Updated
Style and substance are equally required in a presentation and neither substitutes for the other. All style with nothing to say and people stop paying attention. All substance delivered flatly and nobody is compelled to act. Prepare both, every time.
The question I ask, and the answer everyone gives
When it comes to speeches and presentations, what is more important: style or substance?
It is a trick question, and rooms split reliably down the middle on it.
Half the room thinks, well, we should probably have more style. Move around more, rather than just reading, or standing next to a slide deck trying to read it to people. Yes.
The other half thinks, but substance is important too. People need to see that this was worth their time, and they need real information. Also yes.
They are both right. You need style and substance. One is not more important than the other.
What happens when you only bring one
Take the two failure modes seriously, because most presentations are one of them.
All style, nothing said
If I were all styled up today and told you nothing, you would stop watching these videos. Energy without content buys you about ninety seconds of goodwill, and then the audience quietly works out that nothing is arriving.
All substance, flatly delivered
If I was all substance, and I just sat and read to you in front of a webcam, and everything was boring but complete, that is not good either.
It is not compelling. It does not make you want to act. And a presentation that does not move anyone to act did not do its job, however accurate it was.
This is the more common failure in business, because it feels safe. Nobody gets criticized for a thorough deck. They just do not get the decision either.
A quick way to find out which half you are missing
Record yourself giving the talk, then watch it twice.
- Once with the sound off. That is your style. Do you look like someone worth listening to, or like someone waiting for it to be over?
- Once reading only the words. That is your substance. Strip out the delivery and ask whether there is a real argument in there, or a tour of things you happen to know.
Almost everyone is clearly weaker on one of the two passes, and almost nobody knows which one before they look.
Think about it before the next one
We must always have style and substance. Not as a slogan, as a checklist item during preparation: I have something worth saying, and I have decided how it is going to arrive.
For the delivery half, read how to sound natural in a presentation. For making the substance stick, read how to make a presentation memorable.
If you want your team's presentations checked against both halves with recorded playback, get a quick quote.