The 3 Magic Ingredients of Amazing Presentations | Phil WAKNELL | TEDxSaclay

Summary

In a humorous and insightful TEDx talk, Phil Waknell shares his journey of discovering the magic ingredients that make an amazing presentation. With a career focused on helping speakers create impactful presentations, Waknell identifies the audience, the speaker, and transformation as key components. He emphasizes the importance of tailoring presentations to engage specific audiences, putting a personal touch in your delivery, and focusing on transformation rather than simply conveying information. By using the Audience Transformation Roadmap, Waknell shows how to map out your presentation strategy in a way that moves audiences emotionally and intellectually, encouraging them to act on your message.

Highlights

• Phil Waknell humorously admits that he hasn’t yet succeeded in changing the world of presentations but is continuously working on it with our help! 😂🎤
• The audience is a core ingredient of any presentation - tailor every talk to suit them! 🎯📣
• The speaker must inject personal stories and authenticity - make it unique! 😊👤
• Aim for transformation, not just information - change hearts and minds! ❤️🧠
• The Audience Transformation Roadmap helps plan presentation strategies for real impact. 🛣️🗺️

Key Takeaways

• Presentation magic relies on connecting with the audience, having an engaging speaker, and fostering transformation. 🎩✨
• Tailor your presentation to your audience’s unique context and needs. 🗣️👥
• Personal stories and experiences make your presentation memorable and personal. 📝💕
• Focus on transforming what your audience believes, feels, and does, rather than just providing information. 🔄❤️
• The Audience Transformation Roadmap is a powerful tool to plan and structure an impactful presentation. 🗺️🔥

Overview

Phil Waknell treats us to a delightful medley of insights about what truly matters in presentations. In his TEDx talk, he humorously takes us through his self-proclaimed failure to transform the world of presentations alone and lays out a simple but powerful framework for success. The three magic ingredients – audience, speaker, and transformation – set the stage for his transformative roadmap.

The audience, he says, is core to any presentation. He stresses the need to craft talks that are tailor-made for the audience at hand, with a focus on making the content relevant and engaging. The speaker, likewise, must bring something uniquely personal to the stage – stories, experiences, and a genuine touch that elevate the material beyond mere fact-sharing.

Finally, Waknell’s magic lies in transformation. He urges us to rethink the purpose of presentations altogether, shifting from the mere delivery of information to fostering real changes in belief and behavior among listeners. Armed with his Audience Transformation Roadmap, Waknell encourages every presenter to harness these magical ingredients and create presentations that truly resonate.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction and Background The chapter introduces Eric Vautier, a transcriber who, unlike many TED presenters, openly admits he has not succeeded. He has spent the last decade helping various professionals prepare for impactful presentations. This chapter sets the stage by contrasting the usual TED success stories with a more humble narrative, creating curiosity and empathy from the audience right from the start. The humor in admitting non-success helps to engage the listeners and adds a relatable touch.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Importance of Effective Presentations The chapter discusses the importance of making presentations both enjoyable and effective. Despite efforts and the influence of platforms like TED, many presentations still fail to engage audiences. The speaker reflects on their attempts to improve presentation skills over the past ten years and remains committed to making all presentations resonate with their audiences.
• 01:00 - 02:00: First Magic Ingredient: Audience The chapter emphasizes the importance of understanding the audience when giving powerful presentations. It begins by posing the question of why the audience should care about the presentation, focusing on the significance of addressing the audience's needs and interests.
• 02:00 - 03:30: Second Magic Ingredient: Speaker The chapter discusses the importance of understanding the audience as the key component of any presentation. It emphasizes that each presentation should be tailored to fit a specific audience and context. The speaker highlights the relevance of recognizing the audience as the 'magic ingredient' and stresses that it is crucial for every presentation to consider the audience’s perspective.
• 03:30 - 05:00: Third Magic Ingredient: Transformation The chapter delves into the third magic ingredient of transformation, focusing on the art of presentations. It highlights the universal experience and necessity of giving presentations, whether at school, work, or during interviews, and discusses how they can often be perceived as dull.
• 05:00 - 09:00: Audience Transformation Roadmap The chapter titled 'Audience Transformation Roadmap' emphasizes the importance of delivering effective presentations to achieve success. It underlines that the first key element is the audience, highlighting that presentations should always be uniquely tailored to them. The second crucial element is the speaker, encouraging speakers to incorporate something personal into their presentations to enhance authenticity and engagement.
• 09:00 - 12:00: Example of Using the Roadmap The chapter emphasizes the importance of personalization in presentations. It advises that speakers should infuse their talks with personal insights and stories rather than sharing generic information. The goal is to make the presentation memorable by showing why the speaker cares about the topic.
• 12:00 - 14:30: Call to Action The chapter 'Call to Action' highlights three essential components for an effective presentation: the audience, the speaker, and transformation. It argues that many presentations fail by only aiming to inform rather than transform. Emphasizing a transformation in the audience's mindset or understanding can make the presentation more impactful. The speaker hints at using a 'magic wand' to symbolize transformation, suggesting that great presentations should aim to create a significant change or 'magic' for the audience.

