HBR Guide to Persuasive Presentations (HBR Guide Series)

have little time to prepare. These pressures make them forget what’s important to the audience. A self-focused presenter might just describe a new initiative and explain what needs to get done—outlining how to do it, when to do it, and the budget required. Then maybe, if the audience is lucky, he’ll have a slide at the very end about “why it matter

“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.”

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.

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

If you tap into an object’s natural rate of vibration, or resonant frequency, it will move: It may vibrate, shudder, or even play a sympathetic musical note—think tuning forks. The same is true, metaphorically, when you present to an audience. If you tap into the group’s resonant frequency, you can move the people listening to you.

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

Research shows that people learn more effectively from multimedia messages when they’re stripped of extraneous words, graphics, animation, and sounds. The extras actually take away meaning because they become a distraction.

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

But how do you resonate deeply enough to move them toward your objective? Figure out where you have common ground, and communicate on that frequency.