Spice Up Presentations By Adding A Villain, Victim, And Hero

Presentations can be dreadfully boring if not executed well, but the Harvard Business Review points to one easy approach that will spice up any presentation: use a villain-victim-hero framework.

Photo by Julian Fong.

The idea might sound absurd, but the basic idea is that we like stories, and when you play off that by adding these three elements, you’re automatically making a presentation more interesting. They give a few different examples:

In software, the villain might be slow or unreliable programs, the victims are frustrated users, and the hero is new or updated technology that works correctly and efficiently. In health care, the villain could be disease or poor outcomes, the victims are patients and their families, and the hero is effective, compassionate care. In manufacturing, the villain might be expensive or defective products, the victims are the consumers paying for them, and the hero is safe merchandise that performs as promised.

When you have those three elements, a story naturally emerges and the presentation becomes more interesting. Of course, it’s not exactly applicable for every single presentation under the sun, but it’s still a useful brainstorming for many.

For Better Presentations, Start with a Villain [Harvard Business Review]


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