(This article is a follow-on to my overview article on persuasion tips for product managers.)
Every presentation or opportunity for persuasion has a goal, or possibly a few goals. Are you trying to get some executives to make a decision in your favor? Are you aiming to protect yourself from potential blowback from something that went wrong? Are you trying to get a prospect to buy your product?
The goal can be positive or negative, and you can have more than one. (You shouldn’t have too many, though.)
Your main goal might be to convince someone to make a decision in your favor. You may have a secondary goal – “I’d like to lower the audience’s perception of risk” – if your ask includes an investment in new technology, for example.
On the other hand, your goal might be “I want to get out of this meeting alive.” That’s a reasonable goal if you have some bad news.
And obviously, your goal will affect how you present your information to make it persuasive and to save your life.
You can think about two categories of goal: defensive and proactive. I had both defensive and proactive presentations recently.
You don’t have to specifically articulate your goals in this form, per se. But you should know what they are, and it certainly doesn’t hurt to say them out loud or write them down.
(These ideas assume you are preparing a presentation for an audience.)
Please let me know some of the goals you’ve achieved in your presentations in the comments.
And if you like this article, please share it, and subscribe to the site and my email newsletter.
Your host and author, Nils Davis, is a long-time product manager, consultant, trainer, and coach. He is the author of The Secret Product Manager Handbook, many blog posts, a series of video trainings on product management, and the occasional grilled pizza.
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