The Management Tip of the Day from Harvard Business Review

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September 15, 2015   Think of Your Next Presentation as a Performance   Whether you’re giving a presentation in a conference room or telling jokes in a comedy club, storytelling is the best way to keep your audience hooked. Keep these tips in mind to make your next presentation more engaging: Take a bar exam. Imagine you’re in a noisy bar with only napkin drawings to tell your story. If you can make it work there, you can make it work anywhere. Be immediately interesting. Your first line or two sets the tone for the whole presentation. Simplify and exaggerate. Your audience can only remember a few details, so streamline your delivery and exaggerate the main points. Close strong. People instinctually crave strong, simple resolutions. Refer back to your opening lines to bring the story full circle. Adapted from “Your Presentation Needs a Punch Line,” by Annette Ferrara.

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