The YouBlog

“Don’t Make Me Think”

DON’T MAKE THEM THINK, don’t make them guess, don’t leave any doubt as to what you’re talking about. Make it totally obvious what your point is, and you’ll stand a much better chance of getting through and moving your audience or prospects to action.
        OF COURSE, if your message or your presentation is loaded down with too many points or items or (horrors!) bullet points, then you’ll make it harder for them to grasp what really matters. So don’t try to cover 10 things you think are important — give them no more than three. The best course would be to have only ONE key idea, and then lots of supporting points.
        OF COURSE (#2), if your point is about what you want (like “Buy now. The quarter is ending!”), then being absolutely clear about your message won’t help your case. They’ll see you as self-serving and will either dismiss your pitch or have great leverage when it comes to negotiations. If you decide to be cagey and try to hide your true intent, your pitch will leave them confused, with perhaps a vague sense of unease.
        So keep it focused on them and be clear about how they can benefit from whatever it is you’re offering. The clearer the message, the greater the likelihood of success.

Decisive Presentations

IF YOU REALLY WANT TO GET BETTER at presentations, take an hour to go through our online course, “Decisive Presentations”. You’ll learn more in that one hour than you’re likely to learn in most two-day courses.
        Best of all, it’s now FREE. That’s right free, with no obligations or expectations. If you like it (and I’m sure you will), spread the word to as many people as you like. And come back and view it as often as you need to. Truly, it's free.

Here are some reactions to the program:

“Excellent! Would have saved hundreds of hours of executive time over the years if presentations were organized like this. This’ll make my presentations more relevant and focused.”

“This is a totally new way to present — I’ve never seen this in other sales training programs. It struck a chord because it suggests using a more intuitive, common sense approach to talking with prospects.”

“The slide Makeover section is incredible. The examples and explanations were real, relevant, and visceral. There was so much information that it was almost overwhelming.”

If you want to read what others have said about it, click here.

Why are we giving it away? Because the ideas in this program are too powerful to limit to only those people who we, at Creating Thunder, touch directly. As Seth Godin says, you need to spread ideas around.
        So consider this our holiday gift to you — and everyone you know who needs to influence or motivate people. The program may seem focused on sales applications, but — hey — we’re all selling, whether it’s products, services, ideas, budget plans, or vacation options to your spouse.
        And if you don’t have an hour available right now? No problem. Take five minutes to look at these three things: the Introduction; the first Recap; and the Slide Makeovers. (You can get to the Recap and Makeovers by clicking on the Menu button.)
        To view the program, you need the Flash player. (There's a link on the info page for “Decisive Presentations”.) You'll need a piece of paper, too, for an exercise called “The One-Minute Monet”.
        The other thing you’ll need is a commitment to improving how you communicate with others. And this program will help you get there.
        Enjoy!