115. Alexei Kapterev: Structure Your Presentation

11 years ago Alexei Kapterev made a presentation called “Death by PowerPoint” which since then has gathered around 11 million views. In 2012 it was followed by the book called ”Presentation Secrets” and in 2017 — by the Coursera specialization. Alexei teaches at the Moscow State University’s Higher School of Business Administration, SKOLKOVO Moscow School of Management and works for a multitude of Russian and international clients.

Structure Your Presentation

A presentation is like a building: without a solid structure it will collapse. Alexei recommends us to start organizing information in a logical way. There are four things you can do with the audience:

* Inform people

* Entertain people

* Influence people’s decision making

* Be in a dialog, give them options

The goal is to mix these four building blocks together, in a logical sequence. If you are just informing, it’s boring. If you are just entertaining, it is funny but pointless. If you are just selling, you are pushing too much. If you are just in a dialog, you are not achieving any goal. You must mix all four according to your audience’s needs and expectations.

Related: How to Master Compelling Storytelling

Favorite quotation

“Never write a speech which is not part of a campaign.”

Recommended book

Anatomy of a story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller  by John Truby

Routine to Shine

Do this weekly. Take a chapter of a fiction book. Read and record it. Listen to it. You hear that sometimes you understand, sometimes you don’t. You shouldn’t say anything unless you have a clear picture of what you’re trying to say. Do it again.

Links

Death by PowerPoint

“Presentation Secrets” book

Alexei at Coursera

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