Presenting beyond the product team:A workshop for designers

Turn your team into persuasive advocates for design within your organisation.

Presenting design is becoming a lost art. In the age of Figma, internal product teams, and fast-track training, designers must learn how to become effective communicators of their work. Especially with senior leaders outside of their product team.

By learning how to present work to stakeholders in high-stakes scenarios, they'll be able to...

Engage people with a story
Speak with confidence
Explain their rationale
Influence stakeholders
Facilitate constructive critique

Format

In-person or remote. In-person works better for developing personal confidence.

Length

In-person: one whole day

Remote: one day, split into two half-days

Size

Up to twenty participants

Ready to book?

Contact ben@bensauer.net or book a time to discuss.

"Ben has the rare ability to both captivate and educate an audience, leaving them happier and smarter in the process."

—Andy Budd, Curator of Leading Design and UX London

"Within days of attending this workshop, new and enhanced skills for presenting design work have been put into practice to great effect."

—Chris How, Head of Experience Design, Clearleft

"This helped me to rethink the way I deliver design presentations: it was filled with tips to ensure that you keep your audience engaged!"

—Sophie, UX Designer

"Before this workshop I knew that being a good storyteller might be a good way to frame my work, but I didn’t know how. It’s made explaining design work 1000% times easier."

—Mustafa, UX Designer

Enjoyed by teams at...

On the day

Designers will learn about three topics critical to presenting with confidence.

1. Structuring a Story

Designers today will often ‘just open Figma and talk’ when asked to present. This part of the workshop will teach them how to prepare a story that makes their design easy to understand.

Pre-preparation: what should you do before preparing a high-stakes presentation
Outlining: how to create a well-structured story about a design
Writing: fast, reliable methods and rules to write better talks
Slide design: how to design for listening, attention and memorability

2. Preparing and Rehearsing

Designers must learn to find their own speaking style to become the best version of themselves. In this section they’ll learn how to prepare and rehearse a presentation, while getting feedback from themselves and others on presenting with confidence and clarity.

Preparation: rehearsing, getting feedback, and setting up the room for success
Speaking: how to find your own confident style of presenting

3. Discussion and Critique

When seeking feedback or alignment, the game is often lost before anyone joins the meeting. Designers will learn how to facilitate constructive critique, use a framework for responding to questions, and practise the methods with some role-play.

Facilitation: creating a space for inclusive, constructive feedback
The discussion: the 6D framework for dealing with stakeholder feedback

Designers will come away from the day equipped to present in high-stakes situations, and methods they can apply to any presentation or discussion, high-stakes or not.