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Sofia has an important client meeting at the end of the week. She spends the entire week planning and preparing her pitch. Her manager is really happy with the deck and she feels confident about the meeting. The day finally arrives but the clients leave the room unimpressed.
Sofia’s presentation stood out but she was unable to convince the clients of her ideas. This isn’t uncommon; many of us fail to impress our audience because they’re unable to get on board with our viewpoints. This is why persuasive presentation skills are important to master. Let’s explore the secrets to successful presentations in detail.
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What Is Persuasive Presentation?
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Skills Needed For Persuasive Presentation
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How To Make A Persuasive Presentation
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How Aristotle’s Three Appeals Can Help
What Is Persuasive Presentation?
As the name suggests, a persuasive presentation involves a speaker who manages to influence an audience with their thoughts, ideas and viewpoints. It can be the most challenging form of presentation as you need to convince your audience to approve your suggestions and take necessary actions. If we follow the talks of famous business leaders around the world, we can see examples of persuasive presentations in real life.
Mastering persuasive presentation skills in today’s workplace has become essential. Whether it’s convincing a recruiter to hire you or earning customers’ trust—persuasive speech shows that you’re trustworthy and knowledgeable about your subject. While converting your peers and coworkers may be easier, how do you convince a group of strangers of your opinions? Read on to explore strategies that’ll help you master the art of persuasive presentation.
Skills Needed For Persuasive Presentation
There is a common misconception that the more the amount of information on your slide, the more impressive it becomes. Business presentations need not be stuffed with information. You can enhance the quality of your slide by presenting clear, short and direct points. A well-structured speech has a greater impact. Consider the following persuasive presentation skills if you want to present a balanced and powerful presentation:
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Speaking effectively, where you’re articulate, compelling and confident about your delivery
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Active listening, where you pay attention to what your audience asks
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Empathy, where you adjust your tone and behavior based on how your audience reacts
With the right approach, you can put these skills to practice and create an effective presentation that leaves a lasting impression on your audience.
How To Make A Persuasive Presentation
The primary motivation behind presentations is to encourage a business change. Therefore, delivering it in the most effective way becomes crucial. A successful, persuasive presentation has the power to influence and change. Here are some tips that’ll help you deliver presentations so persuasive that even the most skeptical person in the room will get on board:
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Do Your Research
It’s useful to understand who your audience will be and what their needs and expectations are. Tailoring your content to the audience will not only pique their interest but keep them engaged throughout. This will also show that you’ve done your groundwork before your presentation.
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Create Some Goals
Limit the amount of information you share with your audience. A great way to go about it is by creating a list of a few goals (ideally less than five) that you want to address during your presentation. Keeping it short and to the point will avoid any unnecessary confusion.
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Use Storytelling Technique
Who doesn’t love a story? One of the most effective ways of capturing the audience’s attention is to use a short story (like an anecdote) at the beginning of your presentation. Make the story as relatable as possible. Not only does it help set the tone but also lightens the mood in the room.
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Use Appropriate Body Language
Paying attention to nonverbal cues is extremely important. Appropriate facial expressions, gestures and hand movements are necessary to capture the audience’s attention. Make sure that you maintain eye contact with everyone and smile at appropriate moments. An open body language is welcoming and engages people better.
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Finish Strong
You can either entertain questions during your presentation or reserve them for the end. It’s important to listen attentively so that you can respond appropriately. If the audience wants to raise some points or make statements, be open to feedback and pay attention. Making them a part of your presentation will help them feel engaged and valued.
How Aristotle’s Three Appeals Can Help
While the aforementioned strategies are helpful in delivering a persuasive presentation, Aristotle’s Three Appeals Approach is also instrumental. The Greek philosopher proposed three rhetorical appeals or modes of persuasion in the form of:
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Ethos, which appeals to the audience’s ethics and morals
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Pathos, which appeals to the audience’s emotions
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Logos, which appeals to the audience’s logic (reasoning capacity)
If you want to learn more about Aristotle’s Appeals and other powerful frameworks that’ll help you strengthen your public speaking skills, turn to Harappa’s Speaking Effectively course. It will help you deliver ideas with precision, use empathy and logic to connect with others and stand out as an effective speaker everyone wants to listen to. Ace your next presentation with Harappa!
Explore topics such as Self-Introduction for Various Situations, Presentation Techniques, How To Give A Persuasive Presentation & Most Effective Presentation Skills And Its Techniques from Harappa Diaries to build a personal brand that inspires, motivates and guides others.
