Vanessa Van Edwards says presenters dump too much information and lose their audience. Her fix: open with a story, deliver your facts, close with another story. The rhythm sticks because emotion and data work together.
Here's a hack for my presenters. Whether you're speaking to 2 people or 200 people, you have to have the perfect blend of inspiration and information. The mistake that a lot of presenters make is they focus on one, usually information. They get up, they share a bunch of slides, ideas, data, data, data, data, and they're done. Your brain cannot handle it and it certainly won't remember it. Inspiration, stories, emotions, case studies, even a funny GIF, laughter counts as inspiration. People need to digest the information with inspiration. And don't focus on all inspiration. Story, story, story, story. People are like, what's the takeaway? You want to have the perfect blend of both. Do this in interviews, do this in presentations, do this when you're leading a meeting. Start with a quick story, share the fact, and then end with the story that you hope they'll take home with them. Inspiration, information, inspiration. Perfect blend captivates us.
