we’veobservedinpresentations—andthereisnoclose
second—isthatthemessageistooabstract.Thepresenter
oersconceptsandconclusionsbutnotevidence.Hetalks
atahighlevelaboutthebigpicture,butgivesnoconcrete
detailsthatmightmakethebigpictureunderstandableand
plausible.Hemaysprinkleinaewstoriesorexamples,
buttheyaretreatedlikegarnish.Mostpeoplecommunicate
with,say,3partsexpositionto1partexample.That’sexactly
backwards.Inacompellingpresentation,examplesaren’t
garnish,they’retheentrée.

storiesthatsnaptogethertoormacompellingargument.
Forinstance,thinkotheexamplesthatAlGoreusedinhis
movieAn Inconvenient Truth:Thebeoreandaterphotos
oMt.Kilimanjaro,showingthevanishingsnowcaps.
ThesimulatedsatelliteimagesoManhattanoodedby
risingsealevels.InMichaelMoore’sSicko,hedoesn’tmake
conceptualpointsaboutthehealthcaresystem—hemakes
hiscasethroughthestoriesoindividuals,likethecarpenter
whoaccidentallycuto2fngers,andthenhadtochoose
whichfngertoreattachsincehecouldn’taordtodoboth!

glassestothepoor.Therearehundredsomillionsopeople
inthedevelopingworldwhoneedglasses.Butwhenthe
ounderoVisionSpringmakesapresentationtopotential
donors,heiscareultotellthestoriesoindividuals.
Forinstance,he’lltalkabouta35year-oldweaverinIndia—
amastercratsmanwith20yearsoexperience.Heearns
agoodlivingorhisamilyandusessomeohisincome
tosendhiskidstoschool.Then,ashiseyesightbeginsto
degenerate(aseveryone’sdoesatthatage),hefndshim-
selincreasinglyunabletoaccomplishthe“up-close”work
that’stheheartoweaving.Hesimplycan’tseewellenough.

Hebeginstorelyonhischildrentohelp,whichmeansthey
missdaysatschool.Ashiseyesightdeterioratesurther,his
incomesuersandhebecomesincreasinglyreliantonhis
wieandkidstosupplementit.Here’samanwhoisatthe
heightohisskillsbutcannolongerprovideorhis
amily—andthesolutionisassimpleasagenericpairo
readingglasses,thekindthatyouandIcouldbuyatadrug
storeor$5!Withoutunderstandingthatstory,youcan’t
appreciatetheullvalueowhatVisionSpringdoes.

sentations.Butbecausedataisprettyabstract,youshould
resistyourtemptationtoleadwiththedataortoletthedata
standalone.Whichismorecompelling?Sayingthatthere
are“900,000pooradultswithdecliningeyesightin
Mumbai,andweneedyourhelptostartsolvingtheprob-
lem.”Ortellingthestoryaboveaboutthe35-year-old
weaver,andthensaying,“Ourresearchsuggeststhatthere
are900,000storieslikethis,inMumbaialone,andwe
needyourhelptostartsolvingtheproblem.”Dataarejust
summariesothousandsostories—tellaewothose
storiestohelpmakethedatameaningul.

For more on this point, we strongly recommend the story
in Made to Stick about Gary Klein’s attempt to capture
the takeaways of a conference. See pages 235-237. And
consider how Stephen Denning used stories to change the
attitude of his colleagues at the World Bank toward “knowl-
edge management” on pages 231-235.

Andthat’swhyit’sdisturbingthatmanypresentationsstum-
bleoutothegatewithapreamble—alaboriousoverviewo
what’sgoingtobecovered.Thisproblemisunderstandable.
Aterall,we’veallbeencoachedto“Tell‘emwhatyou’re
gonnatell‘em,thentell‘em,thentell‘emwhatyoutold‘em.”

oucan’ttalkaboutstickyideaswithouttalkingaboutpresentations.Althoughmostousdread
presentations,pauseoramomentandthinkabouttheadvantagesyouhavewhenyou’remaking
apresentation.Unlikeajournalistwhoistryingtogetareadertoreadanarticle,oranadvertiserwho’s
tryingtostandoutinacrowdedmarket,oraparentwho’stryingtoshoutamessagetoateenwhois
runningtoariend’shouse,you’vegotitmade:You’vereceivedaninvitationtomakeanideastick.
Youhaveadedicatedsliceotimeandanaudiencewillingtositstill.That’sapreciousopportunity.

