Better presentations in five steps

A star wars story

V. Sri, Content Designer

The pitch

This is an adaptation of a brilliant framework I learned from Andy Raskin. I encourage you to read it in full and follow his other writing too.

I think about this five-part pitch every time I start a piece of content. On the next pages, I translate Andy's framework into Star Wars terms.

Spoilers ahead.

About us
The problem
What we did
Facts and figures
Results
Next steps

What about me
My problem or yours
Yawn
Why should I believe this?
I don't feel any different
And you're giving me homework?

MOST PRESENTATIONS SOUND LIKE THIS

A new hope (for presentations)

Name the enemy
Answer: Why now?
Show the promised land
Identify obstacles (and how to overcome them)
Present evidence

name the enemy

Start with what's standing in the way of your audience’s happiness. This isn’t necessarily your enemy. What does your audience want, crave, or need?

If they already know how to vanquish their “enemy,” then your presentation is a waste of time. Ditto if their enemy isn’t all that scary.

Do your homework and find out what your audience cares about.

The first shot in Star Wars is a tiny ship being chased by an imperial Star Destroyer. The size contrast makes it clear who the bad guys are.

Answer: Why now?

Every presentation must change someone’s point of view. Even if it’s “I didn’t know that and now I do,” you are bringing someone from mental point A to mental point B.

But know that people resist change. Fear, laziness, and inertia stop people from acting, even when they want to.

You must provide tangible stakes for why your message matters. And if doesn’t matter, why are you talking?

Luke Skywalker craves adventure, but his aunt and uncle have other plans for him. One day he comes home to find them dead.

Before this moment, Luke wasn’t ready to leave home. The tragic death of his family frees him to answer the call of adventure.

Show the promised land

The basic proposition of your presentation is your audience’s reward for listening . But is your presentation even making a proposition? It'd better be.

Convey your promised land for the awesomeness that it is. Make your audience feel it. If they don’t feel it, they won’t want it, and if they don’t want it… then you’re not changing anyone’s mind.

Luke wants adventure. Danger. Control over his destiny. And potentially some action from a princess (that will turn out to be his sister).

The enemy is what Luke is running from; his promised land is what he’s running toward.

Identify obstacles

Identify obstacles...

It's time to reveal the plan. At this point your audience should agree that:

bad enemy is bad
now is the time to act
the promised land is worth it

Present your path to the promised land as obstacles in a quest. To reach the promised land, you must reach x. To vanquish your enemy, you will slay y.

But make the audience the hero. You are their Gandalf. (Oops, wrong fantasy.)

The path to Luke’s promised land is a hassle. He has to experience a trash compactor, Storm Troopers, the death of Obi Wan, all before flying an X-wing into a giant snow globe.

But that’s the deal. Once Luke accepts the stakes, these trials are the obstacles on the way to the finish line.

Provide evidence

Evidence is the reason to believe this story you've been telling so far.

Data without narrative is empty. Your audience has to feel the problem, care enough to act, and understand potential solutions before they can consider your supporting evidence.

Serve data and evidence for dessert, rather than for dinner. You only need enough to show that your story isn’t fiction.

At the climax of Star Wars, Luke Skywalker turns off his navigation computer and manages to destroy the death star. That's the proof that maybe there’s something to this thing called "The Force."

(Note that proof doesn't always look like data.)

The aforementioned evidence

Zak, P. (2015). Why Inspiring Stories Make Us React: Cerebrum: The Dana Forum on Brain Science. Link

Lin, P., Grewal, N., Morin, C., Johnson, W., & Zak, P. (2013). Oxytocin Increases the Influence of Public Service Advertisements. Plos ONE. Link

How storylines can aid memory. (2012). the Guardian. Retrieved 17 October 2018 Link

Stephens, G., Silbert, L., & Hasson, U. (2010). Speaker-listener neural coupling underlies successful communication. Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences. Link

Paul, A. (2014). The Neuroscience of Your Brain on Fiction. nytimes.com. Retrieved 17 October 2018. Link

Young, K., & Saver, J. (2001). The Neurology of Narrative. SubStance, 30(1/2), 72-84. Link

From Andy Raskin

The Greatest Sales Deck I’ve Ever Seen

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