7 Top Tips for Creating a Persuasive Presentation
The art of giving persuasive presentations, a desirable gift for any business leader or manager, rests not just on the content itself but how that content is presented. Tasked with giving a presentation, you'll inevitably know the subject to be talked about, the desired outcome and the potential target audience. However, if the purpose of your presentation is to somehow influence the hearts and minds of your audience - asking them to embrace a proposed business change, for example, it's vital to ensure that your presentation is structured effectively and uses the most persuasive language.
Business skills training specialists Maguire Training can help leaders and managers to create and deliver influential presentations thanks to their eLearning module 'Using Persuasive Language in Presentations'. This highly useful and informative training shows delegates the best ways in which to structure a persuasive presentation using powerful language and how to deliver it with confidence.
Many business people find delivering presentations tricky, so to make the process easier Maguire Training has compiled a list of their 7 top tips for creating a persuasive presentation.
1) Open with an attention grabber
You can't persuade an audience that isn't listening in the first place, so it's important to open your presentation with a statement that grabs attention and captures the audience's interest.
2) Confine key messages to a single sentence
Make each point of your argument a concise, punchy statement that is either a fact or a strong opinion.
3) Provide evidence to support each point of your argument
The best way to win over and influence an audience is to back up your claims, ideas or opinions with concrete evidence that supports them. Presentations are both aural and visual, so provide a mix of evidence such as graphs and charts, quotes, photographs, report findings, anecdotes and so on which provide variety and keep the audience engaged.
4) Don't overload with information
Brevity is the soul of wit and you don't want to lose the audience whilst they attempt to process a vast amount of detailed information you just presented to them. Make your points and arguments clearly and succinctly and offer to provide more in-depth information, if required, after the presentation.
5) Use your voice and body language to project credibility
As mentioned previously, a successfully persuasive presentation is as much about the delivery as it is the content. Rehearse the presentation as much as possible to perfect confident speech and use commanding but non-threatening body language to establish an influential presence.
6) Combine logic and emotion
A presenter can appeal both to an audience's emotions and to their sense of logic, but both should be balanced equally to achieve the most persuasive delivery.
7) Make the ending as memorable as the beginning
Ideally, you want the points and arguments made in your presentation to resonate with the audience after it has finished. Keep your end note powerful and brief, perhaps making a rallying call to action or strongly reinforcing the key benefits of your proposals. The lasting impression created by your finish is just as important as your attention-grabbing beginning.
How can we help?
Presentations are a common but valuable channel of business communication and every manager and leader can benefit from formal training in the art of delivering persuasive presentations. In order to assist delegates who wish to acquire the necessary skills and knowledge, but who are unable to attend a formal training session, 'Using Persuasive Language in Presentations' and "The Power of Persuasion" are offered as online training and can be accessed by delegates via Maguire Training's innovative E-learning system.
