How do you make persuasion easier so you get them where you need them to be by the end of your talk? You need to get across the “no hole,” the gap between where you want them and what they believe before you talk to them. In the middle are all the reasons they can say no, and unfortunately, a no to something is a no to everything.

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In order to best prepare for your presentation, you need to decide how important it is to you. There’s a big difference between low-stakes and a high-stakes situation, and how much you prepare should reflect that. But more importantly, realize that you are the one who decides how important a particular presentation is to you.

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Is there a persuasion formula, a simple way to think about it so we can be better at it? Yes. There are three predictable things you’ll need to address in order to persuade an audience: goals, perspectives, and truths. When we change someone’s mind, we’re changing one of those three things. It’s not easy, however, to change what someone wants or what someone believes.

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What’s the difference between branding and marketing? Branding is about meaning, but marketing is about method. Brand is something that you already have that you’re trying to distill and communicate. Marketing is how you communicate that message, which comes down to the four Ps: product, price, place, and promotion (Tamsen adds a fifth P for the people you serve).

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Speaking points are the ideas you want the audience to leave your presentation understanding. Thinking about them ahead of time has two benefits. First of all, you can make sure your speaking points are sharp. Secondly, you can look at what your audience says after your presentation and see if they show up.

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The challenge of giving and receiving feedback is to get people to move past the negative. The problem is that our brains can’t just stop doing something without replacing it with something else. Telling someone (or yourself) that something is wrong doesn’t tell them what to do instead. The trick for feedback is to pair the positives with positive actions they (or you) can take. A system called +EBI can help, which stands for “Positive (+), Even Better If.”

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Shyness and stage fright are part of our flight or fight response, but how can we overcome them? The first step is to know that it’s normal. The other thing to realize is that delivery is the least important part of getting your message across. Your audience will give you the benefit of doubt if they care about what you’re talking about. We look at the three questions an audience asks itself.

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Ideas need to grow up to meet their potential, to do that you need to understand the idea lifecycle. Knowing where you are in the idea lifecycle helps you get your idea where you need to go next.

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This week we look at how and when to your slides in a presentation about your idea. There are few more polarizing topics, however, so let’s talk about how slides work.

Find the Red Thread at TamsenWebster.com.

This week we look at how and when to your slides in a presentation about your idea. There are few more polarizing topics, however, so let’s talk about how slides work.

Find the Red Thread at TamsenWebster.com.