Most founders struggle to present

If you’ve attended AMAs in the space, you’ve likely seen a common issue among founders: Their presentations are often confusing, don’t showcase value and fail to inspire.

Today, I’ll explore some simple strategies you can use to present, inspire and CONVERT!

Nervous and unclear?…nobody will “get it”

As an introvert, I used to be terrified of public speaking.

During my first public speaking engagement as a consultant, I could barely get out of the chair 😂

Today, I can go up without practice and confidently speak on most any subject in web3.

So, what changed?

Practice and volume!

Volume comes with time, but let’s explore what we can do in the mean time…

The reason why you’re not communicating clearly and are nervous is you’re trying to do all of these things at once:

Let’s call these the “bullets of death”

• Trying to remember everything

• Pulling up various tabs/windows

• Thinking about what you’re saying

• Thinking about what you’ll say next

• Trying to sell, but maybe it’s not natural…yet

• Playing with your slideshow (if you have one)

• Any other “mental trash” you are dealing with

• Worried about making mistakes or stumbling over words

• Getting hit with random questions (thinking on your feet)

• Concern about if others are “getting it” and you’re clear enough

It’s time to take control of these “variables”

First, a common root cause of the above: Lack of being prepared and practice.

Rather than trying to improve in the areas of concern, let’s work to eliminate them.

Step 1: Presentation

Although we won’t cover how to build a complete pitch deck, your presentation is absolutely key.

When you have a visual presentation, you avoid having to say as much while also enabling the audience to better understand what you’re communicating.

A picture is worth 1,000 words, right?

In your presentation:

• Focus on a FEW key points for your web3 product

• Make those points VISUAL with SIMPLE sentences

• Cover ONLY what’s IMPORTANT to the audience

Most founders feel the need to tell everyone everything.

Waste of time…nobody will remember it.

Once you finish your presentation:

• Show it to people who don’t know your product

• Get their feedback - is it clear enough?

• Have them present it back to you - this confirms it made sense

If you’re going into an AMA without a visual presentation (or a hand out for audio only), you’re already doing it wrong.

Scroll up and read through the bullets of death

Do you see how many we can eliminate just by having a presentation?

How much more focused your mind will be on who you’re presenting to?

How you can be in the moment when you’re not trying to do everything at once?

You’re nervous and unclear because your mind is everywhere…a presentation greatly helps with this!

Step 2: Practice

Once your presentation is done, build a script and practice it like crazy.

Here’s a really simple test: Can you present it the same way without having any visuals in front of you?

Getting it literally on “Autopilot” is your goal.

Autopilot means you’re:

• Not thinking about what you’re saying

• Focusing on HOW you’re saying it

• Not worrying about what’s next

• Already have the best words

• Not missing key points

If you don’t want to sound like a robot reading a script, you must practice for autopilot-level perfection.

But, Tony….that’s a lot of work!

Correct, but it’s necessary work to be exceptional and really have your presentation land.

Also, once you’ve perfected this you can keep doing it over and over again.

You should also plan for and write down anything you will need to pull up before you begin your presentation, such as websites, demos, etc.

Have a cheat sheet, too

A spare monitor is a great place to hide presenter notes and anything else that might help you “cheat” a bit during your presentation, if necessary.

Step 3: Prepare for the unknown…

Another mistake many founders make is simply not being prepared for those curveball questions.

What is a curveball question?

It’s something that takes you off your game, disrupts your mindset and might even kill the rest of your presentation.

Instead of worrying about what might come up, it’s time to take control.

Take out a piece of paper or open up a Google Doc.

Here’s what I want you to do…

1. Disconnect from your project completely

2. Beat the hell out of it yourself, being very critical

3. Point out every flaw you see

4. Ask others to do the same

Can’t come up with anything? You’re just kidding yourself because nothing is perfect…especially in a new space like web3.

You should end up with a list of areas of concern that need to be addressed.

Next, prepare responses for each of these areas of concern.

You should practice these until they’re on autopilot, too.

For example, if I ask you, “Why do you need a token?” and that question completely disrupts your presentation and kills your mindset…that communicates A LOT to me as a listener.

…you mean you want me to buy a token and you can’t even tell me why you need it?

However, if I ask that same question and you respond immediately with three quick bullets about why you need one and how it drives value for your product, that’s a huge win.

It’s literally a night and day difference in regards to driving confidence in both yourself as the speaker and the listener.

You can give the best presentation, then completely fumble it at the end where it matters most.

Wrapping up

Although everything outlined today can seem like a lot of work, it’s simply necessary work.

The best part? Once you’ve nailed this, you can KEEP nailing it.

Over and over and over again you can deliver a stellar presentation, which will pay dividends in a huge way.

Remember: Most founders can’t present their project clearly.

This is an advantage to be capitalized on, so don’t sleep on this key component to moving your project forward, whether growing community or acquiring funding.

When you’re ready, here’s a few areas I can help you:

• Building a simulation of your entire token economy

• Guiding you on overall project operations, launch and scale

• Identifying gaps in tokenomics, a huge pain point for many

• Learn from my 3,500+ hours of live project operations experience

You can book a free strategy call right here: https://calendly.com/tonydrummond/strategy-call