6 Tips to Convert Your Story into a Winning Presentation

Storytelling is a unique gift and art form that, done correctly, can capture an audience’s attention. Poor storytelling could confuse an audience and leave them asking, “What were they trying to convey?”

We use storytelling in all areas of our lives. Think about it. We share stories of our vacation adventures with colleagues, tell bedtime stories to our children and we present stories when selling a product or service. Storytelling is a craft that we refine over time.

But when putting pen to paper to craft the story into a presentation, it becomes a little more challenging. Questions regarding how much information and what information to put on a slide often arise.

At Launchpad Creative, we are here with six tips to help you think through how to turn your story into an engaging, compelling presentation to capture your audience’s attention.

Want to learn how? Let’s dive in.

ONE: KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

Not just the name of the people you are presenting to, but who they are – understand their personas. Does your audience just want the facts? Are they interested in understanding the timeline? Could they be relationship-focused and want to get to know you better?

Sketching out personality profiles for the types of the people you will meet will help you craft an appealing presentation that will hold their interest.

TWO: SET THE OBJECTIVE

This is a step you don’t want to miss when developing a presentation. It’s important to clearly outline the takeaways you want your audience to receive from your presentation.

Are you looking to sell your audience a product or update a client on quarterly accomplishments? Do you want to share a new service offering with your client?

Outlining your objectives upfront will enable you to tell a coherent and concise story. Consistency is essential.

THREE: SOLVE THE PROBLEM

We wrote about the importance of solving your audience’s problem in a previous post. This is a fundamental step in preparing a presentation.

You understand your audience’s frustration. Now, you can sweep in with an amazing solution that will make their “pain” disappear. This is your chance to be the hero!

Identifying and speaking to the audience’s problem early in the presentation allows you to capture their attention and earn their trust.

FOUR: PROVIDE ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES

You’ve outlined the problem and defined the solution. Now you need to provide evidence for why your solution – and not the competition’s – is the right one.

This is best accomplished through anecdotes. Sometimes, a story can drive a point home better than presenting data. According to Prezi, 90% of people believe that a strong narrative in a presentation is critical for engagement.

Consider what type of story will work best for the solution you are presenting. Then, put pen to paper and layout the components of your story – the villain, the hero, etc. We wrote about how to shape a compelling story in an earlier blog post titled “What Mister Rogers Can Teach Us About Storytelling.”

FIVE: SHOW YOUR STORY

You know what you want to say. Now, how should you relay it?

In today’s world, a slide full of paragraphs won’t keep people’s attention. Break up your slides with images, charts and other graphics to effectively tell your story.

Do this by mapping it out. Stick to the rule of thumb of having no more than seven bullets with seven words on a single slide. According to several studies, text-heavy slides cause people to read the slides instead of listening to the presenter, creating disengagement.

Think through the best way to visually display the information on the page. The book Advanced Presentations by Design by Andrew Abela, Ph.D., is one of our go-to books and provides helpful examples for designing slides and constructing a winning presentation.  

SIX: TAKE A BIRD’S EYE VIEW

You have the content. You created the visuals. You’re ready to present. Right? Wrong.

Print out your slides and put them in sequential order. You can tape them to the wall, place them on a large table or lay them on the floor. Take a step back, look at the slides and consider the following: Do they tell the story you want to convey? Does the order make sense? Could some points be rearranged? Are the elements visually appealing?

Sure, you can look at slides on a computer screen. But printing them out and looking at them all together will allow you to see them through the eyes of your audience. Does the story make sense?

READY TO PUT PEN TO PAPER

A presentation might not make or break you, but it will surely leave an impression – good or bad – with those that hear it.

Take your time and think about the message you want to convey. Will your solution make sense to your audience? Does it alleviate their pain points? How can you tell the story succinctly to keep your audience’s attention?

Once you complete your presentation, practice it and practice it again. This will help you tell the anecdotes more clearly and find areas where you can drive your selling points home.

Remember, it is okay to start a slide or two over from scratch. That’s what the practice is for. As Frank Lloyd Wright once said,

“The two most important tools an architect has are the eraser in the drawing room and the sledge hammer on the construction site.”

I believe this quote applies to anyone who is crafting a presentation, too.

We would love the opportunity to answer any questions you may have about how to draft a winning presentation.