The purpose of presentations & public speaking
Think about what you want to communicate and how you want the audience to feel.
Do not talk to fill the silence. Say less.
Make people care
Why would anyone listen to a stranger? They won’t - unless you make them care. At the NatWest Accelerator Storytelling Workshop, Sergei Firsov framed it sharply: the reason you remember a talk is the feelings and the emotions, not the words. Maya Angelou is widely credited with: “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Inject that into how you sell, present, pitch - the goal of any communication is connecting with people, not delivering information.
To present is to perform
Life is a performance. You are on stage even when no one is watching.
For a structured framework on creating effective slides, transitions, and handling questions, see my NatWest Accelerator: Storytelling Workshop notes.