Presentation

Start strong, end strong

Put the two things you most want remembered where memory actually works.

Message · Capability framework · No. 201

The shape

Open on the thing that matters
Put the necessary middle in the middle
Close on the thing you want carried out of the room

Why that order

An audience retains the beginning and the end far better than the middle. That is not a rule about presenting, it is a fact about attention, and the only question is whether you place your material accordingly or by accident.

A worked example

Instead ofThanks for having me, a bit of background on the team, some context, the recommendation, and then any questions.

We should delay the launch by a week. [the context, the evidence, the middle] So: one week, and I will confirm readiness Thursday.

What usually goes wrong

Treating a strong opening as a strong performance. The opening has to be the strongest content, not the loudest delivery.

Mostly serves Message, and reaches into Delivery and Presence.

A framework tells you what shape the answer takes. It cannot tell you whether shape is what you are short of, and for most people it is not. Which one is yours, and whether a framework is the right instrument at all, is what a Discovery Call is for.

Take the Assessment

Or read the whole glossary first.