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PRESENTING YOUR PROPOSAL (1)

PERSUASIVE PRESENTING: THE CONS & PROS FORMULA

When proposing an idea, it is helpful to start by ‘creating a gap’ in the mind of the audience to create space for your idea. A ‘gap’ might be in the form of doubt or mild psychological discomfort with the present situation.

The following formula is an approach (though not the ‘only’ approach) to make sure you create a desire for change before presenting your proposal:

Context Concerns

Where are we now? (Evidence based/Factual) What is not working with the current situation? What could happen if we don’t change?

o

o

Consequences

o

Proposal

What are you proposing?

o

Profits

What are the benefits/gains of your proposal? How would you implement your proposal?

o o

Process

Tip: Spend roughly 20% of your time in the ‘cons’ and 80% in the ‘pros’.

HOW TO MAKE TECHNICAL PRESENTATIONS ENGAGING

Some topics are easier to get interaction, involvement and engagement with the audience. However, what if your subject is ‘dry’, complex and/or highly technical? Some of the above tools will still work but here are some others: ❑ Maintain your own enthusiasm, interest and passion for the subject. ❑ Provide a clear context to what you are talking about. ❑ Organise data into models, boxes, flowcharts, arrow diagrams, quadrants etc. ❑ Use graphics and pictures to show what you are talking about.

❑ Break it down into manageable, graspable chunks. ❑ Use metaphor and analogy (“… and that’s like…”). ❑ Give real world examples and applications ❑ Make meaning out of your data (“… and that means…”)

STEPS FOR HANDLING QUESTIONS

Remember: R A C... Repeat, Answer, Check. ❑ Repeat. .. Play back or paraphrase the question to check understanding ❑ Answer ... Draw in the whole audience verbally or with eye contact when answering ❑ Check ... that the questioner is satisfied. E.g. “Does that answer your question?”

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