Engaging is the goal: Immersion is the path to achieving it.

Engaging is not what you think.

Engagement is the key to a great pitch,

But it isn’t at all what you think.

Let’s start with what it’s not:

It's not interaction with the audience.

At least not in the sense of:

• questions back and forth

• or chat comments

• or online polls

Don’t get me wrong:

back and forth is the end goal.

After all, we want our pitch to lead to:

• a conversation back and forth

• further exploration of our ideas

• an offer to join in and team up

But that is the second step. The first step is to present. And for this to be successful:

Immersion is the key.

This step happens more quietly.

Immersion is when the ideas we share consume our audience.

These ideas command our audience’s full attention:

• the audience at this step engages with our ideas

• they play with them to find meaning

• sort through them for significance

• explore them to find impact.

I call this audience immersion: it’s when time stands still as possibilities open up.

And this should be the gold standard for presentations.

The very best presentations are immersive first.

Immersion is then followed by conversation,

and conversation leads to action,

and action leads to impact.

Watch the video for step 1

(it's probably not what you think)