If you’re a horror movie fan, think back to the last time you went to the theaters to see a scary film. The main character walked through a dark hallway to investigate the source of a mysterious noise with a soundtrack of ominous music. You knew that something was about to pop out and terrify the character; perhaps grabbing their ankle or dropping down from the roof. And suddenly, the tension was unleashed with a ghost leaping out from darkness. The audience jumped and gasped, and everyone laughed with embarrassment.
Surprise is an incredible, visceral part of entertainment. Whether it’s a plot twist or a ghost appearing out of nowhere, movies take advantage of classic cues to let the audience know something is about to happen, they just won’t know exactly when.
While you probably don’t want to terrify your presentation audience, there are still ways to include the element of surprise within the content of your deck. Here’s how to weave the narrative accordingly and build up to a “woah!” moment, even with the restriction of a presentation.
Create unfulfilled desire
What does your main character hope to accomplish or achieve by the end of the presentation? One of the benefits of a presentation is that the audience both sees your main character’s desire and all of the outside forces that could either prevent it from happening or not happening. Just like the main character in the horror movie, the audience knows something bad is coming before the main character does.
Make sure something hangs in the balance for your main character, and that the audience is clear about what that is. Then, make sure you also introduce the potential opposition that your character faces to reach their objective.
Include a question
Will the hero get what they want? Sometimes the best way to build to that yes/no is to take a slide, or even a few slides, to ask the audience some hypothetical questions about the outcome. Who do they think will succeed? Will the character keep walking down that long dark hallway? Offer your audience the chance to deliberate on the outcome of your story, because unlike a movie, presentations provide the ability to be fully interactive.
Deliver the twist
Once you’ve set up the scenario, it’s time to write and design the slide with your reveal. If the content leading up to your slide is solid, then you may only need to include a single word on the reveal slide, or even an image that shows the audience what happened versus telling them. To use the horror movie example, you could lead up to the reveal with slides that say “walking down the dark hall…” “completely alone…” and then present a final slide with a photo of a horrifying ghost on it.
We want to reiterate that moments of surprise don’t have to be scary, but they should add a moment of visual or written contrast to the rest of your deck. They should also provide a conclusion to the desires of your main character, either for a “happily” or “unhappily” ever after.
Want to learn more storytelling techniques specific to your presentation’s content? Check out these related articles:
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