Put Some Chili On It! Making Every Presentation Memorable

By Curtis H. Breville

Breakfast is something I have everyday.  I cannot tell you each and every time I had eaten bacon, eggs, and hash browns for breakfast.  I would guess it was somewhere around a thousand times or more.  Several years ago, I was introduced to a meal called a “slinger. ”  A bed of hash browns, eggs however you like them on top of them, then bacon or sausage on top of that.  Then the entire plate is covered with chili!  Regardless if this suits your tastes or not is not the point.  The point is, I can recall every time I have ever had a slinger.  I can tell you who I was with, what we did that evening, and what we talked about.  The chili is what made the meal memorable.  As a professional speaker, I have made it my personal goal to proverbially  “put chili” on each and every one of my presentations in order to make them as memorable as they can be.

The idea of “putting some chili on it!” is experienced daily every time we hear a commercial on the radio or watch an advertisement on television.  Companies change their commercials weekly and monthly in order to keep their listeners interested in their products.  Simply telling the listeners about their products is not enough.  Companies must entertain the listening or viewing public with out-of-the-ordinary advertisements that make them remember their particular product when the opportunity arises.    

The question I am asked over and over from presenters is: “How do I put chili on a presentation when I’m talking about something that even I think is boring?”  It does not matter what the topic is: Tax Law, Calculus, Total Quality Management, …etc., you can make the presentation memorable.  The following are just a few of the many ways that you can put some chili on your presentations, and make every presentation memorable.

I gave a presentation over a particular software package at a rather large telecommunications company.  I had given several presentations at this company over a number of years before my “chili” initiative.  The company had a business casual dress code.  With the exception of the members of upper management, all of the male workers wore polo-style shirts and khaki pants.  Even the vendors and business associates dressed in business casual clothing.  The day that I showed up to present over the software package, I was dressed in my best suit.  I wore my black, double-breasted, Italian-cut suit with my nicest dress shirt, and tie.  The first customer who arrived immediately asked me, “Who are you meeting with today?”  It was so surprising that someone would dress up for them.  My answer was, “You. You are who I am meeting with today.” As the rest of the attendees came filing into the room, they all whispered to one another, “Why is he all dressed up?”  For that particular presentation, my suit was the “chili”.  Was it effective?  Well, six months later, I was called on the phone, out of the blue, by one of the attendees of the presentation.  “Hi, I attended your software presentation about six-months ago.  You know, the one where you wore that suit.”

Active participation has added a tremendous amount of chili to my presentations.  Instead of standing in front of a group and just explaining the content, I break the attendees into small groups and ask them to brainstorm on ways where they might be able to apply the content that is being presented.  I then have someone from each group stand up and present their findings to the rest of the group.  I have found that when the attendees actively take part in the content of the presentation, they remember their participation and the content that they helped with for years afterwards.   The reason?  In a sense, everybody becomes a co-presenter.  The attendees feel respected for their thoughts, and they immediately get to form and share their opinions over a particular topic.

From a university professor’s viewpoint, I have shared my chili philosophy with numerous students on the undergraduate as well as the master’s level, and absolutely love the results from my students.  I have experienced some of the most creative presentations from students wanting to make their presentations memorable.  The students enjoy the philosophy so much that during individual reports, the other students will call out, “Put some chili on it,” if the report sounds mundane or uninteresting.

The world is overwhelmed with information.  All of us have hundreds of thousands of products, businesses, services, hobbies, topics, interests, and opportunities to spend our time on.  Make the time of those attending your presentation memorable.  Stop presenting the same way that everybody else does.  Stop presenting the same way that you have always been presenting.  Put some chili on your meeting, presentation, or seminar and be the presenter who everybody remembers for years to come. 

Learn more about Curtis Breville in our Contributors section.