For Persuasive Presentations Dont Forget WIIFM
A few years ago I was in the pharmaceutical industry and every year we would have a pensions presentation during our National Sales Conference. These were the dullest, boring presentations imaginable and, given the age demographic of the audience, see as largely irrelevant by most people.
One year however things changes. The presenter came on stage, turned off the PowerPoint, brought the house lights up and walked away from the lectern. Well that was different for a start and our curiosity was raised. He looked at the audience and after telling us what a smart, intelligent bunch we all looked, he asked us to consider and share what we might do in the future when we were finally able to retire. With gentle prompting , the suggestions started to fly and the energy of the group soared as people shared their dreams.
At the end of this sharing section he said “Wow! – You really are an interesting group, and I’ve got just one more question for you..(pause)” “How are going to fund those cool things?” He paused again and his question hung in the air. You could almost hear the collective gulp from the audience. He then went on to tell us how pensions were the answer. Did he have our attention? You bet! We were all ears.
I tell this story because it is a perfect example of a presenter who knew the importance of WIIFM (What’s in it for me). By hooking our interest and clearly demonstrating a tangible and relevant benefit to virtually everyone in the audience he ensured the we would pay attention rather than switching off. NB: You must make sure that your benefit is relevant to the audience.
So how next time you make a presentation, check to see that there is a clear WIIFM for the audience spelled out early on in the presentation. If you don’t, the mental shutters will come crashing down and you’ll have blown it!
Take a moment now to post a comment if you found this post helpful . I’d love to hear your views and ideas.
Gavin – Another great piece of advice! The hook is so important, especially in today’s society of short attention spans. If you don’t get them in the first few minutes, you probably are not going to ever get them. Much better to put the questions at the beginning than stuck at the end after everyone has already tuned out. I’m thinking it is a good piece of advice for my teaching as well.