20 things you need to know about persuasive presenting

(from Michelle Bowden’s workshop for RMHC in June 2023)

1. We present (persuade and influence) our family members, friends, clients, patients, colleagues and managers every day of our life. Our days and filled with negotiating, finding compromise, updating, advising, selling, influencing and persuading.

2. Most people forget that we are actually influencing people all the time, so they treat their communication scenarios like informal conversations and don’t analyse their stakeholder, prepare their message, and they definitely don’t take the time to rehearse. They are likely to ‘wing it’!

3. Remember it’s all about the audience!

4. What does your stakeholder need? Give it to them! Flex, flex flex your approach.

5. Expert communicators get into their stakeholder’s shoes and build strong rapport so they can present meaningful, needs based solutions.

6. Expert communicators know how to design, persuasive, powerful, memorable messages and as a result, expert communicators hear the word ‘yes’ more often in their life.

7. Remember you cannot NOT influence.

8. 4Mat is the model for crafting a message so it sticks in your stakeholder’s mind and they are compelled to take the action you require.

9. 4Mat addresses the 4 x virtual questions in your stakeholder’s mind: Why? What? How? What if?/What else?

10. Storyboarding is a very cool technique created by Walt Disney for designing a presentation.

11. An icebreaker is one way to hook the attention of your audience. There are 3 steps to a great icebreaker: hook; intro/welcome; link to your content.

12. Pacing and leading is the linguistic pattern for convincing someone to say ‘yes’ to you. Remember the key is to get right into their shoes and use the truisms that best show empathy before you lead with your leading statement.

13. Some people are motivated to move away from pain, other move toward reward. When you motivate your audience try telling them what they will reduce, maintain and improve.

14. There are three main types of objections: content, personal and logistics. It’s best to manage most objections BEFORE they are raised. We manage objections with the POO technique. POO stands for: Pacing Out Objections.

15. There are 5 steps to the POO technique: state the objection; say ‘and’, ‘so’ or pause and say nothing, then say ‘actually’ or ‘in fact’, lead to a solution, and finally use the clever word ‘because’ with a meaningful reason.

16. Be careful of saying ‘But’, ‘However’, ‘Alternatively’, ‘Although’ because they all negate what you have just said and activate the fight/flight response in the stakeholder and incite them to fight you! Choose to say “and”, “so”, or just pause and say nothing.

17. Framing is used to control and relax your audience and you do it at step 5 of the Persuasion Blueprint.

18. A call to action is clear, direct and explicit. Remember, make your meeting count and always ask for something, even it’s just for further support.

19. Today is the day to make a serious decision to take your communication seriously!

20. Make a plan to practice on the little issues and challenges at home so you get good at doing all this fast!

I know you know this, it’s not rocket science, so take the time to plan your meetings in advance, analyse your performance at the conclusion of every meeting and continuously strive to be an power persuader who hears the word ‘yes’ more often!