HBR Guide to Persuasive Presentations (HBR Guide Series)

People will move away from pain and toward pleasure. Prod them (with words like “struggle” from the first example; “destroying” and “killing” from the second) so they feel uncomfortable staying in their current position. Lure them toward your idea with encouragement and rewards (the promise of meeting deadlines; protection of endangered species).

When asked, “What’s your presentation about?” most people answer with a phrase like “Software updates.” That’s not a big idea; it’s a topic—no point of view, no stakes. Change it to “Your department needs to update its workflow management software,” and you’re getting closer. You’ve added your point of view, but the stakes still aren’t clear. So tr

Similarly, your audience should focus intently on what you’re saying, looking only briefly at your slides when you display them. To create slides that pass the glance test: Start with a clean surface: Instead of using the default “Click to Add Title” and “Click to Add Text” slide master, turn off all the master prompts and start with a blank slide.

Plan content for 60% of your time slot: If you’re given a full hour, take no more than 40 minutes. That will leave time for Q&A, a panel, or some other form of discussion. It’s hard to keep people’s attention for much longer than 40 minutes unless you’ve built in interesting guest speakers, video clips, interactive exercises, and such. As Thoma

Your big idea is that one key message you must communicate. It’s what compels the audience to change course. (Screenwriters call this the “controlling idea.”) It has two components: Your point of view: The big idea needs to express your perspective on a subject, not a generalization like “Q4 financials.” Otherwise, why present? You may as well e-ma

“Your audience wants you to be real. So avoid sounding like a corporate spokesperson—but don’t portray false humility, either. Playing small and meek when inside you know (and the audience knows) you’re a giant will not win you any fans. Authenticity means claiming who you are.”

Each slide should pass what I call the glance test: People should be able to comprehend it in three seconds. Think of your slides as billboards.

“forgive a stumble, an ‘um,’ or a section where you backtrack as long as they know that your heart is in the right place.”

Trim your slide deck: If you created an hour-long presentation and want to deliver it in 40 minutes, cut your slides by a third. You can work in slide-sorter mode in PowerPoint, dragging slides to a “slide cemetery” at the very end of the file. Don’t delete them, because you might have to resurrect one or more at the last minute, when you’re answer