Engage-Explain-Empower

Three rules to empower any audience on any topic: Engage-Explain-Empower

What is your objective when you make a presentation, any presentation ?

Not to make a nice presentation.

Not just to be listened to.

The objective of any presentation is to empower the attendees. It is to have them buy your product, implement your strategy, change their behaviors.

If your presentation is factual and informative, your attendees’ perception is that you have already done the job. They will listen to it, find it interesting, but there will be no next steps. They will think: “nicely put, thank you!”. And they will forget it. 

If your presentation is inspiring, your attendees’ perception is that they are ready to take action from what they heard. They will actively listen to it, find it engaging, and they will be spurred to take their next steps. They will think: “That resonates with me, how can I implement that plan, sell this product, improve?”. Your presentation will be a call to action.

So, here is a technique that will help you create engaging presentations:

1- Start by a story = Engage

2- Develop your point = Explain

3- End by a story = Empower

Principles are simple:

 1- The more stories I tell, the more I put attendees in a creative mode. The more description I use, the more I put attendees in a passive mode.

2- We remember short stories and metaphors, not lists of facts and numbers.

Take a look at a short example below, voluntarily emphasizing the use of these techniques:

Example of the presentation of a new strategy by the CEO of ABC Corp:

“Once upon a time, a little girl named Marla made three wishes: get blue eyes, get the ability to fly and live in a castle with Prince John. The fairy asked her to choose one wish between those three, because she couldn’t get them all. Marla had to make a decision and she decided to go and live with prince John because this was the best thing in order for her to ensure her future.” 

> Story: Engage

“At ABC Corp we had somewhat the same challenge: we needed to clarify what we wanted. Our wishes for 2015 were A- be among the three top players in Europe by massive investments, B- open new plants in the US and C- increase our markets shares in Asia. We knew we couldn’t do it all, so we picked A in order to leverage on our strengths first and deploy our products worldwide in a second time...”     

> Point: Explain

“So, we wanted to be safe first in order to continue to invest on our future. Like when we build a cathedral, we needed strong foundations, and then we can bring up the whole cathedral on them. I am asking each of you to help us build strong foundations to our castle. How can you do that ? ...”

> Story: Empower

So, each time you make a presentation, remember to tell stories and to use the Engage-Explain-Empower technique.