Preparing for a Presentation Begins Earlier Than You Think

In popular forums like the Q&A site Quora one question that appears regularly is How do you prepare for a presentation?

Quite what they are looking for I am not always certain, but when people write that they need help preparing for a presentation coming up in a day or two I realize that many people are leaving the preparation until it is too late. But while it might be late for this time it's probably a good idea to start sooner the next time you need to create a presentation.

Assuming that you do have enough time, how exactly can you prepare more effectively for a presentation if you have the basic speaking skills mastered already? There are two key areas where many people could usefully apply more effort -- and they need to start earlier to be most effective.

Consider the influencing context. One very common mistake is to focus simply on making slides and practicing what to say, without considering the context of the presentation. The classic Hollywood-style business presentation is always something that comes as a surprise to the audience but miraculously convinces everyone the moment they see it. Reality is very different and to influence people the presentation is just a small part of the process. What works better is to talk to stakeholders about your ideas in advance of the presentation. This prepares people to accept your ideas -- people usually don't like an idea the first time they see it -- and it also lets you test your content. Talk to others about the ideas you plan to put in the presentation and you will soon identify weaknesses, mistakes and flaws. With the benefit of this information you can refine your presentation to make it more effective. After the presentation you also need to followup with stakeholders to make sure that they understood your message and to address any doubts that they might still have.

Focusing on the message. But to do this you need to have a clearly defined message and this is the other part of the preparation that people often skip over. Most people spend too much of their preparation time creating a slide deck, looking for images or even -- very unwisely -- tacky animations. They should instead be dedicating more time to deciding what the overall message is and the points to be covered. In an ideal world you should be able to create, learn and deliver a spoken version of your presentation that contains this information. Later you can illustrate it with slides, which should support rather than replace the talk. This approach makes the presentation stronger because it clarifies the key ideas. It is also very useful for helping to remember what to say and helps when you get lost.
While speaking and presenting are essential tools for influencing other people the presentation alone is not enough to convince people. To be an effective speaker you need to be a good speaker, but at the same time you need to have a well-filled influencing toolbox.


Lectures, Workshops, Coaching and Writing

 For lectures, workshops, one-to-one coaching and writing about speaking, presenting and influencing skills you can contact Andrew Hennigan on 0046 730 894 475 or 0033 6 79 61 42 81 or through email at speaker@andrewhennigan.com.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dear Best Regards: How to Start and End Your Emails

Image
Last year I wrote that to make your email more effective you should put meaningful content into the subject line, keep your messages short and consider other channels (see Three Timesaving Tips for Email ). I also wrote some guidelines about common culture problems when email crosses borders (see Three Non-Obvious Ways Culture Affects Email ). But there is one other question about international email that comes up regularly in workshops: how should you start and finish? Do I use "Dear", "Hi",or "Hello" to start with? What do I do if I don't know if the person I am writing to is a man or a woman? "What is the difference between "Best regards  and "Warm regards"? This is a question that puzzles many people and a while ago it stressed me, too. But the answers to these questions are perhaps easier than you imagine. DEAR MR/MRS WHATEVER . First of all, at the start of a mail you probably have some sort of salutation. How do you kn
Read more

Reverting to Emails: Confusion and the Indian English Language

Image
In workshops about global email many people focus on their issues communicating with colleagues in India. Partly this is related to some deeper cultural differences that lead to misunderstandings. But many problems are also caused by the different ways in which Indian people use English. There are some "English" words that you will probably only hear in India, like " stepney ", their word for a spare wheel. A hundred years ago this term was coined in the UK and was exported to India where it survived. Back home only a few antique vehicle enthusiasts have any idea what it means. There are also many English expressions that are peculiar to India, like "What is your good name?". But in both cases an English speaker from elsewhere would just see an unfamiliar expression and either ask what it means or google it. Most problems are caused by another kind of difference: where a standard US or UK English word is used but with a different meaning. Recently s
Read more

TED’s Magical Red Carpet

Image
Watch any TED(x) video or, better still, attend a live event, and you will probably notice that speakers stand in the middle of a circular red carpet. This choice is not just a question of aesthetics. That red carpet actually plays a key role in the success of the TED format. Having the speaker stand in the middle of a red carpet has several important consequences, leading the speaker to follow best practices that they might not be aware of. No script or notes . Since there is no table, lectern or other furniture within reach, the speaker cannot easily read from a script. This forces them to deliver their talk from memory, which is much more compelling because few people can read from a script and make it sound natural. And no matter how good you are at reading, the audience can see that your eyes are scanning the text and this breaks the magical connection with their minds. Encouraging people to speak from memory pushes them to make a much better talk than they might ot
Read more