How we change what others think, feel, believe and do

Helping Them Decide

Techniques > Public speaking > Preparing the Presentation > Helping Them Decide

Description | Example | Discussion | See also

Description

Structure your presentation (or at least part of it) around the decision process of your audience so you literally facilitate their decision, leading them inexorably to the conclusion you want them to make.

A five-step decision process that is common for many people is as follows:

Realizing that they have a problem: Show what is not working. Highlight costs, that others avoid this, etc.
Analyze the situation: Identify the facts. Show cause and effect. Let them know why it's so bad.
Present the solution: Show how the cause can be eliminated and the problem resolved.
Emphasize the benefits: Paint the upside brightly. Show all the reasons to adopt the solution.
Get them started: Call them to action. Tell them what they should do next. Give them the first step.

Example

Did you know that 85 percent of people have a perceptibly bad breath. This is due to the chemical residues from food. Misterine spray kills those bugs, fast. It's portable and easy. All you need to do is pick one up from the store tomorrow.

Discussion

Most presentations seek to persuade in some way, which means getting the audience to make a decision of some kind. Yet most presentations also do nothing about nudging them through the process of deciding.

This approach or variants of it are used in sales, for example in SPIN Selling, where the problem is highlighted and a solution facilitated before moving present the product.