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ID 121Toolkit: PRESA Technique Dorothy Payton, Instructor 01.06

The P.R.E.S.A. Technique

How to make your point clearly and effectively. How to help someone else make their point.

This is an acronym (letters used as an abbreviation) that describes five steps to express ideas in a way that helps the listener follow your thinking and understand what to do about what they have heard. P. Point (or Purpose)

State the main idea first in the fewest possible words (try for less than 12). Be sure the idea connects to the conversation topic. Provide a segue or bridge to introduce your point.

R. Reason (or Rationale)

Give at least one reason to support the idea. To keep it brief offer no more than three reasons at this time.

E. Example(s)

This does not stand for EXPLANATION! Give at least one example to support the idea. To keep it brief offer no more than three examples at this time.

S. Summary (or Sound Bite) Say your point in a slightly different way. Briefly restate reasons and examples. A. Action (or Affirmation of Benefits) Ask for what you want: support, agreement, help, their opinion etc. Clearly state what you want the listener to do. Use this technique to communicate your ideas clearly and quickly. Use this formula to develop both simple and complex ideas for speaking or writing. Use it repeatedly to communicate a series of ideas with a general summary at the end. Use this technique to develop questions for the speaker. For example, P: What is your main point? Which is the most important point at this time? R: What are your reasons for this conclusion? How did you come to this idea? E: What are some examples of this? Where can I find out more? S: Let me check my understanding what you are saying. A: What is the next step? What do you want me to do…?