Take Them on a Journey (and Make it Worthwhile)

My mum and dad have a patch of land, where they grow fruit and vegetables.

They took my 5-year-old niece to see it and maybe help with the gardening.

Her comment:

"Why did you bring me here? It's BORING."

Many victims of terrible pitches and presentations feel the same.

A presentation is a journey, and you are the driver.

You are in charge of deciding where everyone is going, and- crucially- why. What reward will they get from the journey?

It's your job to make sure that everyone in the audience arrives in the same place, at the same time, in the same way, and that, by the end, they understand why they went on this journey with you as their leader.

The Twofold Payoff

A physical journey is often purely functional. For example, you take a trip to the shops because you need to buy stuff. Or you hop on the bus to visit the doctor. The point of the journeys is just to get you there, and they probably won't be worth talking about.

But sometimes, the journey itself is enjoyable: whether it's a stroll through the park or a round-the-world trip.

Business presentations should always fulfill their function: to pitch an idea, to explain a strategy, or whatever. Otherwise they're wasting time. But the ideal is for the presentation itself to be an enjoyable and memorable experience.

So the payoff is twofold: function and experience.

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