How to Present Like a Pro (Even If You’re Not One), with Simon Raybould
If you’ve ever struggled to communicate your expertise in a way that captivates your audience—whether in presentations, pitches, or even casual conversations—this episode is for you. Simon Raybold, a former scientist turned professional speaker and presentations trainer, shares hard-won insights on how to move from "data dumping" to delivering messages that inspire action. Whether you’re a leader, entrepreneur, or expert, mastering this skill is non-negotiable for building authority and influence.
Three Key Takeaways
- Focus on Outcomes, Not Processes 🎯
- Your audience cares about the result of your work, not the technical details.
- Simon’s analogy: "Excel sorts data—do you care about the algorithm? No. You just want the sorted list."
- Action: Ask yourself, "What’s the one thing I want my audience to do after hearing me?" and reverse-engineer your message from there.
- Storytelling Is an Industrial Process 📖
- Great speakers don’t rely on luck—they collect, refine, and deploy stories strategically.
- Simon’s tip: Treat stories like a library. Tag them by theme (e.g., "customer service," "failure," "breakthrough") so you can pull the right one when needed.
- Action: Start a "story bank" in Notion or a notebook. Capture moments where you thought, "This might be useful later."
- Script Less, Improvise More 🎤
- Writing a word-for-word script often backfires—it sounds robotic and leaves no room for authenticity.
- Instead, use bullet points and rehearse out loud to build "muscle memory" for your key messages.
- Action: Try Simon’s "aged aunt" method: Explain your topic to an imaginary aunt (or a 12-year-old). The parts that hold her attention are your keepers.
About Simon
Simon started life as a research scientist. After over two and a half decades building an international reputation as a world leader in his field, and a stint managing the UK's largest social science research unit he shifted paths to look at how to better EXPLAIN all the great research that was being done.
A best seller (and two non-entities) later, his most recent book is called StoryMaking and it's a forensic examination of how to *use* stories not just tell them.
I should add that Simon's also been a lighting designer for dance companies, a playwright, actor, opera director and a fire eater
https://storymaking.business/
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