Aug
10
2010
home buyer It’s become cliché to be told that we don’t make decisions on data alone; emotion plays a large part too. If that’s true it raises a question “how in a business presentation, using data and analysis, do you get your audience emotionally involved?” The answer is to use a story.
Last December I was working with a government department providing advice on how to resurface roads faster and with less irritation for road users and homeowners. In conjunction with a team of the agency’s staff we gathered data that showed that roads took too long to be repaired, and caused considerable hassle to those using and living near to the road.
juegos We had data on exactly how long it took to repair the road, the number of roads that were under repair, those running late, and the number of uncompleted tasks e.g. replacing signs associated with each job. The senior management looked disinterested, “tell us something we don’t know” they said. So I did. I told them this story.
real estate During the analysis we got a call from an upset mother. Her son was disabled, and she needed a marked parking space outside her home. The road had been refurbished two years before but she was still waiting to have the parking space re-drawn outside her home. She went on to explain that not having a designated space meant considerable problems for both her and her son in terms of getting access to the vehicle. That story was the tipping point. Suddenly the data had become real and the senior team bought into the much needed change.
2. Answer by making a short point that summarises your position. For example if the question was “please clarify why we shouldn’t outsource our call centre to India?” You could make your point like this: “You shouldn’t outsource to India because, contrary to popular belief, it’s more expensive.”
3. Use a transition to link to your evidence. What you say is “The reason I say that is…”
4. Provide your evidence. “The reason I say that, is because my analysis shows that 50% of your incoming demand is failure demand; outsourcing won’t solve this problem, in-fact it would make the problem worse.”
Step 1: Ask the audience a really specific question about the topic upon which you are going to present. For example, if you were going to pitch for venture capital money for a new car which ran on fresh air you might say: “I have an idea for a car which will run air, what three questions do you most answered in order to make an investment.”
Step 2: You listen to the questions then use them to set the agenda. For example let’s say that the first question was “Do you have an cast iron patent?.” You would say “thank you for that question I’m going to deal with the patents in the second point of my agenda.”
Step 3: You write the question as an agenda point on a flipchart, i.e. provide a cast iron patent, and continue to take questions, and turn them into agenda points until all issues are covered.
Handling questions is when you show your mettle. It demonstrates that you can stand your ground, and think on your feet. Used well it can help you turn cynics into supporters You can be published without charge. You can to republish this article in your website or blog. Please provide links Active.