Contrary to building a presentation to a climax, you should share your most exciting statistic, trend, or trick within the first 90 seconds. This immediately hooks the audience and guarantees your most important message is heard, as attention inevitably wanes over time.

To be funnier, use two simple formulas. First, structure sentences so the punchiest word is last to maximize impact and leave space for laughter. Second, build humor through gradual escalation (an "elevator") rather than jumping to an extreme analogy (a "rocket ship"), which gives the audience nowhere to go.

Instead of a traditional story structure, present the most exciting outcome first. This immediately creates either allies who want to believe or skeptics who want to challenge you. Both states are preferable to apathy, as an engaged audience is a listening one.

Humans have an "additive bias," a tendency to solve problems by adding more information (featureitis). To counteract this, operate under the constraint that the audience will only remember one key takeaway. Identify that single point before speaking to clarify priorities and ensure the core message lands.

To ensure a critical point lands and is remembered, first prime the audience's brain for attention. Place a surprising or pattern-disrupting element immediately before your most important message. This creates a cognitive "ready state" for processing and memory.

Executives don't want a long narrative demonstrating your thought process. They want the conclusion first: the decision needed, the key recommendation, and why. This respects their limited time and focuses the conversation on the outcome, not the journey.

The human brain is a deletion system, not a storage system. To make your message stick, use cognitive devices like rhyme, alliteration, or analogies. These patterns bypass the brain's natural filtering process, making key phrases more memorable and effective.

Ending a presentation with a summary is repetitive and uninspiring. Instead of recapping what you said, distill your entire talk into a single, specific action you want the audience to take or one question you want them to consider. This forces them to identify a personal takeaway and makes your message stick.

Structure core ideas into groups of three powerful words or short phrases. This 'trifecta' technique, honed in political communication, makes messages concise, easy to remember, and impactful for audiences with short attention spans. Examples include 'relationships, service, and purpose' or 'think bold, start small'.