Here’s a really cool way to make your next presentation more persuasive.
Next time you’re preparing a presentation follow the A.I.D.A. formula.
A.I.D.A.
That’s Attention, Interest, Desire, Action.
Attention
Start your presentation by saying something that gets the audience’s attention.
You have only a few seconds to differentiate yourself from all the other presenters out there, so don’t waste it by saying, “I’m James from accounting.”
For biggest impact, focus on your audience in your opening statement using “you” and “your” statements rather than “I” statements.
For example:
“You won’t believe how much time you’re going to save just by making a small change to the way you work.”
Interest
Tell a story that gets your audience interested in your presentation’s subject matter.
Stories naturally engage, so it pays to tell some kind of story to set the scene and draw your listeners in.
The mistake most presenters make is trying to come up with a big, elaborate story.
You don’t need this.
You need to simply tell a story about why you’re here, on this stage.
Why are you presenting about the new process to the rest of your office? Why are you talking about your company’s product to these prospective clients? Why are you in charge of the project you are now doing an update for?
For example:
“I started in this department three years ago. From the beginning I was frustrated with how long it took to complete the Benson reports. But, dutifully, every day I would complete all the steps required to produce them, just the same as my colleagues did for their clients.
“After one year of going through this process every day I started talking to my co-workers to see if they felt the same as me. It was like I had opened the floodgates!
“Everyone was frustrated with the process. So we set up a project team to improve things. Today, I’m happy to announce that the project is complete. We have a new process. And now every one of you will save at least an hour each day.”
Desire
You might be very excited about your presentation subject matter, but it doesn’t mean the audience are.
Tell your audience about all the benefits of your product or project or process which spurs their desire.
Instead of talking in terms of how something works (features), talk about what it does which improves the lives of your audience (benefits).
Let’s imagine you’re selling remote controls:
Feature
“When you press this button an infrared light pulse is emitted and picked up by the receiver on the television. The television distinguishes the pulse as a channel change and advances the channel from Channel 9 to Channel 10.”
Benefit
“Imagine you’re relaxed on the sofa, beer in hand, watching baseball and suddenly a blaring loud commercial appears on TV. No need to stand and walk over to the set anymore. Have a another sip of beer and relax while you change channels with your remote.”
Action
Finally, ask your audience to take action.
The last thing you do shouldn’t be answering a question.
The last thing you do should be asking the audience to take a desired action.
It can be a simple as:
“What you need to do now is complete the online training and email me your scores. Please access the training module by the end of the week.”
Follow the A.I.D.A. formula the next time you’re building your presentation and you’re more likely to create a persuasive talk.
Let’s chat in the comments below.
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