Ben Sauer

Structure your design presentation for shared understanding

NASA

O'Reilly Media

IKEA

Ustwo Studios

Monzo

Design leader, author, speaker: ex-Babylon Health

Use a strong thematic start that compels people to tune-in.

Get people listening

Structure the narrative to ensure the audience takes it all in.

Hold their attention

Apply a hidden logic to the structure that executives will trust.

Build a strong argument

Go from a designer who presents work to a strategic partner who influences what gets built.

Medium's Top Design Writer. Educator.

Medium

Designlab Learning

ADPList

Substack

National Cancer Institute

Kai Wong

Medium's Top Design Writer. 13 Years Defending Design Where UX Wasn't Valued.

May Cohort

June cohort

Most designers do great work. But when they present it, they say "reduced cognitive load" and executives hear "nice to have." They say "user friction" and leadership hears "fix it later."They leave the room. Nothing changes.This isn't a design problem. It's a translation problem. It's why strong designers get ignored, passed over for promotion, and waiting for buy-in. Or stuck in a job search where the portfolio doesn't land."Selling and advocating for design is 50 to 60% of a designer's job." — Director of UX, Ford"You have to translate usability findings into how it's driving your business KPIs." — Design Leader, MastercardMake the Case gives you the frameworks to translate design decisions into the business outcomes leadership needs. It also comes with AI workflows to help apply them without your evenings disappearing.Built from 13 years presenting design in low-UX-maturity environments, pressure-tested with 30 leaders at Target, Ford, Mastercard, Meta, and Amazon.8 sessions over 4 weeks. 60 minutes each, Mondays and Wednesdays. You'll learn pressure-tested frameworks and how to implement them in the same week.By the end, you'll make the case. And it will land.

Great design Doesn't Speak for Itself. Learn to Speak for It.

Connect your design work to business outcomes

Build the business case for your design work, even without perfect data

Turn research findings into decisions, not just data

Make recommendations leadership can't ignore

Structure arguments that hold up under scrutiny

 Adapt your argument for the room you're actually in

Designers who want to use data to bypass office politics to start having a bigger impact

Designers ready to operate at the strategic level, using evidence to shape what gets built, not just how it looks

Designers in low-UX maturity environments who've outgrown relationship-building as their only tool

Stop over-explaining and start guiding decisions. You'll become the professional who walks into senior rooms and walks out with a yes.

24-Year Banker -> Presentation Expert

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Commerzbank

Royal Bank

Mary Beth Hazeldine

24 years at JPMorgan, PwC, RBS. Now training executives to win decisions.

Cohort 4

Cohort 5

You've done the work. You know the material. You've prepared the slides.And yet the decision stalls.Polite nods. Reasonable questions. Then: "Let's take this offline." "We'll circle back." "Good discussion."Translation: No decision today.If this keeps happening, it's not because you lack expertise or presentation skills. It's because the way you're structuring your message doesn't match how senior people decide.Here's what nobody tells you: executives make their decision in the first few minutes, then spend the rest of the time looking for reasons to trust that instinct—or doubt it. When you lead with context, build to your recommendation, and back it up with extensive data, you're triggering doubt, not confidence.The unspoken question in their mind: "If they need this much explanation, is the recommendation actually solid?"This course gives you a different approach—a system built on how decisions actually happen in senior rooms. You'll learn to structure your message so that "yes" feels like the obvious, low-risk choice.Not through tips you'll forget under pressure. Through a repeatable system that works even when you're tired, rushed, or facing pushback.

Executives decide before your presentation ends. Structure accordingly

Structure presentations that win decisions

Remove the anxiety before you even start

Build credibility without over-explaining

Choose proof that reassures, not proof that defends

Handle pushback without becoming defensive

Use AI tools without sounding generic or losing authority

<code>You present to executives, boards, or steering committees—and need decisions, not "good discussions." Your credibility is on the line.</code>

You pitch to clients and present recommendations for a living. Stalled decisions cost you deals, revenue, and repeat business.

You're in relationship management, business development, or sales—presenting to win deals, budgets, or strategic alignment.

Master a proven system to create clear, persuasive presentations in half the time using AI as your strategic thinking partner.

Ex-JPMorgan VP | Presentation Expert

PwC UK

MaryBeth Hazeldine

Presentation psychology expert with 35 years training Fortune 500 professionals

You know presentations matter. They shape decisions, win clients, and move careers forward. But creating them? That's exhausting.You spend hours wrestling with structure, rewriting messaging that doesn't land. By the time you're done, you're not even confident it will work.AI promises to help, but most people end up with generic outputs and robotic messaging. The tool saves time on the wrong things.Here's what's needed: a strategic approach combining AI efficiency with presentation psychology—the clarity, structure, and persuasion that makes people act.This course teaches exactly that. You'll use AI not as a shortcut, but as a thinking partner. You'll learn frameworks like AVP (Action-Value-Proof) and messaging psychology that transform unclear ideas into compelling narratives.You'll build presentations faster—yes. But more importantly, you'll build them better. Clearer structure. Stronger messaging. More impact.By the end, you'll have a repeatable workflow that cuts creation time in half while dramatically improving quality. No more staring at blank slides. No more second-guessing. Just confident, persuasive presentations—every time.

