Without a Connector there is no point in presenting.

To assist you in crafting a compelling story that connects your content with your audience, you need to determine the smallest number of people who can have the most significant impact on what happens next for you and your content.

Until the audience has what they need, it will be difficult for them to give you what you need.

Let’s establish a basic principle: when you present anything that won’t be approved, actioned, signed off on or bought on the spot, you need your content to have a life beyond this first presentation.

You might only present it once, but to get any follow-up—whether that is feedback or direction on the next steps—your content will be reviewed, cut down, and shared with others, perhaps several times before you hear anything.

As a client, I have often felt lost, confused and even frustrated when I could see there was the genesis of a good idea being presented to me, but I couldn’t see how I could take these slides and present them to my team or how I could explain exactly what was presented further up into the company for buy-in or sign-off. One thing I can be certain of is that if someone is confused by what they have seen, they are sure as hell not going to try to explain it to their boss.

Filming a movie without a storyboard is a recipe for disaster

And it’s the same for presentations.

Given that I deal with content delivered using some form of visual support, be that PowerPoint, Google Slides, Keynote or even Canva, there is a flaw within each platform you should know about. Slides are evil.

Entertainment isn’t as effective as persuasive storytelling.

You know those meetings where you turn up, unsure what to expect, and it turns out to be an entertaining hour bordering on the Wednesday night comedy club, but you wonder what it was all about and whether you really needed to go? As a result, nothing changes as you get back into your work.

Picture yourself standing at the edge of a dense forest. You're familiar with the path, but those who've entrusted you with their time aren't. Your responsibility is clear: ensure they navigate the journey smoothly, stay connected, and never feel lost.

Success isn't about racing through the rocky terrain; it's about how well your audience traverses it. It's about leading them with care, allowing for pauses, and ensuring everyone absorbs the journey at their own pace.

The more you know, the easier it becomes to lose your audience.

We have this amazing ability to hear what we think we are saying and find it very hard to distinguish between our inner dialogue and what the audience is actually hearing.

The value lies in the problems solved.

We obsess about our products and services.
What the competition is doing, and how the market is performing.
What next, and what do we need to do to keep up…

What about the customer? What do they want and need?

It's the thing that all presenters dread – the silence that follows a presentation.

The days that follow your presentation are critical to success. This is when the people you presented to should be passing on your content to others, becoming content ambassadors and evangelists for your message. But in that silence, it can be hard to tell what is really happening.