This week, and last, I had the awesome experience of delivering a couple in-person workshops with a lovely client of mine.
Last week we mapped out her upcoming presentation’s key messages, overarching themes, structure and flow. This week we designed her slides to bring her metaphors, messages and moments to life!
We had so much fun, getting creative, playing with ideas, images, concepts and channels to deliver her brilliant ideas!
Here are 3 important things I gleamed from our workshops that can help you when you’re next planning a presentation:
1. The deeper we dig, the better it becomes.
Don’t just go with the first metaphor, or ideas that come to mind, because while they may work, oftentimes, there are better ones a couple layers beneath that.
2. Turn on the play!
There’s a saying in Neuro Semantics – when we get serious, we get stupid.
By ‘stupid’, we mean that the brain shuts down when we get too serious about something, and it becomes ‘hard’. All the fun flies out the window, it becomes laborious, and creativity stops.
My client remarked that it was quite remarkable how, the more we played with the ideas, the better, more refined, and impactful they became.
When your ideas begin to bubble to the surface, ask your inner judge to go to the beach of a couple of hours so that you can see them without judgement and allow them a few moments to breathe, before we dump them.
This enables us to go bigger, better and bolder to find something that really works!
3. If it’s not right for you, it’ll come through.
Whatever design, images, metaphors and messages you choose, make sure that you’re completely comfortable with them. If there’s the tiniest of uncomfortableness and you’re feeling even slightly awkward about it, it will shine through and your audience will either see it, feel it, hear it or experience it, which could impact your credibility and impact.
Now with some practice on the cards now, I know my client has a powerful presentation that’s not only going to inspire, but also serve her audience beautifully and deliver great value.
What can you do to dig a little deeper, play a little harder, and trust a little stronger in your next presentation?
I'd love to hear your thoughts below, or feel free to get in touch with me directly on bonita@bonitanuttall.com.