ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on the one-shot presentation. It also looks primarily at what the individual communicator must do to win over audiences. Going public is scary for most people. Persuasion tends to work best when we are genuinely committed, and that requires strategic planning and skillful presentation. Before we can persuade, we must first evaluate where we are and where we wish to go. Once goals, audience, and situation have been analyzed, we move on to Initial Strategizing, where presentation planning actually begins. In persuasive presentations, we must do all the things that are required when sharing information, but then we must add advocacy; in persuasive presentations, we must take a side and encourage our audience to share our perspective. The rule of thumb for presentations is to wrap things up quickly. Sometimes, a presentation must be put through multiple drafts until it comes as close as possible to meeting the multiple demands that are placed on it.