Understanding the Presentation Spectrum

When it comes to presentations, most people look at TED talks as the gold standard, the ‘right way’ to do it. Except, often, it’s not.

Here’s another way to think about it.

Presentations live on a spectrum.

At one end there’s the conference talk, the motivational speech, the keynote. We could call these ‘Performative’. As with many performances, the goal is to keep you engaged from start to finish. They’re designed primarily to spark an emotion. Usually this is feeling of inspiration, but the feels can range from wonder to downright indignation.

At the other end is ‘Decision Driven’. This is your quarterly budget review, or the results of a research report. It’s designed to help the audience make a decision… or perhaps present the decision itself. You likely want to convince the audience of your point as quickly and clearly as possible.


By now you may have noticed two things:

1. Very few presentations are purely ‘P’ or ‘D’. Instead, they’re somewhere along the spectrum. Somewhere in the (50?) shades.

2. The majority of presentations made at work lean closer to ‘D’.


And here’s the kicker - most of these ‘work’ presentations are invisible. They ain’t on YouTube for all to see. They're hidden inside companies. So we miss them. Confirmation bias instead pushes us towards ‘P’, or we default directly to ‘D’.

How to design for the full spectrum? That's for another post, but for now it’s worth thinking about where your next presentation lands on this simple axis. It’s a great start point to avoid building the wrong thing.


P.S. Yes, like many other things in our world, this topic is not binary - even if a lot of people want you to think it is…

Keep exploring

Future of Learning
Upleveling the Case Study: How AI Augmented a Real-World Entrepreneurial Journey
We brought roleplaying challenges to Columbia Business School's MBA program...
Groove Theory
The Blank Slide Shuffle
How to use pitch black to great effect
Groove Theory
Understanding the Presentation Spectrum
Why most presentations shouldn't feel like TED talks
Groove Theory
Storytelling & Narrative: What's the difference?
It's subtle, but incredibly important
Groove Theory
What people really want from new technology
They don't want features, or even benefits. It's about something more human
Groove Theory
Christopher Nolan's 26 principles for creative work
And why it's worth being a jack of all trades
Groove Theory
Why David Marchese's skills remain underrated
How The New York Times journalist is able to go further than most