Written by Ed King, Head of Insights and Analytics at KWI Communications
Why do some department or team leads always seem to get the headcount or budget that they ask for while you don’t? It can’t possibly be the PowerPoints you worked tirelessly on to present all the amazing things you and your team have been doing to your VP?
Right?
Like it or not, PowerPoint has become far and away the most used tool to ‘get what you want’ in corporate America. But 90% of people leaders are using it wrong.
A study conducted by John Sweller, the psychologist who coined the term Cognitive Load Theory, found that presentations where the speaker reads aloud bullet points written on the slide actually reduces audience comprehension. Because people cannot inherently read and listen at the same time, you’re virtually guaranteeing that the audience won’t absorb much of anything.
The human brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text. Last time I checked, business executives are, indeed, humans. (At least for now.) A simple slide with an emotionally compelling image, paired with 30 seconds of well-crafted narrative will do more to engage your audience (and move them to act) than 30 slides chock full of bullet points, no matter HOW important those bullet points seem to be.
If emotion is the glue to memory, then brevity is the key to comprehension. There is no better model to follow than TED Talks, influential speeches or presentations from experts on a variety of topics, from business to science.
If you watch enough TED Talks, you’ll notice they tend to hover around 18 minutes. That’s by design. Researchers at Texas Christian University found that the act of listening is as equally draining as “thinking hard” about something. Dr. Paul King (no relation) calls this phenomenon “cognitive backlog.” The longer we listen, the heavier the backlog. Eventually (usually around the 18-minute mark), the brain starts to forget what’s it’s already heard.
TED’s 18-minute rule works because, as the brain processes new information, millions of neurons are firing, and the brain consumes copious amounts of glucose — leading to fatigue. When crafting your next presentation to your VP, keep in mind this critically important rule. Get to the meat and potatoes quickly.
Fewer words, more images and brevity are all steps you can take to make your next presentation your best one yet. However, I think what’s needed in corporate America is a mindset shift. In a business context, stories need to do more than just inform. They must emotionally stir and keep the attention of an executive audience AND compel them to act on the information presented. At KWI, we don’t simply call these “PowerPoint presentations.” Instead, we call them “Bulletproof Business Narratives.” The goal is to use facts, images, stories and videos (persuasive content) to leave no doubt in the audience’s mind what needs to happen.
As corporate communicators for nearly 20 years with some of the world’s most successful corporations, KWI embraces the art and science of presenting to an executive audience to achieve incredible results. And we broke down the components of the hundreds of successful narratives we have built. The five key ingredients of our formula are:
Discipline
Empathy
Clarity
Creativity
Action
If you need a way to remember those five ingredients, just use the acronym DECCA.
Discipline: Is everything important to your audience? Heck no. Especially for executives. Edit ruthlessly. Leave the details in the appendix. Concentrate on outcomes, not activities. If you need to dive in further, you can. Chances are, you won’t. The main deck story should be around 18 minutes. After that, your audience will start to check out, and will start forgetting things you already said.
Empathy: For a moment, shed your curse of knowledge and put yourself in the shoes of someone who is seeing and hearing this presentation for the first time. Context is key. But don’t confuse context with sharing the all-inclusive, exhaustive back story. You’ll lose their attention before you get started. A single sentence or simple graphic that answers the WIIFM (what’s in it for me) will be sufficient.
Clarity: Craft the narrative with clarity and focus. Shed the pieces of the story that don’t matter to THIS presentation. One takeaway from each slide – don’t overwhelm or confuse. Clarity is achieved when the audience’s brain aligns with the flow of the story and starts to know what the next slide will be without seeing it. Tell a simple story with humanism.
Creativity: Less text, more imagery. Photos of human faces, emotion-inducing words, infographics and unique data visualizations are all ways to capture and hold the attention of your executive audience. Graphics should be relevant to your business, and style should be consistent throughout. Remember, the most effective presentations are crafted with a blend of art and science.
Action: Ask for the sale. Make no mistake, every presentation is a sales presentation. Maybe you’re asking for budget. Maybe you’re asking for additional headcount. Maybe you’re justifying your entire department’s existence. Be clear and convincing when asking for what you want. Don’t leave your audience guessing.
By following these five principles, your next presentation will hold your executives’ attention and compel them to seriously consider your request.
For more information about how to build Bulletproof Business Narratives, contact Ed King directly at [email protected] or download our one-pager here and learn how to “flip the script” on your next presentation.
