When preparing a talk, ask yourself if your audience wants to solve a problem or capitalize on an opportunity. Maybe they want to do both. Whatever the case, they’ll want to calculate the risks.
Solving the wrong problem wastes time and money and leaves the real problem unsolved. And whenever we pursue an opportunity, there are unforeseen dangers.
To be persuasive as a speaker, diagnose the causes and consequences of a business problem and enumerate both the benefits and the risks of action in pursuit of gain. Second-guess everything. Nothing is a slam-dunk.