HBR Guide to Persuasive Presentations (HBR Guide Series)

by Nancy Duarte

The people you’re addressing will determine whether your idea spreads or dies, simply by embracing or rejecting it. You need them more than they need you.

The people in your audience came to see what you can do for them, not what they must do for you. So look at the audience as the “hero” of your idea—and yourself as the mentor who helps people see themselves in that role so they’ll want to get behind your idea and propel it forward.

Think of Yoda—a classic example of a wise, humble mentor. In the Star Wars movies, he gives the hero, Luke Skywalker, a special gift (a deeper understanding of the “Force”), trains him to use a magical tool (the lightsaber), and helps him in his fight against the Empire.

Pick the one type of person in the room with the most influence, and write your presentation as if just to that subgroup. The presentation can’t be so specialized that it will alienate everyone else—you’ll need some content that appeals to the greater group. But tailor most of your specifics to the subgroup you’ve targeted.

Change typically doesn’t happen without a struggle. It’s hard to convince people to move away from a view that is comfortable or widely held as true, or change a behavioral pattern that has become their norm.

People will move away from pain and toward pleasure. Prod them (with words like “struggle” from the first example; “destroying” and “killing” from the second) so they feel uncomfortable staying in their current position. Lure them toward your idea with encouragement and rewards (the promise of meeting deadlines; protection of endangered species).

A skilled communicator captures an audience’s interest by creating tension between contrasting elements—and then provides relief by resolving that tension. It’s how you build a bridge between others’ views and yours.

I’ve found that the most persuasive communicators create conflict by juxtaposing what is with what could be.