February 28, 2011

Maybe there’s no such thing as a love potion.  But did you ever wish you could cast a spell on your audience, management team, or customer so that they do whatever you want?  I’m not talking about magic wands.  I’m talking about magic words.

I’m going to share an outline with you that will transform your presentation and management style.  If you’re in a selling situation, get ready to start taking orders.  And if you’re a manager, get ready to sit back and take ideas.

Getting what you want is really just a function of three things:

1.  Being clear about who your audience is and what’s important to them.

2.  Taking the time to analyze the situation, design a solution, and craft a creative and visual presentation of your idea.

3.  Making it easy for your audience to say yes to your idea and take action.

The Power Presentation Formula

This is a simple formula that you can use to structure your thoughts and your message in a way that will literally take your audience by the hand and lead them exactly where you want them to go, while informing and educating them about the situation.

Let’s go through the outline minute by minute.

:30 - 1:00 minute  

What’s happening? This is the first statement of the presentation – but it will probably be the last thing you actually write.  Starting your presentation with an authentic statement about what’s happening will get everyone on the same page.  After you make your “What’s Happening” statement, the little voice inside your audience’s head should say something like “WHAT?  How can you say that?”  Your “What’s Happening” statement should be no more than two or three sentences.

1:00 – 3:00 minute  

How did we get here? In this section of the outline, you get to prove your point.  This is the section where you place all your data, charts, and graphs. Don’t overwhelm your audience with numbers and tables.  Make the title of each graph what you want your audience to be left with. Instead of “2011 Sales By Region” use “Southern Region Exceeds Sales Goals." Your audience will thank you because they won’t have to analyze the data themselves and you can move on with your presentation.

3:00 – 5:00 minutes   

What will we do? At this stage, the little voice inside your audience’s head is begging for solutions.  Now you have them where you want them.  They are eager to hear your ideas.  Don’t let this opportunity go to waste.  Take the time to present your idea in a tangible, visible way.  Use props or demonstrations to engage your audience and get them living into the future of your idea in action.

5:00 – 6:00 minutes   

What’s the payoff? You have a great idea, but why is it good for your audience? That’s what they will want to know and you get to tell them.  Be clear and descriptive about the benefits.  Use lots of adjectives to describe how wonderful the future will be with your solution in place.

6:00 – 7:00 minutes   

How do we get started? By the time you get to this stage of the outline, your audience will be excited and ready to do something.  Tell your audience what you want them to do and make it easy for them to take action right away.  If there is something to be signed, make sure that you have the forms, the pens, and anything else that’s required.

Give This Outline to Employees

Do you remember that old supervisory phrase “Get the monkey off your back”?  Well, this outline will not only get the problem-solving monkey off your back, it will inspire your employees.  Give this outline to your employees and encourage them to use it at meetings.   This outline will naturally force anyone using it to focus on a real problem, the data behind it, and the possible solutions.  It takes the problem off of the manager’s desk and puts it squarely in the hands of the people who are best qualified to see it and solve it.

When I trained a client on this outline and had the team members develop a presentation as part of their final certification, the management team was blown away by the ideas and energy that came out of the process.

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• Managing

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