A explain article

An old industrial hall, I sit on a vibrating metal stand in the audience. An industry meeting, an expensive business event – of course with keynotes. The moderator announces the next speaker, it's about a “success story”. The light dims, silence sets in, a speaker steps onto the stage, hundreds of eager eyes are on him. He looks at his note cards and begins his speech. He presses the “clicker”, turns to the screen, nothing happens.

He nervously clicks several times – now without looking at the screen. What he doesn’t see at that moment is how slide after slide is happening in front of everyone’s eyes. He turns back to the screen, looking confused, clicks once more … now you read thank you! in colorful capital letters above him on the huge screen ... scattered laughter in the audience. The speaker struggles with composure “Uhm … I was only provided the slides last night … I have to apologize for that”.

He then tries to continue his presentation, now without any slides, but also without a red thread. More of a disaster than a “success story” – and you still read thank you! in colorful capital letters on the huge screen behind him.

Many of us have experienced this or something similar before. Presentations often show a clear discrepancy between what you see and what is actually being said. Speakers are often not adequately prepared, not accustomed to the stage and technology, or even unpracticed in using their own slides. Of course, it can happen to any of us, but it’s just not professional. The successful combination of content, slides, and person is what we call

Presentorics – that is the key to great presenting. Presentorics stands for the connection of classical rhetoric and modern presentation forms. It is the New School of Presenting.

About the Power of Speech

Rhetoric is the (high) art of speech. It originated in ancient Greece and was developed by teachers like Aristotle, Socrates, or Plato, but no later than with Cicero and Quintilian in the Roman Empire, it has influenced world history. Even though nowadays this "art" is only taught in Germany at the University of Tübingen, its principles are still relevant and its effectiveness as powerful as ever. For Aristotle, the strategic goal of speech was not just simply convincing; for him, it was purely the art of creating belief. Besides the goals of speech, Aristotle also formulated so-called functions of speech: to teach/prove, to please/delight & to rouse/move. It is precisely this "moving" (movere) that represents the power of speech, because through it, one can move people.

Of course, this also holds the potential to mislead people, which is why in today's time, as in ancient times, the powerful sword of rhetoric must be used virtuously. Cicero expressed this quite aptly when he said: "My entire concern is always focused on ensuring that through my speech, I may accomplish something good, if not, at least nothing detrimental." It is not without reason that ethics has always been an integral part of rhetoric. And we at explain share the view that speeches ultimately only truly have a moving effect if they flow from the innermost soul or heart, and not because a certain technique has been applied as skillfully as possible. A speech should always be full of sincerity, honorability, and truth. Passion is equally important, "for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks." (Matthew 12:34)

We believe that rhetoric should not be about instrumentalizing speech in the formation of opinions.

In our context, it is more about professionalizing it.

The masters of rhetoric distinguished between three genres of speech (the judicial speech, the deliberative speech, and the epideictic speech). However, they unfortunately did not provide us with guidelines on how presentations should be given at TED Talks, annual kick-offs, product launches, or sales meetings in the 21st century. This requires a new model – that of presentation skills.

The Magic Lantern

In the 17th century, a Dutch scientist developed the MAGIC LANTERN, somewhat a predecessor of modern projectors. According to legend, it was used at night to project images of death onto houses, in order to drive frightened people into the church.

This also very clearly shows a compelling force – now of images, but as in rhetoric, the question of virtuous application arises here too.

Traveling storytellers in England and France also quickly recognized this power and used the magic of the lantern to enhance the impact of their stories. Education also recognized the potential of projection and introduced it into lessons and lectures at the beginning of the 19th century.

Naturally, this technique has also reached the business world. Nowadays, it is referred to as "presentation." The power of images has become socially acceptable, so to speak, and in HD.

The Power of Images

Why even combine the power of rhetoric with images in a presentation, isn't the word enough? Because images can also move people and because people in the audience are not only listeners but also viewers. Images can exert a very strong effect on the viewer – they always have. Artists have documented, enlightened, inspired, delighted, shocked, and much more across world history with their paintings. The paintings of the past are the photos of today. Photos can provide a concrete image of reality, which is why photographs are admitted as evidence in court and can significantly influence the verdict – powerless against the lawyer's rhetoric. But images have also set the world on fire, for example, alleged "evidence photos" of missiles in Iraq were crucial for the USA's war argumentation.

Images can also have the positive opposite effect. They can move us to oppose madness, like the image of the Chinese student in front of a group of tanks in a military parade. Or the world-famous image of the soldier jumping over the barbed wire at Checkpoint Charlie in full gear. Or the images of Earth from the perspective of the moon, which help us to understand how wonderful, vulnerable, and worth protecting our planet is. These images don't even need to be displayed here. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about because these images are anchored in a certain way in humanity's visual memory. However, it is not only the great paintings or historical photos that make us understand something through visual language, but also very simple illustrations that have always helped us to understand complex relationships more easily.

