I have often marveled at the ability and patience my 13-year old son Brendan has to put together a perfect sandwich. He layers it perfectly and the order of ‘construction’ is very important.
Today, I will share with you my son’s ability and some great advice from my coach, Raymond Gleason, to show you how to “Build the perfect presentation (sandwich) in 6 steps:
1) Tell them a story.
2) Tell them what you are going to tell them
3) Tell them
4) Tell them what you told them
5) Call them to action
6) Bonus!
1) Tell them a story is like the first piece of bread. You need to set up the next step with a relevant experience or story. If you are not a comedian, be careful not to try to be too funny and risk losing your audience, but a little humor to wake them up is nice.
2) Tell them what you are going to tell them is the first condiment like lettuce or a slice of cheese. Let them know the points you are going to review
3) Tell them – now that you have told them what you are going to tell them, put the main ingredient (the meat!) on the sandwich. Summarize after a few points.
4) Tell them what you told them – Time to add the dressing. Summarize at the end the main points. It will help them to remember what you just presented
5) Call them to action – Last slice of bread on top. Holds it all together and makes it worthwhile. If you are in a large group, challenge them to go out and make something happen. If in a smaller group, actually work with them to write down what they are doing, but don’t let them leave without making a commitment to what they heard.
6) Bonus – This is the olive on the toothpick that decorates the sandwich (and yes, Brendan even adds this most of the time!). If you have time, a Q&A session to clarify even further your points can be a great addition.
What presentation have you been stumped on how to get started? Write down these 6 steps as an outline and fill in the blanks next to them. It will help.
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