Butthatadviceisoverstructuredand,rankly,unnecessary.
SteveJobsdoesn’tpresentthisway.RonaldReagandidn’t
presentthisway.

RebeccaFullerwasgivingacriticalpresentationtoa
groupomuseumdirectors.FulleristheounderoRAF
Models,agroupthatcreatestactilemuseumexhibits,such
aslandscapesorhistorymuseumsthatguestscantouch.
Hertactileexhibitsareparticularlygreatorvisuallyim-
pairedguests.Fullerwantedtohelpthemuseumdirectors
seehowimportantitistopushbeyondvisual-onlyexhibits.
Soshestartedthepresentationwithabang:Shehada
colleaguekillthelights,abruptly,leavingthepresentation
roomindarkness.Fullersaid,Thisiswhatit’sliketobe
ablindpersoninmostmuseums.There’snothingtolearn,
nothingtoexperience,becauseallthegoodstuisina
mediumthatisolimitstoyou.Withinsecondsostarting
herpresentation,shehasocusedheraudience’sattention
ontheproblemshewantstosolve.

frmIntuit,heusedtostartbyaskinghisaudienceaques- tion:Howmanyoyoubalanceyourowncheckbooks?Lots ohandswouldgoup.Thenhe’dask,OK,howmanyoyou

improvedwithawarm-up.“TodayI’mgoingtogiveyouan
overviewothechallengesacedbythevisuallyimpairedin
visitingmuseums.”“I’dliketobegintoday,byindulgingina
briesurveyoexistingtechniquesorfnancialplanning.”I
youbringusace-to-acewiththeproblem,wewon’tneeda
lotoupronthand-holding.

For more on grabbing attention, see the Unexpected
chapter of Made to Stick, and review the story of the high
school journalism teacher whose first lesson was still vivid
in his students’ minds two decades after graduation. Or see
p. 120-123 for an unexpected pitch by an entrepreneur that
lined up millions in venture capital.

withthatstatement,andyetit’sahardruletoliveby!You’ve
putatonoresearchintoyourpresentation—you’vedone
theresearch,you’veanalyzedthedata,you’vestruggledwith
theconclusions.Alloitseemsimportant.Cuttingthatthird
bulletpointonslide17eelslikeawound.

Butitshouldn’t.Thinkaboutyourselasthedirectoroa
play,andyou’reallocatingspeakingpartsamongyourmain
points.Youcancreateagreatmonologueoragreatdia-
logue,butiyou’vegot22charactersspeaking,youhaven’t
developedanyothemproperly.Sodon’tdwellonthepain
ocuttingthebulletpointonslide17,thinkabouttheextra
attentionyou’veallocatedtoyourmaincharacters.

wasleadinganeorttohelpront-linestoremanagers
reclaimtheirtimeromunnecessarytasksandprocedures.
Hehadplentyoexamplestodiscuss,buthewiselydecided
toocushispresentationbyhighlightingthesinglemost
glaringexampleowastedwork:Kickingohispresenta-
tion,heslappeddownontheconerencetableanunruly
stackopaperwork(519pagesoit).Andthenhe
announced,tothehorrorohissuperiors,“Thisis2 weeks

points?Herearetwoquicktests:Whatpercentageoyour
speakingtimeisgoingtothosepoints?Andwhatpercentage
oyourslidesarededicatedtothem?Iyou’renotspending
atleasthaloyourtimeandyourvisualsonthecoreoyour
message,you’reprobablytryingtoaccomplishtoomuch.

For more on prioritizing your main points, take a look at
the Simple chapter of Made to Stick and think about how
journalists learn to highlight the leads of their stories.

butthat’sabigmistake.Greatpresentationsaremysteries,
notencyclopediaentries.Anonlinevideocalled“TheGirl
Eect”startsbyrecountingalistoglobalproblems:AIDS.
Hunger.Poverty.War.Then,itasks,Whatitherewasan
unexpectedsolutiontothismess?Wouldyouevenknow
itiyousawit?Thesolutionisn’ttheInternet.It’snot
science.It’snotgovernment.Curious?See,itworks.
(Gotogirleect.orgortheanswer.)

 Curiositymustcomebeorecontent.ImagineitheTV showLosthadbegunwithanannouncement:“They’reall deadpeopleandtheislandisPurgatory.Overthenext4 seasons,we’llunpackhowtheygotthere.Attheendwe’ll