How to write Presentations in five steps: my TRAIN Framework
When most people sit down and write presentations, their thought process is:
How do I get all of the information that’s inside my brain, and stuff it in the brain of my audience??
Not only is this a colossal waste of time, it’s also a colossal waste of opportunity.
Instead, I present to you TRAIN: a frame work that walks you through how to write presentations that don’t take you forever, engage your audience and actually drive them to action. I lay it out in this video…
Three steps to writing a story for the stage
My least favourite way to be introduced is, “This is Marsha, she’s a professional storyteller!”
I always jump in quickly with the correction, “—Storytelling Coach”. There’s a good reason for that.
As a storytelling coach (please pretend for a moment I’m not British or Canadian and don’t expect humility), I am excellent. Part of how I can say this with confidence is because I don’t totally know how I do it — my brain just constructs people’s stories for me in a way that works. The other reason I say this is from 13 years of doing it, and people telling me (or telling me how hard the audience cried when listening to their talk).
But actually being the storyteller? Not so much.
Don’t get me wrong — I’m fine. When it comes to actual keynotes or teaching-style talks, I’m great! But as a storyteller who is just telling a story on stage, I’m… average. Which is why I don’t do it very often.
BUT for reasons I can’t totally fathom, I have agreed…
Well that’s depressing
I’m on a zoom call, looking at the man with a big smile and blue glasses, feeling the familiar buzzing in the pit of my belly, when he says something and I’m like, “Wait, WHAT? Why aren’t we talking more about that?” I get that fizzy feeling in my stomach every time I’m on a call…
How to keep people engaged in your presentations
As we sit up in the gods (section 512 row 10) my kid is on my knee. I lean down so my mouth is close to her ear — I need her to hear me over the noise of the crowd.
“Ready, baby?”
She nods, and we lift our right arms into the air, making our hands into fists at the top.
There’s a trumpet sound before the voice on the PA, the two of us, and 38,000 other people in the stadium yell,
“CHAAAAAAAAAARRRRGE!!!!!”
Having now been to four (count them!) baseball games, I am a fan — but mostly because of a regular thing that happens…which is also something that makes the best presentations engaging.
In instructional design, these are called “Colorful Activities”. Before I explain what they are, I’m going to explain why we need them.
This is what people remember from most talks, keynotes, TEDx’s and workshops….