IMPACTFUL PRESENTERS LEVERAGE THE POWER OF FEELINGS
HOW FEELINGS INFLUENCE DECISION MAKING
Decision making happens in the same part of the brain where our feelings occur. That blows my mind and makes absolute sense! This is why how we feel about someone makes all the difference in our decision as to whether we want to work with them or buy-in to what they’re offering. But beyond that, since feelings influence our decision making, we can start being creative with our presentations and pitches by getting the audience and stakeholders to see what you see and feel what you feel!
The Emotional Power of Influence
When we bring people together it’s because we’re trying to inspire them to feel something. We’re trying to influence feelings! We either want them to feel more engaged, excited, proud, supported, curious or even concerned. There’s a difference between highlighting a pain point and getting people to actually do something about it.
Tips to Shape Your Messaging Using Feelings
So next time you’re presenting, start breaking down your content and key messages into accompanying feelings. i.e
- New platform upgrade proposal (feeling: excited-embody this excitement and tell them why they should feel this way. What’s exciting about this proposal? Spell it out clearly and truly believe in the feeling)
- Lack of policy adoption (feeling: worried-embody this and vividly paint the picture and highlight the pain point. Why is this an issue? What specifically should we be worried about and how does this affect them directly? What will happen if this policy is ignored or not adopted.
Be creative, don’t just tell the story but LIVE IT IN FRONT OF THEM and focus on THE FEELS!
“People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel.”-Maya Angelou
I also made an entire video explaining, “The Superpower of a Strong Presenter”, on how and why relatability and empathy trumps confidence everytime. Watch my YouTube video about strong presenter superpowers. If you ever search “how to become a natural presenter”, I’ve written a post on how to craft your messaging in a presentation for a company or industry with helpful tips from “Connect with Any Audience, Anytime.”
Resources:
Download a specially curated and comprehensive guide inspired by my go-to philosophy for winning the room! I discuss tangible tactics to connect quickly and empathically while generating buy-in at your next presentation. Learn more about how to “Win the Room”.
