Dear Friends,
Given the increase in the complexity of our world and the increase in workloads over the past year, I am condensing each True Insights to one powerful tip or idea designed to make life easier for our subscribers.
That tip in this edition is a little-known technique for making your presentations MUCH more memorable and persuasive.
The technique: Use a visual, metaphor-based example to deliver your key point.
Instead of saying “We have many opportunities in growth markets right now that we are not taking advantage of,” show your audience a picture of a row of apple trees with red, ripe fruit on them. Tell them the fruit they see represents the opportunity in these growth markets (the row of apple trees). Then show them an image of a small basket and say that the basket represents the resources the company is currently investing in these growth markets. How do you collect more of that lovely fruit? You invest in a bigger basket, or a truck that can hold a LOT of apples (show them an image).
Your use of images and the metaphor of apples growing on trees will impress them. They will remember what you said, and it will influence how they think about your proposal.
The process for using a visual, metaphor-based example in your presentation:
- Define your key point. What is the most important message you want to deliver today?
- Brainstorm a way to express that point in story form.
- Search for images that support your metaphor.
- Build the slides and practice giving the example. Make it interactive if you can.
I’ve been coaching people to do this for years and whenever they use it, they are surprised and delighted by the results in brings. Humans love images. They love examples, metaphors, and stories. Use them in your presentations and watch what happens.
Check out True Talk #13 to see examples of how people I coach have used this technique.
True Talk #13 The Little Known Secret to a Great Presentation