THE EXPLAIN PRESENTORIC MODEL
An essay by Sven Oliver Hager, Founder of explain
In an old industrial hall, the lights dim. The crowd of executives grows quiet. A speaker steps onto the stage to tell what has been billed as a “success story.” He glances at his notes, clicks his remote, and looks toward the screen. Nothing happens.
He clicks again. And again. Behind him, slide after slide races forward for the audience to see, but not for him. Then, in bold colors, two words fill the screen: THANK YOU. Some laugh. He stumbles, apologizing that the slides had only been sent to him the night before. He presses on, now without visuals and without a clear line of thought. The result is less triumph than spectacle.
Anyone who has attended enough conferences knows this scene. A gulf often opens between what is said on stage and what appears on screen. Many speakers are unprepared, uncomfortable with the technology, or uncertain with their own material. These things happen to anyone, but they are not professional.
What is missing is the seamless connection of story, slides, and speaker. At explain we call this Presentoric. It is our approach to presenting that unites classical rhetoric with the tools and demands of modern communication.
›› Speech is the art of awakening belief. ‹‹ – Aristotle
The weight of words
Rhetoric, the discipline of persuasive speech, began in ancient Greece and shaped political life in Rome. Aristotle, Cicero and Quintilian remain reference points for the craft. At its heart, rhetoric was never simply about winning arguments. Aristotle described it as the art of creating belief. He saw three functions: to inform, to delight and to move. It was that last verb, to move, that gave rhetoric its force.
The same power made rhetoric dangerous. Cicero insisted that speech carried ethical obligations, that words should do good or at least no harm.
At explain we take the same view. Technique matters, but the most powerful speech draws its strength from authenticity and conviction.
RHETORIC IN OUR EYES IS NOT A TOOL FOR MANIPULATION.
IT IS A MEANS OF MAKING COMMUNICATION PROFESSIONAL, RESPONSIBLE AND HUMAN.
LA LATERNA MAGICA
In the 17th century, the Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens created the Laterna Magica, an early projector. Legend has it that it was once used to cast ghostly visions of death on the walls of houses, frightening villagers into church. The story illustrates how easily images can stir emotion and how important it is to use them wisely.
By the 19th century, lantern projection had spread to classrooms and lecture halls. Business soon followed. Today we call it a presentation, though the principle is the same. Images amplify messages. They shape memory. They persuade.
History offers countless examples. Photographs have documented war and shaped political will. They have misled nations and exposed injustices. Some pictures are etched permanently in our shared consciousness: the student facing tanks in Tiananmen Square, the soldier leaping across barbed wire at Checkpoint Charlie, the fragile beauty of Earth rising over the surface of the Moon.
Not every image is iconic. But even simple diagrams, infographics or short videos help people grasp ideas and remember them. And in a culture shaped by cinema, audiences expect more. Presentations are no longer just speeches. They are performances that combine word and image in storytelling.
Images can move people.
The power of images
Why combine the force of rhetoric with images in a presentation at all? Isn’t the spoken word enough? The answer lies in the way images move people. Audiences are not just listeners; they are viewers. Images can exert a profound effect on those who see them. They always have. Across history, artists used their paintings to document, to enlighten, to inspire, to delight, to shock. The canvases of the past are the photographs of today. A photograph can provide an unflinching picture of reality. That is why courts accept them as evidence, why a single image can weigh more heavily on a verdict than the most persuasive words of a lawyer. And yet, images have not only borne witness. They have also set the world ablaze. Famously, the alleged “proof” photographs of rockets in Iraq became decisive in the American case for war.
Images can also do the opposite. They can move us to resist madness. Think of the lone student in Tiananmen Square, standing before a line of tanks. Think of the soldier leaping over barbed wire at Checkpoint Charlie. Or the photographs of Earth rising above the lunar horizon, which helped us grasp the wonder, fragility, and worth of our planet. These images hardly need to be shown again. They are etched into the collective memory of humanity.
But it is not only grand paintings or iconic photographs that communicate through visual language. Simple illustrations have always helped us understand what words alone struggle to explain. The classic pyramid chart or temple-column model is familiar to almost everyone.
Over time, this practice evolved into what we now call infographics, a discipline devoted to making the complex comprehensible. Infographics may not stir much emotion, but moving images do. Video, enhanced with sound, generates emotion with unmatched intensity.
And this is why video will play an ever larger role in the presentations of the future. We are shaped by cinema, by Hollywood standards of storytelling and spectacle. We carry those expectations with us, into the boardroom and beyond. A presentation is more than a speech. It is a live performance, the weaving of words and images by a storyteller who aims not only to inform but to move.
LA MEMORIA
Why then are so many presentations crammed with text? Part of the answer lies in the dual role slides play.
1. THEY SERVE AS A VISUALIZATION
FOR THE AUDIENCE.
2. THEY ALSO FUNCTION AS A
MEMORY AID FOR THE SPEAKER.
Too often, presenters rely on the latter. Instead of preparing a speech, they assemble a slide deck. The result is familiar: lines of text that the audience reads while the speaker repeats them aloud.
The ancients also valued memorization. In the classical five steps of rhetoric, memoria was the final stage, the moment when a speech was committed to memory. Today, that work has been outsourced to the screen.
The challenge is to design slides that guide the speaker without overwhelming the listener. It can be done, but it requires design as well as discipline.
The truth is that business schools rarely teach either. Yet leadership today is performed in large part through presentations. Which means presenting is not just a professional skill. It is a leadership act.
Steve Jobs understood this. As Apple’s chief executive, he became a master of the stage. He once argued that a successful presentation should inform, educate and entertain. That philosophy helped transform product launches into cultural moments. But Jobs was an exception. Most leaders lack the time or tools to refine the craft. That is the gap the Presentoric Model seeks to close.
The explain Presentoric Model
At explain we believe every presentation consists of three elements: content, slides and the speaker. The Presentoric Model defines the quality standards that make these elements work together.
1. MEANINGFUL CONTENT
Audiences are pressed for time. Content must be clear, relevant and memorable. Otherwise it is wasted.
2. ENRICHING SLIDES
Slides must be functional and aesthetic. They help audiences see and help speakers remember. They also carry brand identity. Well-designed slides are not decoration but representation.
3. THE HUMAN PRESENCE
Ultimately, it is the speaker who makes the difference. The personality, the presence, the human being on stage. For many, presenting is associated with fear. Confidence and authenticity are more powerful than flawless delivery. Audiences forgive mistakes when they can recognize the human being behind the words.
A craft, not an accident
Presentations are too important to be left to chance. They shape decisions, inspire employees and influence markets. Yet they are often treated as routine, even as afterthoughts.
At explain we see presenting as a craft. A craft that unites content, design and human presence. A craft that turns communication into leadership.
That is the promise of the Presentoric Model.