You surely know the classic visualizations using the pyramid or temple columns. By now, this art has been defined under the term "infographics" as a graphic discipline in its own right, aimed at presenting complex matters simply. Understandably, this creates less emotion, but emotions are all the more generated by moving images and videos with sound. Videos will play a major role in the presentation design of the future. Why? Because we are shaped by films at a Hollywood level and thus have a certain expectation of what moves us or doesn't. Presentations are more than just a speech, they combine word and image in the live performance of a (story) teller.

The Memory

But why do many presentations tend to be so text-heavy? To understand this, it is first necessary to see the two main functions of a presentation:

1. Function - A "Visualization" For the Audience

2. Function - A "Speech Aid" For the Speaker

It is precisely this second function that is generally too little considered. I am not talking here about the (invisible to the audience) so-called "speaker notes," but about what is actually written on a slide: headline, subline, and bullet points (unfortunately sometimes even flowing text). Usually, the speaker orients themselves to this text. It helps them to present in an orderly manner. However, the disadvantage is that the audience can also see the text. Even the grandmasters of rhetoric have seen the necessity of a rehearsed speech and devoted a step to it in the five production stages of a speech, the so-called "Memoria." This is "the last preparation phase before the actual presentation and the memorization of the speech using mnemonic rules and visual aids." This memorization has somewhat been replaced by textual content on slides, more so, many speakers put together a "slide deck" instead of working on a speech as such at all. However, the slides should be more than just keywords.

Die gestalterische Frage, die sich hier ergibt, ist folgende: Wie kann ich Folien mit notwendigen Stichworten versehen, ohne dass die Präsentation in betreutes Lesen für das Publikum übergeht?

Glauben Sie mir, das ist gestaltungstechnisch mit durchdachtem Design lösbar. Beim Präsentieren kommen also die Disziplinen von Rhetorik und Design zusammen, aber in keiner dieser Disziplinen wird man als „Manager“ in oder an Universitäten ausgebildet. Vorrangig geht es bei solchen Jobs ja um Führung, jedoch gerade Führung erfolgt häufig mit Präsentationen. Deshalb ist es für alle Führungspersonen wichtig, das Präsentieren zu beherrschen! An dieser Stelle möchte ich mich nochmals dem Beispiel von Steve Jobs bedienen. Als CEO von Apple hat er das Präsentieren gemeistert und dafür eine eigene Philosophie entwickelt: „A successful presentation should inform, educate & entertain“. Er war eben auch Pionier auf diesem Gebiet. Um sich dem Thema „Präsentation“ ausschließlich zu widmen und tiefer einzutauchen, hatte er jedoch bei seinen vielen Projekten keine Zeit. Dafür sind wir da. Um das Präsentieren zu professionalisieren, haben wir das explain Präsentorik- Modell entwickelt.

Wir denken, dass eine Präsentation aus den Teilen Inhalt, Folie und Mensch besteht und genau das ist die Grundlage des explain Präsentorik Modells. Innerhalb dieses Modells haben wir Qualitätskriterien entwickelt, die großartiges Präsentieren ermöglichen.

#01 - Meaningful Content

Many of us often have meetings and tight schedules. Content that has no RELEVANCE to the audience steals our time. In a highly complex world, it is important to express oneself clearly, which is why it is necessary to make content COMPREHENSIBLE. And ultimately, it's not just about the moment, but also about what sticks, what will be remembered – so content should be MEMORABLE.

#02 - Enriching Slides

Slides must first and foremost be functional in order to support the presentation at all. On the one hand, to give the audience a visualization or images and on the other hand, to give the speaker the necessary key points. When we see slides, we unconsciously apply our standards for beauty. We notice whether something harmonizes, something is wrong, or even something bothers us. With an aesthetic design, these sensations can be controlled. Especially towards external people, we are not only presenters, but also brand ambassadors at the same time. This must be taken into consideration in order to present in a style-defining manner.

#03 - Impressive Person

Ultimately, you make the biggest difference. You as a speaker, as a personality, as a person. For many of us, presenting is associated with various kinds of fears. Therefore, the first thing is to become confident. Communicate with everything you are and have, use your gestures and facial expressions, work with your voice, be expressive! Stage yourself, but always be yourself, be brave to be authentic, even in the spotlight. Weaknesses and mistakes are gladly forgiven, as long as you can see the person behind it, even if they accidentally clicked through all the slides and are thrown off track. More on presenting skills in the articles by my colleagues, who are the true experts in this field.