Give presentations that are maps, not mazes. Here’s how.

Every Easter Sunday, the Easter bunny would leave a single clue on the kitchen counter. This clue led to a trail of other clues (and plenty of dead ends) as all scavenger hunts do. Sometimes way finding to the next slip of paper took (what felt like) hours to complete (exhausting for children and parents).

As the years progressed, so did the Easter bunny.

She ran on creative fumes.

What were once clues became telltale rhymes leading straight to the candy: “Jesus died and rose higher and higher, why don’t you go look in the dryer.”

What were once winding, poetic scavenger hunts that often needed “expert guidance and deciphering” (my Mom could somehow always decode the Easter bunny’s riddles) became straight forward treasure maps.

You want to give treasure map presentations instead of forcing your audience through scavenger hunts.

What’s the difference?

A treasure map presentation leads your audience straight to the pile of gold, the Ark of the Covenant, the cave of wonders, the holy grail.

Your main points are crystal clear.

You provide salient supporting materials to amplify your content.

You follow the age-old adage of “tell ’em what you’re going to tell ’em, tell ’em, and tell ’em what you told ‘em.” This technique not only helps you as a presenter to stay on track (you’re repeating your main points at least 3x), but reinforces your content for your listeners by using repetition.

Treasure map presentations are exactly that: Maps. They’re guides. They’re plans.

A scavenger hunt presentation leaves your audience seeking, laying chase, and rummaging around in closet of their mind for a bow tie or fingerprint that may or may not exist (or be relevant at all).

Your audience can’t decipher the key message(s).

Your audience is typically inundated with information (Hard truth but everything is not important. Your audience also won’t remember 50% of what you share within 24 hours).

Your audience isn’t sure where your content is going or what they need to take away from it.

Scavenger hunt presentations are full of dead ends, more questions than answers, and likely little reward.

Present treasure maps

Treasure maps are strategically outlined presentations. They’re clear, concise, and compelling. They take your audience to the heart of the matter in an intentional, immediate way that they can remember and repeat. These presentations are free of unnecessary, shiny, inconsequential decorative statistics and facts.

Tell the audience what the gold is (your key points), where they can find it, and why it matters to them. Audiences love a laddered, rung after rung approach.

Treasure map presentations are a bridge. There’s no option to go right or left, only straight to the point.

Avoid scavenger hunts

Scavenger hunt presentations aren’t clear, concise, or compelling.

They lack purpose, direction, precision, or a combination of all three and lose listeners immediately. Your audience won’t know what’s important to focus on, or what you’re asking them to do, think, or believe with the information.

They’ll mentally give up and throw in the towel.

Presenting a scavenger hunt is like giving someone turn by turn directions to your house in minutes instead of miles as if the Internet doesn’t exist, “at the darkish blue house on the corner make a right and about 5 minutes later take another left by the white fence with the tree.”

Ditch the clues and give your listeners Waze.

I don’t remember a single Easter scavenger hunt that had elaborate clues and decoys to throw me off the scent.

I will forever remember the treasure maps.

Particularly, these two gems:

“Jesus came to give us his lovin’, why don’t you go look in the oven.”

“Jesus he crossed over the heavenly bridge, why don’t you go look in the fridge.”

Clear ✔️ Obvious ✔️ Doing the most and the least (less is more!) ✔️

Take a keen look at your next presentation and ask: Am I leading my audience straight to the buried treasure? Or am I leaving them on a desert island with a shovel? Make sure you’ve created a treasure map of a presentation, and not a scavenger hunt smattering of clues, data points here and there, and exported Excel data. Your audience will thank you.