Really Bad Powerpoint
Seth Godin has a free eBook called Really Bad Powerpoint that explains what we should really be communicating in a presentation. This quote from the book impacted me:
You can wreck a communication process with lousy logic or unsupported facts, but you can’t complete it without emotion. Logic is not enough. If all it took was logic, no one would smoke cigarettes. No one would be afraid to fly on airplanes. And every smart proposal would be adopted. No, you don’t win with logic. Logic is essential, but without emotion, you’re not playing with a full deck.
Instead of writing bullet points, he wants you to sell your idea and organize the presentation emotionally. He has some good examples, so check it out. I’ve tried to use logic in my arguments to sway others on decisions unsuccessfully, so maybe appealing to the right-side of the brain is what I’m missing.