Master AI-powered presentations that persuade, save time, and win decisions

Structure presentations that are clear, logical, and impossible to ignore

Craft persuasive messaging that resonates and drives action

Build a repeatable AI workflow that saves 10+ hours per week on presentations

Turn data and complex information into stories people actually understand

Professionals who create presentations regularly and want to save hours while delivering clearer, more persuasive, impactful results

Managers, consultants, and client-facing roles who need to influence stakeholders and communicate complex ideas with confidence

Ambitious professionals who want to stand out by mastering communication skills that position them as clear, strategic business leaders

This isn’t a course about leadership theory. You leave with actions you can take the next day.  You'll know yourself and executives better.

I have a creative title, I move business

Sonos

H&R Block

Bruce Mau Design

Andrew Clark

Executive Design Leader, Creative coach & Venture mentor

Be the first. Help shape the course. Founding cohort pricing for Senior creatives and designers.

Founding Cohort

The current stateYou are good at your craft. You have earned your seat. But somewhere between the design review and the executive briefing, your work loses altitude.Senior creatives who work with executives run into the same invisible walls:<ul><li>You present process. They want outcomes.</li><li>You use the language of design. They use the language of investment, risk, and organizational levers.</li><li>You’ve built good work. But you haven’t built a relationship roster, so when a decision gets made, you weren’t in the room where it happened.</li><li>Your identity and your reputation with senior leaders are not the same thing.</li></ul>This isn’t a skills gap. It’s a paradigm gap. Executives think in a different operating system. This course teaches you to speak it fluently.By the end of six sessions, you’ll be able to:<ul><li>Reframe your mental model</li><li>Close the gap between your identity and your reputation</li><li>Build a deliberate relationship roster</li><li>Communicate in their language</li><li>Show up with executive-level presence</li></ul>

Your design is excellent. Your influence on leadership isn't. Yet.

Map your influence network

Translate your work into executive language

Audit your reputation

Build daily habits

Senior contributor moving toward leadershipYou’re skilled and credible on the team, but your work doesn’t get higher traction.

Design Manager building upward influenceYou’re responsible for the work and the team, but you’re always translating up, down and out.

Creative Director operating at the executive edgeYou’re already in the room. The challenge is converting proximity into influence.

Agentic AI

Coding with AI

AI Workflows

Claude Code

OpenClaw

Vibe Coding

AI Evals

AI Transformation

RAG & Search

AI for PMs

AI for Engineers

AI for Designers

AI for Marketers

AI for Founders

Product Sense

Product Discovery

User Research

Prototyping

Growth

Analytics

Tech Foundations

Strategy

Influence

Leadership

Career Growth

Machine Learning

LLM Ops

Context Eng

Security

System Design

Figma

Design Systems

Visual Design

Design Strategy

Automation

Content Marketing

Demand Gen

Go-to-Market

Product Marketing

Positioning

Social Media

Brand

B2B Marketing

SEO & AEO

AI for Leaders

AI Governance

Communication

Management

People Operations

Exec Presence

Storytelling

Goal-setting

Personal Brand

Fundraising

Everyone

Operators

Data Scientists

Business Analysts

User Researchers

Customer Success

Project Managers

HR Professionals

Sales People

Lawyers

Finance

Investors

Real Estate

Educators

Creators

Introduction and Presentation Agenda

The Problem: The 'Real Estate Tour' of Design

What Good Communication Looks Like

Why Structure is the Answer: Aristotle's Elements of Persuasion

How to Work on Structure: Outlining Horizontally

The Meta-Structure: Setting the Scene with 'The Why'

Using an Attention Grabber to Set the Theme

The Power of 'Story Glue'

Example Structures and Key Principles Recap

Future Course Information

Q&A Session

Executives and senior leaders who set strategy, lead teams, and drive organizational outcomes.

Designers who craft user experiences, interfaces, and visual design.

User researchers conducting interviews, usability studies, and customer research to inform product decisions.

Executive communication — presenting to boards, writing memos, running all-hands, and high-stakes messaging.

Developing leadership skills — inspiring teams, building culture, navigating organizational complexity, and driving results through others.

Structure your design presentation for shared understanding

What you'll learn

Why this topic matters

You'll learn from

Ben Sauer