The 3 Magic Ingredients of Amazing Presentations | Phil WAKNELL | TEDxSaclay Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 Transcriber: eric vautier Reviewer: Hélène Vernet Most people who come to speak at TED are here because they’ve succeeded. I’m here because I haven’t. (Laughter) For the last ten years, I’ve been helping conference speakers, business leaders, entrepreneurs to prepare and deliver powerful presentations. And in those same ten years, TED has shown
• 00:30 - 01:00 that presentations can and should be both enjoyable and effective. But, ten years on, despite TED and despite my best efforts at schools, conferences, and companies, most presentations still do this to their audiences. (Laughter) So have I failed? No! I just haven't succeeded yet. And to succeed in making all presentations resonate with their audience,
• 01:00 - 01:30 I need your help. That’s why I’m here. So I’d like to share with you the three magic ingredients of powerful presentations. OK, let’s just pause there for a moment. I’ve told you what I’m going to say. The question you should be asking is: "So what? What’s in it for me? Why should I care?" And that is a really important question
• 01:30 - 02:00 because the first magic ingredient is in fact the audience. The audience is the magic ingredient in every presentation. This is not my talk, it’s yours. Every presentation should be made to measure for a specific audience in a specific context. So why should you care about the magic ingredients of great presentations? Well, it's very important, right? It’s really important to understand that we all have to listen to presentations.
• 02:00 - 02:30 Wouldn’t it be great if they weren’t all so boring? But we don’t just listen to presentations, we also have to give présentations, right? How many of you ever have to give presentations? I think if we’re honest, we all do. Sooner or later, at school or at work, and also in interviews, we all have to present, with or without slides,
• 02:30 - 03:00 and it’s how well we present that will make a huge difference to how well we succeed. That’s why you should care. So that’s the first magic ingredient: the audience. Always make it special for them. The second magic ingredient is the speaker. Now, you’re probably looking at me and thinking: “Well, Phil, not very magical.” (Laughter) Thanks, by the way! But, it’s really important that you put something of yourself in there,
• 03:00 - 03:30 something only you can say. This doesn’t mean you tell them what you had for breakfast, but it does mean that if someone else could give the exact same presentation in your place, then you didn’t put anything personal into it. And that matters because when you share, we care. So show why you care, why it’s important to you. Tell us examples and stories from your experience. And that will make it more personal and more memorable.
• 03:30 - 04:00 So those are the first two magic ingredients: the audience and the speaker. I know it doesn’t sound very magical, but you’d be amazed how many presentations have neither of them. So the third magic ingredient is transformation. Now most presentations aim only to inform their audience, and it doesn’t work very well. Let me take out my magic wand because I’m going to do a disappearing trick,
• 04:00 - 04:30 because like this guy, we forget most of what we hear very quickly indeed. But good presentations are not about information, they are about transformation. They are about changing something in what your audience believes, in what they feel, in what they do. Imagine you are making a pitch for raising funds for a project or a start-up.
• 04:30 - 05:00 After your pitch, the audience knows everything they need to know, but they don’t fund you. Did you succeed? No. Now imagine that after your pitch, your audience does give you the funds because they feel confident and trusting, and they believe that your project will be successful and that it is a good investment. All of that is not information, it’s transformation.
• 05:00 - 05:30 So it’s easy for me to say “Don’t inform, transform!” but how? Well, every magician needs a magic wand, and here is yours. It’s called the "Audience Transformation Roadmap." This is a really simple but amazingly powerful technique to understand what your transformational objectives are, and then to brainstorm what you can say, show and do to transform your audience.
• 05:30 - 06:00 So here’s how it works. To understand how to take your audience on a transformational journey, you first need to work out where they are starting from. So we ask ourselves four simple questions: What does my audience know before my presentation? What do they know about the subject? What do they believe? And what do they feel? Now the difference between the two is believing is something you think, and feeling is an emotion.
• 06:00 - 06:30 So for example, I believe it’s time for dinner, I feel hungry. See the difference? Right. So what do they know, believe and feel, and lastly, what do they do? Now this could be nothing, maybe they do nothing relevant, or maybe they do something that you need to change. So once you’ve worked out where they are before, you can then take them to where you want them to go afterwards. And we ask the same four questions but in the reverse order.
• 06:30 - 07:00 So now we know what they do before. What do we want them to do after the presentation? What do they need to feel? What should they believe differently, to feel and do those things? And lastly, what do they need to know? And when you follow this process, you realize very quickly that the real transformations are not in what they know, it’s in what they believe and feel and do. That’s what makes the difference. Once we’ve understood where they are and where we need to take them,
• 07:00 - 07:30 then, we can fill in the Transformation Column with all of the ideas on what we can say in our presentation to make those transformations in our audience. And that gives us the content of the presentation. Clear so far? Maybe we should take an example, so let’s take one! Let’s assume that I am going to make a presentation, and I'd like to explain the three magic ingredients of a great presentation,
