The Magic Behind Creative Presenting

Rabbits being pulled out of hats. 
Wands being waved. 
Curtains being pulled. 
Awe-inspiring accuracy when asked “Is this your card?”

There’s something to be said about magic and how it keeps the interest of a crowd. Whether it’s on the street or the Vegas strip, magic has enamored the minds of people across the world for hundreds of years. Why? It’s the mystery of the unknown. Successful magic shows are the ones that leave the crowd pondering the same question: How in the world did they do that?

Just like any magic show, a good presentation is one that keeps the interest of the audience by taking them to places they’ve been before but with a different twist. A good presentation is one that flies by. No one looks at a watch to check the time, because they are engrossed in what is being said and brought before them. Presentations like that hold commonalities with good magic shows by being passionate, organic, and bold.

1. Be Passionate

When giving your presentation, present it like you love it. If you don’t love it, why should they? No matter the subject, find something you love about it or connect with and build on that relationship. Fall in love with your content. If your presentation is on quarterly reports, make it the best quarter the company has ever experienced. Be passionate about your presentation and give your audience the reasons to love it just as much as you do. The magicians that have shows in Vegas didn’t get there by happenstance. It took years of dedication and years of passion. Put in the work that your presentation need and make it something your audience needs to know.

2. Be Organic

This isn’t a suggestion to have Whole Foods sponsor your presentation. It’s about the authenticity of your content and your words. You can tell when a comedian didn’t write his own jokes, and you can tell when a presenter didn’t create their presentation. Make sure the words come from you, your experiences and your passions. Somehow tie those to the presentation so it sounds and looks like you. Truth is, you probably won’t present something the audience has never seen before. It’s not what they’re seeing that matters, but how they’re seeing it. How you present your material changes everything. Magicians are the same way. They all do the same tricks that have been done thousands of times. What makes them successful is presenting the trick in a way that makes the audience feel like they’ve never seen it before. So make the presentation uniquely you and it’ll be unlike any other presentation.

3. Be Bold

The world’s all about skinny lattes, skinny jeans, and skinny ties. When it comes to your presentation, make that sucker fat. Make it bold. Underline it, and italicize it. In a world full of voices, be a megaphone. Don’t be scared to take risks. If you’re passionate about it, and organic with your words, then taking a risk is much more safe. Nobody remembers the expected, so bring something into your presentation that your audience didn’t see coming. Magicians get on stages across the world and do performances that the world has never seen. They could mess up. They could bomb and ruin their whole career. However, they get up there and do it, because they want to separate themselves from the rest. Separate yourself and stand out through your presentation.

So be passionate, be organic, and be bold. Presentations can be nerve-racking. They can be exhausting and stressful to a point where you feel like it’s not worth it. But if you dig deep, find the creativity that lives on the inside of you and bring that into your presentation. That’s when the magic truly happens.

Watch our Experience Ambassador, Taylor Fairbanks, present “The Magic Behind Creative Presenting” here:

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