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IGF JOURNAL
VOLUME 25, NO. 2
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International
I always ask my MA and MBA students
if they have ever taken a public speaking
course. Very few have, but they are quite
familiar with PowerPoint and other
forms of slideware and some of them
do regular presentations as part of their
jobs. Some are looking for money for a
new program: others for a consulting
contract. Their objective is usually to
convince someone to do something or
to approve something.
Just as the advent of word processing
made us all prolific writers (and
less effective editors) PowerPoint
presentations are so easy to do that we
tend to fire up the software and draft the
slides without first carefully reviewing
the rules and structure for convincing
presentations.
These rules were perfected decades
before PowerPoint was even a gleam
in Bill Gates’ eye, but they are rarely
taught today.
I sometimes think we even use
PowerPoint to
distract
the attention
of the audience from the presenter to
the screen by posting up everything
we want to say. As a result, we have
attractive and informative presentations
that are neither stimulating, effective
nor persuasive.
This is not the best way to use the
technology – and it‘s not the best way to
make convincing presentations either.
I am as guilty as anyone, having
designed PowerPoint presentations with
limited structure and unimaginative
visuals that, while perhaps informative,
had little or no “staying power” for the
listener. There were no visual images that
would really take root; and they ignored
much of what I learned about public
speaking and presentation structure long
before PowerPoint came along.
If the objective is to
persuade
and
convince
, as opposed to a “workshop”
or a “knowledge transfer” type of
presentation, this “impressionistic
staying power” can be a tremendous
benefit to the success of the presentation
in achieving its objectives. This can best
be conveyed by first class, imaginative
(and occasionally controversial) visuals.
If you decide that a key benefit to the
listener is “economic development”,
“cost savings” or “risk mitigation” a
visual would reflect that idea, rather than
just saying it. The creativity (and fun) is
to reflect the idea in an impressionistic
visual which will not be easily forgotten
(the staying power) and yet remain
businesslike and professional. This is
certainly more challenging than the usual
PowerPoint approach, but it works.
I once helped with a presentation for
a management consulting proposal for
a hospital. One of the presenter’s slides
showed a rather gruesome surgeon’s
scalpel, dripping with blood, and
talked about increasing efficiency by
certain expenditure and staffing cuts.
It was nothing whatever to do with the
technical aspects of the proposal, but
the metaphor certainly matched the
listeners’ preconceptions and interests,
caught their imagination and left an
indelible impression to which they could
relate. The presenter won the contract.
Not only that, but the impression has
remained in my mind even after many
years!
Once we have reached the presentation
stage for a new program proposal,
the likelihood is that we have already
convinced the listeners that our written
proposal (or whatever) was technically
sound. Otherwise, we wouldn’t even be
there. So there is less need to explain the
details of the technology or the approach.
It is the impression we leave behind after
the presentation that counts so much.
Given the usual strict time limitations,
Secrets of a Convincing Presentation
Chris Jones, MBA, FCMC
