Presentations – It’s all about the 3 Greeks

Mark stood at the front of the room, he looked at his adoring crowd, he wasn’t feeling too nervous as he’d done his homework.  What could possibly go wrong?

He revealed his graphs one by one.  The content was good, plenty of research and evidence to support his opinions, but by slide 15, he knew he was losing the room.  His audience weren’t getting it.  The graphs proved a point, but something was missing.

Later over a Choca Mocha, he reflected, but couldn’t put his finger on what went wrong.  He knew his stuff; he proved his points, and he even smiled a lot.  He sipped the dregs of his coffee and decided it was time for a rather large Gin.

So, what went wrong? Simple really, Mark didn’t tick all of the 3 Greeks of Ethos, Logos, and his mate Pathos.

Ethos – Is all about your credibility.  Are you demonstrating/explaining your experience and expertise as part of your presentation? Failure to do this will lead to your audience thinking “What does he know?”  “What experience has he in this anyway?”  Explain who you are and why you’ve been asked to present.  Explain your sources and where your evidence came from.  Do all of this and your audience will be filled with confidence.

Logos – Is all about logic and reason.  Have you supported your argument via evidence and hard facts to support your idea/message?  Failure to do this will leave your audience thinking “So what?” “It’s a great idea, but there’s no evidence to support it”.

Pathos – Is all about hearts and minds.  Are you making an emotional connection with your audience?  Failure to do this will leave your audience thinking “Great idea, but I don’t like him” “He didn’t seem to care what we, or the team thought”, “He shut down anyone who disagreed with him and got really defensive”.

Mark dove into logic & reason without convincing the audience of his credibility and as a result the audience didn’t warm to him.

Think back to presentations you’ve seen that haven’t gone that well.  Which Greek was missing?  Think about your past presentations?  What Greek was missing?

Ahead of your next presentation, take 10 minutes to reflect on your content and how you’ll deliver it.  Are you ticking the 3 Greeks?