Getting Aha s

Getting Aha !s

Let's review what we've discussed so far:

When stories are complicated, when continuity is absent, when the audience is overwhelmed, and when the presenter doesn't establish a clear bond with the audience, presentations fail. The MEGO syndrome sets in. As a result, no business gets done: the investment isn't made, the deal isn't consummated, the sale doesn't happen.

Your goal, of course, is just the opposite : to get your audience figuratively or literally to ask, "Where do I sign?" That is the essence of persuasion.

Persuasion is the art of moving your audience from Point A, a place of ignorance, indifference, or even hostility toward your goal navigating them through an unbroken series of Aha! s to Point B, a place where they will act as your investors, customers, partners , or advocates, ready to march to your drum.

It is only possible to move your audiences along this path when you follow the principles of Audience Advocacy: to place their needs at the heart of your presentation. The central expression of Audience Advocacy is presenting Benefits rather than Features.

Few communicators achieve the sheer exhilaration of end-to-end Aha! s. But most communicators can come a lot closer than they usually do as you will when you apply the Power Presentations techniques in this book.