Convince Your Audience (The Art Of Presenting Ideas)
With these seven chronological steps you have a powerful scenario in your hands to convince your audience of your idea.
Thinking of ideas is great. And let them be original and groundbreaking. But that is only the beginning of the story. Ideas that are never implemented are worthless. They do not bring about change. Staying dreams and utopias ... Unfortunately, there is a gap between dream and execution that needs to be bridged. And that gap is called 'convince'. Why should your boss save time and people for your smashing idea, take risks and eventually have to put a tidy of money on the table? Explain to him or her.
Research shows that the quality of the idea is only 40% decisive for the decision. The remaining 60% are determined by the 'packaging', in other words the way in which your idea is presented. So you have every interest in coming up with a strong, compelling and credible story. We call this 'creative storytelling', an essential part of every change process. Within the domain of business creativity, creative storytelling is a discipline in itself that has a lot to tell about. A touch of the veil we highlight below. With these seven chronological steps you already have a powerful scenario in hand to convince your audience of your idea.
Convince your audience in seven steps with this storytelling scenario
- Sketch the situation
What's the problem? And why is it a problem? Who is bothered by it? What are the (negative) consequences of the problem or the situation? Why should a solution be urgently found? ... If you can sketch the situation clearly and clearly on the basis of these questions, you have already taken a first important step.
- Create an ideal world
What would the world look like if the problem were not there, or should a solution be found? What would the benefits be and who would win? Make the contrast with the previous point as large as possible. Take your audience to an ideal world and let them become curious about the solution that you conjure up. Tip: start with "Would not it be great if ...?"
Take your audience to an ideal world and let them become curious about the solution that you will soon conjure up.
- Reveal your idea
Time to throw your trump cards on the table. Let your idea or solution come across as simple and straightforward. Why has anyone never thought of this before? Or: we have been staring blindly at X for so long, but actually the solution was at Y. It is even stronger when you give the audience the feeling that they themselves have found the solution (for example by asking them a number of specific questions).
- Refute the pitfalls
Show that your idea is not naïve, but realistic and well thought-out. Do not worry about a few possible drawbacks and resistances, but refute them with rational arguments. Are there opponents of the idea? Then make sure you can turn them over to winners. Show that the benefits are enormously bigger.
- Put your plan on the table
That atmosphere of well-thought outness is what you are now going through and you immediately present a (basic) plan on how you see the idea realized. Who and what do you need? In what time frame do you see it realized? What will it cost (and say why it is an 'investment')? Make your audience hungry to start right away.
Are there opponents of the idea? Then make sure you can turn them over to winners.
- Complete in three powerful points
No two (too few to be credible), no four (too much to remember), but three super-strong elements that make up your idea, one last time briefly and powerfully in the paint. It is these three USPs that the audience must remember and with which they can spread your message in a recruiting elevator pitch.
- Put the icing on the cake
So, your audience is completely won for your solution. More than that, you have made them ambassadors of your idea and now that you have completely in control, you can also conclude with an extra. Put a cherry on top of that cake, but keep it airy (and preferably funny). It is certainly not the intention that you finally come up with the ultimate argument.
And then this ...
Needless to say that you keep everything as short as possible. A good pitch only takes two minutes. But beware: less is more. And that also applies to preparation. Pay enough time, you only have one chance to make a first - and often decisive - impression.
And do you want to boost the impact of your story even more? Present the whole through a sort of storyboard poster with simple drawings and key words.
Source: Walter Vandervelde