I was happy to be a guest on the January 20th episode of The Presentation Podcast, https://thepresentationpodcast.com/2026/e238/. We talked about three traps from our book, Presentation Pitfalls: The Frankenstein Trap, The Black Hole Trap, and The Virtual Fatigue Trap. Thanks to Sandra Johnson, Nolan Haims, and Troy Chollar for hosting me. If you like the podcast, please rate and review it!
I always learn something listening to their podcast, so I hope I was able to return the favor! And don’t be alarmed when Troy calls the book “dense.” He means it in only the best way! It’s packed with useful advice.
Below are some of the key questions and strategic frameworks we didn’t have time to discuss during the episode. These “director’s cut” insights offer deeper ways to influence your audience and drive action.
The PROD Framework
While we touched on audience alignment, we didn’t dive into the PROD framework, a tool for assessing stakeholders and selecting content that addresses their specific concerns.
PROD stands for:
- People
- Results
- Options
- Details
For example, when presenting to a Chief People Officer, you should prioritize the “People” and “Results” quadrants by quantifying the impact on associates and explaining how your change management plan minimizes implementation risks.
Marketing Tricks to Make Frameworks Memorable
In the podcast, we discussed the “will, skill, kill” rhyme, but we didn’t have time to go deeper on how to use marketing techniques to make slogans stick. Here are two techniques:
- Acronyms: We taught the PROD framework for years, but it only started appearing in participant surveys after we turned it into an acronym.
- Alliteration: Using alliteration, like naming Key Performance Indicators “The Fab Four,” can extend the “shelf life” of a framework.
The “Just the Facts” Trap
The Just the Facts Trap affects presenters who focus solely on data and logic, ignoring the emotional aspects of decision-making. Leading strategy and analytics teams, I worked with many smart people who believe data and logic should win every argument. But humans are emotional decision makers. “Just the facts” presentations are boring, leading the audience to tune out and miss crucial information. When we augment data with stories, we appeal to both decision-making approaches. For example, if you’re showing data on customer service call volume drivers, share a customer anecdote about how a service breakdown impacted a customer who had to call customer service.
Two Frameworks for Better Storytelling
We mentioned the importance of stories, but these two specific structures from the book help keep anecdotes crisp:
- The STARC Method: Standing for Situation, Trouble, Action, Results, and Connection, this is a classic structure for behavioral responses. The “Connection” is the most vital part—it reminds you to share the moral of the story or the leadership lesson.
- The SUCCESs Model: Derived from Made to Stick by the Heath brothers, this model highlights that Stories should be Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, and Emotional. Utilizing “Unexpected” elements, like a shocking statistic, makes your message as memorable as a movie plot twist.