• 07:30 - 08:00 and I’d like to make my audience want to use the Audience Transformation Roadmap. So what does my audience know before the presentation? Well, they know that most presentations aren’t exactly successful, and they know TED is the exception that proves that rule. What do they believe? Probably like most people, they believe presentations are for sharing information. It might be wrong, but that doesn’t stop them believing it. What do they feel about presentations?
• 08:00 - 08:30 Probably bored, but also resigned to a really ineffective way of presenting because that’s just what everyone does. And lastly, what do they do? Well, when it’s their turn to present, they generally will pack things full of information, and they won’t personalize it to their audiences. So, what do I want them to do after my presentation? Well afterwards, I’m going to want them to aim to transform their audience every time they present, to change something in their audience. I’m going to need them to personalize their presentations every time.
• 08:30 - 09:00 And also, I’d like them to use the Audience Transformation Roadmap because I know it will help them to succeed. What do they need to feel to do those things? Well If they still feel bored or resigned, they’re not going to do very much. So they need to feel curious about this new technique, they need to feel motivated to try it, and optimistic that it can work for them. What do they need to believe to feel those things?
• 09:00 - 09:30 They’ll need to believe that the Roadmap can actually help them to succeed in their presentations. Lastly, what do they need to know to believe, feel and do those things? Well they’ll need to know the three magic ingredients, that’s pretty basic. They'll need to know presentations are bad at information but great at transformation. And they’ll need to know how to use the Audience Transformation Roadmap. OK, now we’ve worked out where they were and where I want to take them. What can I do now? I fill in the Transformation Column.
• 09:30 - 10:00 So what can I say or show or do to make those transformations? Now usually, I’m using a flip-chart and some sticky notes here. So I’m going to use virtual sticky notes. Let’s start at the top. We need to make sure they know the three magic ingredients, so I’m going to need to talk at some point about the audience, about the speaker, and the transformation. They need to know presentations are bad at information, so maybe I should tell them that we forget most of what we hear very quickly.
• 10:00 - 10:30 And perhaps I can find a visual way to show that as well. What next? They need to know how to use the Roadmap so I’d better show it to them, and I guess I could make it even clearer by going through an example. They need to believe that the Roadmap can help them to succeed in their presentations. So I’ll need to show how easy it is to take all of these sticky notes off of the Transformation Column and arrange them in a suitable order
• 10:30 - 11:00 to create the storyline for their presentation. It really is a short-cut. OK, now I need to make them curious. Now to make them curious, I’m going to need to make them care, and to make them care, I need to show that I care. So, I probably need to explain that most presentations really don’t succeed, and that I care about fixing that. And then to make them care, I’m going to need to find out how relevant it is to them. Perhaps I could ask them how many of them actually need to present,
• 11:00 - 11:30 and of course I know the answer is pretty much everybody. I need to make them motivated and optimistic. Well I can make them optimistic by explaining how easy this is to use but also how powerful it is. And to motivate them to try it, I’m going to need to explain that successful presentations can really make a difference to how well they succeed in life. Lastly, to make them do these things, I’ll need a call to action, which focuses on what I want them to do afterwards.
• 11:30 - 12:00 So there we have it! That’s a very accelerated version of the brainstorming, but it doesn’t need to take long. What we have now is just enough relevant ideas on how we can transform our audience. So what happens next? Well this is where I’m going to take my magic wand out again because this is where the presentation magic happens. This is where you can take all the sticky notes off of the Transformation Column, prepare a suitably magical story line,
• 12:00 - 12:30 and then arrange all of these ideas back into that story line, and hey presto, there is my presentation! Now you might recognize this one, because ... this is the presentation you have been watching for the last ten minutes. And this is where we are now. Isn’t that magic? So, now you know what happens next! Next, I need to explain how simple this can be and how powerful. And it’s so simple that it doesn’t take an expert.
• 12:30 - 13:00 Thousands of people have already used this technique to prepare and deliver fantastic presentations of all kinds, from TED talks to the boardroom. But more than presentations, they’ve used it also for emails, for proposals, for preparing interviews, for preparing conferences … Basically, it works in any situation where you need to change what people believe, feel and do. You really don’t need a magic wand.
• 13:00 - 13:30 This is all the magic you need. (Applause) Thank you. Thank you. So now I need to give you a call to action, and here it is. Remember those three magic ingredients of every great presentation: the audience, the speaker, and the transformation you want to create in your audience.
• 13:30 - 14:00 Try using the Audience Transformation Roadmap for your next presentation, and you’ll be amazed at how well your ideas resonate with your audience. And lastly, please remember I need your help. I can't cure the world of bad presentations on my own. (Laughter) But together, we really can make a difference! So by all means, share this with anyone you know who needs a dose of presentation magic.
• 14:00 - 14:30 It could be your colleague, your teacher, your boss, but you all know someone. And most of all, every time you get to present, focus not on informing but on transforming your audience. That’s where the magic happens, and if you can succeed in changing what your audience believes, feels and does, there truly is no limit to what you can achieve. Thank you. (Applause)