The principle of recency states that audiences remember the last content they heard in a presentation more vividly than the points made in the beginning or middle. So you should create an ending that describes an inspirational, blissful world—a world that has adopted your idea. What will the audience members’ lives look like? What will humanity

An inoculation purposefully infects a person to minimize the severity of an infection. The same takes place when you empathetically address an audience’s refusals by stating them openly in your talk. This will help them see that you’ve thought through everything—which will decrease their anxiety.

presentations address the contrast of what is versus what could be.

So if a report primarily conveys information, then stories produce an experience. Blending the two creates a perfect world for your presentation where facts and stories can be layered like a cake. Navigating between fact, then story, then fact, then story creates interest and a pulse. Mixing report material with story material makes information

Transform Ideas Into Meaning So far, you’ve generated and collected ideas. Now you’ll give those ideas meaning. The structure and significance of stories transforms information from static and flat to dynamic and alive. Stories reshape information into meaning.

You must strike a balance between analytical and emotional content. Yes, emotional. This might not be a step with which you’re comfortable, but it’s an important one nonetheless. Aristotle claimed that to persuade, one must employ three types of argument: ethical appeal (ethos), emotional appeal (pathos), and logical appeal (logos).1 Facts alone

Your job as a communicator is to create and resolve tension through contrast. Building highly contrasting elements into a presentation holds the audience’s attention. Audiences enjoy experiencing a dilemma and its resolution—even if that dilemma is caused by a viewpoint that’s opposed to their own. It keeps them interested.

People are naturally attracted to opposites, so presentations should draw from this attraction to create interest. Communicating an idea juxtaposed with its polar opposite creates energy. Moving back and forth between the contradictory poles encourages full engagement from the audience.

Identify the Reward (new bliss) BENEFIT TO THEM How will they personally benefit from adopting your idea? What’s in it for them materially or emotionally? BENEFIT TO SPHERE How will this help their sphere of influence such as friends, peers, students, and direct reports? How can they use it to their benefit with those they influence? BENEFIT TO