Home > Presentation Outline > Part 1 – Presentation Objective > Part 2 – What Is In It For Me
In this section we will talk about defining the action and stating the WIIFM (What Is In It For Me) for a presentation objective.
We have already seen that the first step to set a presentation objective is to clearly define the last person.
Once the last person has been defined, the next step is…
WHAT: What is the action the last person should take?
Do you want the person to just clap and leave or:
- Do you want her to set up a meeting with the purchase department?
- Do you want her to approve your plan?
- Do you want her to invest 50 Million to expand your business?
When you are specific about the action or next steps you want the last person to take, you automatically start getting clarity on the data you need to include, the credibility you need to establish and so on.
What is the action step?
Complete this sentence keeping the last person in mind,
I want you to do ——– after my presentation
Say this sentence aloud imagining that the last person is in front of you.
WHY: Why should the last person do what you ask?
In other words, What is the single biggest benefit for the audience? This is also referred to as – WIIFM – or (what is in it for me?).
This what is in it for me cannot be defined without being clear about the last person.
Think of these aspects:
- How obvious is the benefit to the last person?
- How different is your offer compared to what is available elsewhere?
- What is the proof for your claim?
Remember, the What Is In It For Me benefit could be in terms of money earned, time saved etc.
This also ensures that your presentation is created with a You to Me approach rather than a traditional Me to You approach.
| Get Comprehensive Presentation Skills Training Video + Slides Get the comprehensive training video to sharpen your business presentation skills. Plus ALL 540 slides with trainer notes. Presentation-process/Training-Video |
Are the relevant questions popping up in your head? Can you see the presentation almost unfurl itself in front of you?
That is the power of setting the objective for your presentation using the Minimal® process.
What is the action step?
Complete this sentence keeping the last person in mind,
By doing the action I suggest, you gain ———
If you feel your benefit statement is not exciting enough, you need to work on creating a relevant and strong what is in it for me for your target audience.
To conclude…
To summarize, the 3 questions to set a clear objective for your presentation are:
- Who is the last person in your audience?
- What do you want the last person to do?
- Why should the last person do what you ask? (i.e. What is in it for me or WIIFM)
An example of a clear objective statement
An objective statement finally looks something like this:
Who – Vice President HR
What – Approve 4 additional Relationship Managers for the branch
Why – There is potential to generate $2Million of additional revenue for the branch with this new headcount.
In this example, the presentation needs to meet the expectations of the VP(HR). It needs to justify the requirement of 4 Relationship Managers and clearly show how the target revenue can be achieved.
As you can see, such a clearly set objective helps you get started with a strong presentation storyline for your presentation.
Once you set your objective, it is time to Brainstorm for concern areas from audience point of view.
Return to Top of What is in it for me Page
Return to Main Presentation Outline Page