Our programmes
Flagship workshop
OSCAR Presentation Skills
Structure, deliver and defend a presentation that gets a decision.
Presenters who need a decision from leadership have to deliver their message in a compelling and engaging way, usually in far less time than they would like. OSCAR Presentation Skills is an intensive, hands-on workshop for executives and managers who present to decision makers. It focuses on business presentations that inform and persuade, so the Leadership Team can approve or endorse an action, proposal or project.
The problem it solves
Good people lose out to slick presenters. Presentations run long, open with background the audience already knows, and finish without a clear decision. OSCAR gives presenters a repeatable method: start with what the audience must think and do, then build the storyline, visuals and delivery around it.
Who it’s for
- Executives, managers and specialists who present to a Leadership Team, Management Committee or C-suite
- Anyone who presents proposals, updates or results and needs an approval or endorsement at the end
- Teams who want one shared way to plan and review presentations
Format
- Duration: 2 days in-house (3 days for larger groups)
- Group size: Small groups, typically 8 to 12 participants
- Coaching: 1:1 coaching and video-recorded practice
- Preparation: Optional e-learning: Fundamentals of Presenting
- Delivery: At your premises or a venue of your choice; virtual sessions on request
Learning objectives
By the end of the programme, participants will be able to:
- Demonstrate confidence when delivering a presentation and answering questions
- Use the right storyline and structure to reach the presentation's objective
- Create visuals and lead-in statements that help the Leadership Team understand and act on the message
Programme outline
Built on the five steps of O.S.C.A.R.: Objective, Storyline, Charts, Audience and Rhetoric.
Step O
Objective
Decide what you want the audience to think and do differently at the end of the presentation.
- Identify the objective by balancing what the audience needs with what you need
- What are they thinking and doing now, and what should they think and do after your presentation?
- Write SMART objectives: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound
- Connect your objective to the audience's own KPIs
Step S
Storyline
Plan the story and advance the argument, so 25 unfocused slides become a clear 7-slide sequence.
- Storytelling vs. storylining: why the logic comes first
- Inductive grouping for informative presentations (by item, time, area or ranking, kept MECE)
- Deductive argument for persuasive presentations: situation, problem, recommendation and success
- The Diamond Structure for three audiences: widespread audiences, middle management and top management
- Opening with credibility, the executive summary, Q&A and asking for endorsement or approval
Step C
Charts
Convey the evidence visually so the slides prove the point.
- Storyboarding the deck for each Diamond Structure
- The three building blocks of a slide: lead-in statement, evidence and source
- Summary vs. synthesis lead-in statements
- Choosing qualitative charts (what, why, how, where, when, who) and quantitative charts (comparison, relationship, distribution, composition)
- Using the right evidence: data, comparisons, examples, case studies, stories and analogies
Step A
Audience
Analyse the audience and tailor the presentation to reach the objective.
- Identify the decision maker and the key recommender
- Conservative, moderate and energetic audiences
- Ten questions to analyse an audience, from what they already know to how they might resist
- What CEOs, general managers and sales leaders care about
Step R
Rhetoric
Present with the confidence, attention and energy needed to inform, persuade or motivate.
- Eye contact, voice, pauses and pace
- Hand gestures, movement and transitions
- Matching the energy of the audience
- Rough Times: handling challenging questions, interruptions and things that go wrong
How the workshop runs
- Participants present a real work presentation at the start as a first benchmark
- Every presentation is video-recorded and reviewed with the facilitator
- Group work and structured peer feedback using the OSCAR Presentation Feedback Form
- A second presentation at the end shows the improvement and locks in the method
- The OSCAR figurine and stickers act as a memory aid on each participant's desk
What participants take away
- Participant workbook with quick guides and tips for every step
- Personal OSCAR figurine with quick tips for future presentations
- OSCAR stickers and the Presentation Feedback Form to review future presentations
- Video of your own presentations and individual feedback
- Access to presentation resources and slide templates on our resource site
The outcome
Participants leave with a method they can use on their next presentation: a clear objective, a storyline the Leadership Team can follow, slides that prove the point and the confidence to handle questions.
Questions
Do participants need to bring anything?
Yes. Each participant brings a real work presentation, so the practice is on live material, not textbook cases.
Can the workshop be tailored to our organisation?
Yes. We tailor examples, exercises and the presentation templates to your organisation and audiences.
What comes after this workshop?
Many teams continue with Supercharge Your Slides to build decision-ready slide decks, or Mastering Executive Presentations for presenting to top management.
Explore our other programmes
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Supercharge Your Slides
Turn slide decks into messages that leaders can read, follow and approve.
Programme 3 · Next programme
Mastering Executive Presentations
Win over the boardroom when time is short and the stakes are high.
Bring OSCAR Presentation Skills to your team
Every programme is run in-house and tailored to your organisation. Tell us about your team and we will come back with a proposal.