Each presentation needs to tell a story. However, it solely depends on you to make it inspirable, impactful, and effective. So, how to make your presentation impactful? Don’t worry, we have your back because our guide offers 5 effective ways of making your presentation interesting and keeping the audience engaged to the very end.
Facts and Story
The point of this storytelling style is to present the facts and tell a story of how you can make those facts better. However, you have to keep moving back and forth between the facts and your story so that the audience keeps the interest in hearing you out to the very end. The most effective way includes starting off with “the current situation” and mixing it up with “How it can be”. Simple as that, yet really effective.
The Explanation
The Explanation is there to shed some light on the new abilities and insights. This way, you are informing the audience that the current problem or an outdated process can be solved with a new approach, Your approach. A great strategy includes incorporating storytelling into the structure so that you can present the progression of the facts together with the story progression.
The Pitch
In the world of business, The Pitch is when you use a speech or a presentation so that the audience is convinced that your idea can solve a problem or improve a system. Imagine this presentation as a climb uphill, where the hill is a hurdle that prevents the company from reaching the right resolution. Your pitch is an experienced Sherpas that will take them over the hill, straight to the solution. Just keep in mind that the most successful pitches are the ones that have a real, audience relatable story. This way, you will make the audience think “This makes complete sense!” Mission accomplished!
The Drama
In literature, “The Hero’s Journey” is a writing style that represents a certain character that went from “zero to hero”. With this kind of book, the readers feel like they have learned a lesson that will stick in their minds and possibly help them in their own lives. The same principle can be used for presentations.
This storytelling-type presentation is best for telling the story of a company. You start from its beginnings, take the audience through all the tests and problems the company had in its way to success, and finish with a breathtaking show of success.
Of course, every good presentation cannot rely solely on storytelling and needs visual help so that the audience connects with the story better. The best way to boost your storytelling is if it’s accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation, using pre-created PowerPoint templates and everything else that can make it more impactful.
Hook, Meat, and Payoff
Just like the Drama presentation technique, the Hook, Meat, Payoff presentation is based on the art of storytelling. However, the Hero’s Journey is for presenters that are looking for a more of a literary technique, while this one is based on spoken-word progression.
The main point of this style is that you give the audience a sense of time and place, and keep them at the edge of their seats, wanting more of your inspiring storytelling. This is called The Hook.
Once you have their full attention, you come to the middle part of your presentation (The Meat), where your story progresses with all the information is inviting and interesting.
Finally, the Payoff, the part where you circle back to the beginning of your story and offer an inspiring conclusion that will leave the audience, well, inspired. However, the secret weapon is that by the end of your presentation, besides feeling inspired, your target audience will have a feeling that your idea is just what they needed in the first place. That’s why it’s called “The Payoff”.
