How to deliver persuasive stakeholder presentations

How persuasive are you when you talk to your clients about your project? How do you make sure they understand exactly what they need to know?

1. Preparation is everything

Have you ever watched a great pitch and thought yes he/she has talent and I do not? Did you know that Steve Jobs ( former CEO of Apple ) used to prepare more than 6 weeks hs speech for the New product keynote? And he was a great speaker but he rehearsed and planned the content like a good Hollywood movie script?

Here are some questions to consider when you prepare a stakeholder presentation:

In my experience, we need to prepare for each of the different stakeholder groups -different presentations, depending on the results of our stakeholder's analysis. Here are some questions that help us to set the right focus:

• What is the stakeholder's level of awareness?
• How educated are these stakeholders about the subject?
• How committed are these stakeholders?
• What is the stakeholder's attitude towards the project?
• What are the main objections of these stakeholders towards the project?
• What is in for them?

You’ve got to start with the stakeholder's experience today and work back toward the technology, your solution, your process —not the other way around.

2. Present on all three communication channels

In my training I had a chart on the wall:

We remember

10 % of what we read

20% of what we hear

30 % of what we see

80% of what we do

This is why I believe in stakeholder workshops where they get hands-on and do something but before they are ready to engage we need to create awareness and desire for our idea. So let's get back to crafting a persuasive presentation.

Today we do not need to travel and meet each stakeholder in person we can reach more stakeholders easily from wherever.

We can communicate our information online in 3 ways:

• written ( Email, Blogpost, long captions, articles, media, brochures, handouts)
• audio ( Podcast, Clubhouse, Voice-Over your pitch)
• Video ( Youtube, Zoom, Tik Tok, Reels)

What is your preferred one?

My voice: I love talking and as I had the pleasure to sing many years  with my parent, then I a chorus and later on stage in front of 4000 people with our little band I have bit training.

My writing: I struggle with writing and scripting but I want to deliver value so I promised myself I will practice writing these blog posts and will become better. Whenever you read this please note that I am still at the beginning of my writing journey and I am curious about how fast I can improve. 

My video: I attended great Video training with Michelle Lang and set up the lights camera and microphone like Sean Canell was teaching. However, today  I feel it is a big difference to be on Video in Zoom,  or live on Youtube. My training videos as of today are structured or scripted so that you get the right stories and important information in a short time.

3. Use your personal Charisma Factor

Do you have Charisma?  Do you think you don't because you are an introvert? Here is the good news: When we present information we can be more effective by being charismatic and considering the preferred channels of receiving. Did you know that we have different channels of receiving information?

During my 20 years of training executives in presenting business cases, roadshows, and technical presentations I could observe how the body language and the voice affect the "What do they say" More than the structure and the words. However, if I invite you to tell me about one of your favorite movies I am sure you can recall the story in detail that you are surprised about your brilliant memory. This is what they mean with storytelling.  In our Communication coaching sessions, we focus a lot on how to improve your presentation so that it paints a picture in your head and in the head of your clients that they grasp quickly and can keep in mind easily.

The SCIL Performance Profile measures 16 Frequencies of Communication and helps you to focus on being a more effective communicator with ease. They are grouped into 4 dimensions.

If  you want to uplevel your Presentations please check the four SCIL areas

S- Sensus: Are you passionate about the presentation? 

                   How will you emotionally connect with the stakeholder group?

C- "Corpus" Body language:
                    How do you show up?
                    Do you sit or stand?
                    How do you show up on camera?
                    How is the light?
                    How is your voice?
                    and other factors like how to dress, your background, etc.

I - "Intellect"- It's about the structure o your Presentation.
                    With our proven Pitch formula you can compensate for other factors
                    and build on the strengths of logic.

L- "Lingua"- Your Language- your words.
                    What kind of words will help our audience to get the message?
                    How can we speak and draw pictures in the minds o our audience?

4.  Structure your Presentation by using the PASTOR formula

The PASTOR Formula

The PASTOR acronym stands for:

• Problem: Name your client’s problem
• Amplify: Point out why the problem is particularly bad
• Solution: Describe how to solve the problem
• Transformation: Demonstrate your credentials how you have helped solve other clients’ problems
• Offer: Describe your specific service offerings here
• Response: What should the client do next?

