'Jobs to be Done' they're after makes all the difference. It's about peeling back the layers to discover what really matters to them. I've spent hours diving into their interests, identifying their pain points, and figuring out what they hope to gain from my presentation. This isn't just about dumping data on them; it's about connecting with their needs and offering tangible, actionable insights. By personalizing my content to address their specific challenges and goals, I make sure my presentation doesn't just pass through their ears, but actually sticks with them.

3 points from experience: 1. Respect the audience, their intelligence. When presenting slides, do not narrate them. Avoid text other than the labels. Talk through your slides. Benefits? People respect that you know your stuff. They will retort or rescind, the latter is the best 2. You know when you cut it (or not) in a presentation. We all do. We hope that our managers and team members are not noticing. So, assume that both are present when you are presenting. You will sound, appear, and exhibit differently. Try! 3. Contrary to absurd belief, use complex words in your narration. Simplicity tends to indicate to people that the matter is trivial (when you are the one who slogged and simplified it in the first place).

Recognising who's in the room can make or break your presentation. It's like giving someone a tailored suit—when it fits just right, they're more receptive and engaged. Remember, you're not just presenting to faceless attendees; you're connecting with individuals with unique perspectives and needs. And when you tap into that, it can elevate your entire presentation. Ask yourself: "If I were in my audience's shoes, what would captivate me about my presentation?"

Move beyond asking organizers about your audience. Ask the audience before you deliver your presentation. Know who they are and what challenges they are facing. Get their stories to weave into your presentation. The more you know what they know already and what they are dealing with, the more you will reach and connect with them.

In those first moments, avoid housekeeping, thanking people, and boring things. Ask your audience to do something. Get them moving or talking to each other. You will hook them quickly and move into your content.

In my role guiding startups, I've seen the impact of a powerful hook during an investment pitch, especially crucial in the critical first minutes. I recall working with a founder who had an innovative waste management solution. To stand out in a sea of pitches, he began by holding up an empty plastic bottle and asking the audience, "Is this recyclable?" Immediately, he displayed various packages on screen, inviting the audience to guess their recyclability. This interaction wasn't just engaging; it turned his pitch into a conversation, a memorable game that sparked curiosity and set the stage for a compelling case for his business. It's a testament to how a strong hook can resonate with investors and make your message stick.

Even if you have the best product or service to offer, if you don't hook your audience, you'll fail. So the most significant word is 'hook.' In my experience, if you don't connect with the listener's challenges inside the first couple of minutes of your presentation, you've lost them. So the hook may be something like:? An applicable tale that you can offer in the first few minutes. A captivating minimal video addressing their concerns. Engaging in a conversation with them and paying close attention. The Hook's purpose is to make them feel as though you are there to solve their problem and have committed to helping them do so by relating to and addressing it.

Interesting hooks can include the main goal of the presentation or can at least divert the audience's attention towards it. When the audience's thoughts align with the presentation's goal, their engagement naturally follows, ensuring sustained interest throughout the talk.

One of the best ways to hook the audience's attention is to share a story with suspense. The other way to hook is to break a common misconception for example in my case I use the widely used thing that "Sleep of 8 hours is the ideal".

Tapping into the emotional core of your audience can dramatically enhance the impact of your presentation. For example, I once collaborated with a startup, developing an app to scan athletes' skeletons to predict and prevent injuries. Initially, they intended to present a hypothetical case of a young athlete. However, I suggested the founder draw on his personal narrative instead—his 11-year-old son, a passionate hockey player, was already facing injuries. By sharing this personal story, the presentation shifted from an abstract concept to a real-world dilemma that many in the audience could relate to. This connection forged an emotional bond with the listeners, transforming the pitch from informative to inspiring.

I would like to quote from one of my favorite Authors in a conflict between Emotions and Logic. Emotions always win. So when you use emotions the audience stays hooked to the presentation and then is more attentive.

Don't play with peoples emotions - touch someone at the heart or core of their reality and build them up. If you are open and honest, many people will open up to you and receive your offerings.

A famous quote by Maya Angelou that is often cited is: "People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." Using emotions in presentations has been very effective for me. It's more than just conveying information; it's about crafting an experience. For instance, starting a technical talk with an emotional story made the data more human and engaging. This not only grabbed attention but also made the content relatable and powerful. It's clear that an emotional connection, be it through humor or empathy, deepens the impact of your message, making it memorable for your audience.

