Every presentation is a journey

Every presentation is a journey

Imagine turning up for work as usual on Monday morning and before you even take your coat off your boss says, ‘ Don’t take your coat off we are going straight out’.

Isn’t it likely that your first response may be, ‘Where are we going?’ closely followed by ‘why are we going there?

Concluding with ‘how are we going to get there?’.

It’s the same when your audience enter a meeting room or auditorium to listen to your presentation. The difference is they won’t actually ask you the questions because they will trust that you will make it abundantly clear at the outset.

Every presentation is a journey which demands a worthwhile destination. If you make the mistake that many professionals do and simply share the data, it’s unlikley to be a pleasant journey..

If your audience don’t know where they are going whilst they are with you, they won’t follow you there and you’ll leave them feeling frustrated. Taking your audience on a journey is the goal of every presentation.

The Hero’s Journey

There is a great deal we can learn about how to take our audience on a powerful journey through the world of storytelling. The most creative, robust and effective approach I have come across to help us has been around for decades. It’s the universal story structure shared with us by American mythologist, Joseph Campbell. It has come to be known as the hero’s journey.

I wrote about this in a previous article called ‘9 powerful steps to storytelling in business – brought to life.’ This was a persuasive approach that I learned from reading the work of the master storyteller Doug Stevenson.

Before embarking on the 9 steps however it’s critical that you build a firm foundation on which to structure your story.

As robust as the 9 steps are, you can be certain that your construction will crumble without absolute clarity of your objective and intention.

Objective

Remember, every presentation is a journey.

Your objective is crucial to ensuring that you arrive at your chosen destination before you even begin to map out your journey. It can only be set by asking and answering one extremely important question before you craft your nine steps.

‘What do you want your audience to do when you’ve finished speaking’

The 9 steps

1. Set the scene

Give them some background and context. Make it short, relevant and compelling.

2. Introduce the characters (although not necessarily Step 2)

Who’s involved or impacted. Customers, staff, suppliers and why should your audience care?

3. Begin the journey

Where are you taking them, what do you want them to do and why?

4. Encounter the obstacle

What’s in the way, the challenge, problem or concern?

5. Overcome the obstacle

How are you going to get there?

6. Resolve the story

How will things look at the end?

7. Make the point

Why it’s so importan, what are the benefits and cost of doing nothing?

8. Ask ‘The Question

What do you want from them and how can they help you?

9. Repeat the point

Tell them again why what you are talking about/sharing/asking is so important.

What isn’t part of the journey?

– Dumping data on them

– Reading slides

– Sharing so much information that they are overloaded

– Sharing information which is irrelevant

– Presenting something which you could easily share in an email

– Causing doubt and confusion

– No clear objective and intention

– No worthwhile destination

Most people don’t get overexcited about attending business presentations but everyone loves going on a great journey. Make sure that your presentation is a journey; one which your audience will remember.

The following animation offers a simple yet compelling explanation of the hero’s journey.

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