Why do so many presenters assume their audience has an unlimited memory?

Unfortunately, human minds have limitations, and one of those is the number of things we can remember (aside from a few remarkable outliers, at least).

This idea tends to go out the window in a lot of presentations – and especially when someone is pitching credentials.

And there is one word to blame here – which happens to be ‘and’.

 Does the following presentation flow sound like something you’ve heard before?

• We can do ‘thing’.
• And we can do ‘next thing’.
• And we can also do ‘next next thing’.
• And if ‘next next next thing’ is important to you, we can do that too
• And so on.
• And so on.
• And so on.
• And ‘thing’.

Who’s going to remember all the ‘ands’? And how will they know which ‘ands’ are worth remembering?

It’s a common failing, born out of the desire to present as many different service offerings as possible in the hope that one will prove appealing, rather than focusing in on the client’s need and just presenting those specific solutions.

It also crops in keynote presentations, where the speaker runs through example after example after example, rather than crafting a narrative that builds towards a compelling outcome.

One method for avoiding the ‘and’ trap is to think about how the different things can be used to build towards that outcome. A technique commonly used in fiction is to switch to ‘because’ rather than ‘and’.

For example:

• “Because we do ‘thing’, we can also do ‘next thing’, and that led us to build out a capability in ‘next next thing’.

There is clear linkage between the ‘things’. Which means there is greater storytelling goodness tying them together. Which is useful, because human beings are much better at remembering (and being influenced by) stories rather than things.

‘And’ has proven to be one of my biggest challenges as a trainer and coach. Training requires knowledge to be passed from one person to another. That can mean lots of ‘things’ – and therefor lots of ‘ands’. Trying to find compelling ways to convey many things without falling into the ‘and’ trap is a struggle I am still striving to master – but ‘because’ is proving useful for conveying knowledge in a way that can be better retained. Stay tuned for further developments on that front.

As mentioned in an earlier post, the more you say, the less they will remember. Next time you are putting together a presentation, count the number of ‘things’ you discuss, and the number of ‘ands’ that join them together (unless Steve Jobs. Steve was a master of ‘and’ – especially how he would end presentations with ‘just one more thing’ – the perfect blend of storytelling and stagecraft. But if you’re not Steve Jobs …).

I can guarantee that the fewer ‘ands’ you use, the happier the audience will be, and the more effective your presentation will become.