In my experience, I've found that using stories that strongly evoke emotions has the ability to draw in your audience through a powerful and relatable connection. Emotionally charged stories resonate deeply and make it easier to convey complex ideas. By tapping into the emotional aspect of your stories, they have the ability to leave a lasting impact and compel others to not only listen but also actively engage.

In my experience, incorporating a jaw-dropping moment into your presentation can be the key to captivating your audience. It's about crafting an experience that's so striking, it sears itself into memory—much like how we all remember where we were during pivotal world events, yet we forget mundane details like where we last placed our keys. Take, for example, Bill Gates during his TED talk on malaria. He released mosquitoes into the auditorium, shocking his audience by sharing, "There’s no reason only poor people should have the experience." While Gates spoke for a full 18 minutes, it was this singular, unexpected act that became the highlight. It was tweeted, talked about, and most importantly, remembered.

If you're doing a product launch or pitch, and you have a considerable amount of time, half an hour or an hour, a great idea is to bring in some other collaborators, like customers for your customer story section to add colour to the experience and product, a leader in your market area or organization to tie your story into a wider narrative, or an interactive QA to understand the audience and main pain points, biggest needs that you can use as live feedback to your delivery and also after to polish your pitch. We did this in our most recent product launch party and had increased engagement extremely positive feedback and a lot of interest in the product post launch. You also want to make sure you make it all flow together!

I have a pretty charismatic personality. I love presenting new ideas and telling stories in my presentations. I've been known to add in a good analogy, Disney musical reference, or funny GIF to a presentation to make it memorable and entertaining. If that doesn't feel like your personality then don't force it. There are many other ways to keep things interesting. For example, maybe you have a video clip from another expert on the subject matter you're covering or use data points to make your case more effective. If you do go the entertaining route, it is very important to not go too off track from your core message. Clear and concise is almost always best!

Incorporating variety in my presentations has made them much more engaging. For instance, I once crafted a narrative around a challenging scenario related to my topic. I posed a "What would you do?" question to the audience, offering them several options to choose from. They responded using Slido, and their answers were displayed in real-time on the screen. This interactive element not only captivated their attention but also made them active participants in the discussion. Depending on their responses, I either expressed my intrigue or shared that their choice mirrored my own actions in that situation. This method not only kept the audience engaged but also seamlessly bridged into my next presentation section.

There are many ways to make a presentation interesting though variation. You can use state changes, egnagement through polls, chats and games. Exercises, group sharing, class sharing and pulling out the answers and lessons from the crowd are some ways that make the presentation interactive, and you get to act like facilitator for a group experience instead of a teacher having a monologue

This comes exactly from Newton's first law which says that an object stays in Inertia unless an External force is applied. When you do not end with a Call to Action the audience is clueless and doesn't take action so effectively they stay in the same state. So always ending with a good Call to Action that makes the audience take action is very important.

Cada mensagem tem um objetivo específico. Por isso, em qualquer apresenta??o, é fundamental considerar n?o apenas a mensagem final, mas também os passos futuros após esse encontro. O que deve ser feito a seguir? Quais mudan?as queremos provocar? Incentivar uma a??o por parte do público é o que impulsiona movimento, instigando transforma??es significativas.

It is also critical - at the end of the presentation/session - to reflect on what went well, which parts of the presentation seemed dull or moments where you "lost" the audience, and go back and make changes to the presentation (if it is to be reused) or make a note to actively do better on that particular issue for the next presentation. Iterative improvement is key to better presentations.

Storytelling is a crucial element to add to all your presentations. It works so well because most movies and literature we consume follow the same structure: 1. A Character that wants something. 2. The Character encounters a problem. 3. The Character meets The Guide. 4. The Guide gives the Hero a plan. 5. The Guide calls the Hero to action. 6/7. Define what's at stake: success and failure. It's a repeatable process that's recognizable, regardless of the individual on the receiving end. The book, Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller goes into this in depth.

The key to an interesting presentation which leaves the participants feeling empowered and great is for you to act like a facilitator who gets the attendants to shine instead of you having a monologue as a boring teacher.

Para tornar sua apresenta??o mais emocionante e urgente, considere incorporar histórias envolventes, usar uma linguagem persuasiva e incluir elementos visuais impactantes. Além disso, destaque pontos-chave para enfatizar a urgência da mensagem que está transmitindo.