I was recently watching a few presentations which reminded me of one of the key aspects of a good presentation: make the audience the hero of your story!

We all forget this from time to time. We start with ourselves, our company, our product, what makes us special, etc, etc. It’s only natural. After all, that’s the topic we know best — and what we really want to tell the audience about.

However, the most effective presentations (even those that are really about selling your company or product) are really about the audience. The magic isn’t what your product is or can do — it’s all about how their lives or businesses are improved by your product. The audience has a challenge, problem, or opportunity — something that your presentation can help them to solve.

As tempting as it is to make the story of your presentation about your and your product or service, ultimately the most powerful presentations make your audience the hero of the story — and you’re just a supporting character