In my presentation skills training,  I always got asked: How to persuade a stakeholder effectively? 

They assumed I can give them some magic pill to make the stakeholder immediately change their mind and take the desired action. Of course, I did not. But let's assume we have a magic wand and can make your stakeholder agree on something you want against his free will- which is in my opinion unethical- when he was up o this dream stage, and become aware of the reality he will break up all contacts and fight back: cancel the contract, ask for a refund, etc. That is not what we want. We do not want unhappy clients We want to close deals with conscious aware clients, work with responsible engineers, experts, designers, programmers who are aware of the impact of their solution on the client, the end-user, the environment, the society, our health and so much more that we analysis un the PESTLE analysis when we do stakeholder analysis or a business or project.

So our task is to serve to make the stakeholders aware, and educate them so that they can make decisions that serve them to their best. And yes sometimes that means that we and our idea are not the right fit.  But if you look this like at marriage you will agree that we do not want to marry someone who isn't the right fit.

But how can we make them see the obvious benefits of features, and solutions, for them that they are not aware of?

We teach in our programs the SPIN Selling  Formula,  storytelling, and Metaphors that help to translate the idea into the mind of our audience.

If you are interested in improving your message, check out our SCIL Performance Coaching Click here

 5. Powerful Presentation tips

Here are some powerful methods to help us and make sure we get understood:

• When we talk, we can use storytelling to paint pictures,
• When we present our idea, we use a proven Pitch-FLOW Method
• We learn to communicate in their preferred frequencies: of the 4 S.C.I.L dimensions -to be more charismatic.
• We use more than one Channel of Communication
• We improve our messaging so that we communicate clearly the benefit of our solution
• We use all three methods: Written, audio, and video to connect online
• We are visible and present to make sure we keep our communication channels open.
• We improve our messaging to cover all four Types of the DISC Personality types

5.  Practice, Practice, Practice

In our 3-month Presentation skill coaching program, we work on your messaging and your Slides so that you have a powerful presentation that you deliver on ZOOM or Live video from wherever to your clients and stakeholders and we teach you how to set up the system so that you can control who watched you presentation and how not and at what point you lost the interest of your stakeholder.

We work on how to tweak your story for different audiences and help you to modify your pitch so that it fits the people you want to reach.

My clients have been using VIP Coaching days to prepare their representation to the Board or Investors to get approval for their idea, a new big project, investment, new strategy, etc. 

Such a day includes about  6 hours of work including video feedback and messaging improvement additionally, we love to have a great lunch together or a break if we work online.

Prior to such day, I ask my clients who want to improve their presentation style to purchase a SCIL  Performance report survey that shows us exactly what we should focus on to be immediately more persuasive and reach more effective our audience.

My favourite topics are new business ideas, innovative products, industrial solutions, and new medical treatments as I am eager to learn and understand more about these and I love to learn from my clients and see them succeed.

I have been working with CEOs, Entrepreneurs, and High level Sale Executives individually for over 20 years, and in small groups of 6-8, we have a proven Group Training that we trade now into an 8 weeks group coaching program. each week we focus on a specific skillset and besides teaching, we have a feedback session where you show how you implement and practice these skills live online. After 8 weeks you show up more confident online and have your presentation ready to go.

Click here and get your One-On-One  SCIL Performance Coaching

If you now feel now, even more, overwhelmed than before reading this I can assure you that  I do not do these tests to teach a bunch of theories but to get directly and very specific to the point we should work on together so that we make the best use of our time and you feel confident and well prepared to deliver a great pitch and get the approval and money you asked for.

Takeaway

A Great Presentation is always a well-prepared one. I will be happy to help you be well prepared for your next big presentation online.

After doing this or so many years traveling the world and singing myself on stages I focus now on how can we use video and voice to deliver our message.

You may say hm she is not a good writer how can she help me craft the super presentation? Now the Soccer coach and tennis coach are not winning Wimbledon but know what it takes. and cares about his Coachees.

Resources:

Free GUIDE. 5 Steps to Stakeholder Communication Plan

Communication Coaching

 SCIL Performance Coaching Click here