How do you plan and structure your presentation for clarity and impact?

As a leader of a diverse team, my presentation approach varies significantly depending on the audience. Internally, when presenting a new product to my team, the purpose is collaborative refinement. Here, I seek critical feedback, encouraging my team to scrutinize and suggest improvements. This approach fosters a constructive atmosphere. In contrast, when addressing the public, my aim shifts towards building trust and initiating dialogue. The objective is not just to inform but to connect, ensuring the audience feels a part of the product's journey. This external presentation is less about seeking feedback and more about demonstrating reliability, innovation, and the value we bring to our customers.

As a leader of a diverse team, my presentation approach varies significantly depending on the audience. Internally, when presenting a new product to my team, the purpose is collaborative refinement. Here, I seek critical feedback, encouraging my team to scrutinize and suggest improvements. This approach fosters a constructive atmosphere. In contrast, when addressing the public, my aim shifts towards building trust and initiating dialogue. The objective is not just to inform but to connect, ensuring the audience feels a part of the product's journey. This external presentation is less about seeking feedback and more about demonstrating reliability, innovation, and the value we bring to our customers.

Often we default to jumping right into a PowerPoint presentation and creating slides. I argue that doing so might be a good idea to storyboard your thoughts, but to instead consider a graphic-heavy presentation that allows you to have a bit of a ‘choose your own adventure’ for the audience. You build a structure for the discussion, and instead use the graphics to discuss your main points on an organic fashion during the presentation.

When you create an outline, you’re laying down a framework of main points. However, this initial outline shouldn’t be the final version. It’s a starting point. Here’s where a strategic time gap becomes crucial. Once you have your initial outline, step away from it for a predetermined period. This gap isn’t procrastination; it’s a deliberate pause in the process. During this time, your subconscious mind continues to work on the ideas in the background. Your brain makes connections, recalls data, and enriches the outline. When you return to your outline after this period, you’re not just revisiting your initial thoughts; you’re approaching them with a refreshed perspective. This break allows for the integration of deeper insights.

Often times you’ll find me dry running my presentations in various different ways. I’ll conceptually run the content by trusted associates for feedback, ask my colleagues for peer reviews, and then I deliver the presentation about 4-6 times out loud in my office after hours. This allows me to see how I naturally want to deliver the content and then I refine it to fit my delivery.

Due to busy schedule, I often practice my own style of presentation practice, which is done by integrating presentation practice into my daily life. I called this method, “practicing without practicing”. This approach involves continuous engagement with material, utilizing conversational practice, and seeking “informal” feedback. Instead of scheduled, uninterrupted hours, i prefer preparation occurs in short, frequent bursts - during commutes, meals, or brief work breaks. Discussing presentation topics with friends and colleagues, give you the feel how the presentation would be accepted by other people. This method ensures better retention, understanding, and adaptability, making presentations more effective and engaging.

Due to busy schedule, I often practice my own style of presentation practice, which is done by integrating presentation practice into my daily life. I called this method, “practicing without practicing”. This approach involves continuous engagement with material, utilizing conversational practice, and seeking “informal” feedback. Instead of scheduled, uninterrupted hours, i prefer preparation occurs in short, frequent bursts - during commutes, meals, or brief work breaks. Discussing presentation topics with friends and colleagues, give you the feel how the presentation would be accepted by other people. This method ensures better retention, understanding, and adaptability, making presentations more effective and engaging.

In my experience, it’s helpful to have pre-presentation and day-of presentation checklists to make sure the room is fully prepped, visitors feel welcome, bathrooms are cleaned, your clicker has batteries, meals are ordered, nearby associates are notified to keep things low key, and everyone knows their role the day of the presentation.

Know your audience on a personal level. It’s often nice to consider how to personalize the experience and make your guests feel special and welcome. For example, if a key decision maker loves drinking Diet Coke, then make sure it’s stocked in the room. Is there a small gift or token of appreciation that you can offer than makes the presentation more memorable? Within reason, it’s the small touches that really add the ‘icing to the cake’ to your presentation delivery.

Once Steve Jobs said: "People who know what they're talking about don't need PowerPoint." This is especially true in the digital world, where short is sweet. Like a tweet, get right to the point; your smart audience doesn't need extraneous information. Seeing things? A sample is always better than a slide. Writing code? Elon Musk says, "Too much preparation is for rookies." Don't be a robot, but know your stuff. Practice, but don't change who you are; being yourself is more important than being perfect. Be as sure of yourself as a rock star and be trustworthy when you give it your all. Remember that how you make people feel is more important than what you say. If your pitch is too long for an email, it's not ready for the street. KISS!

To plan and structure my presentations for clarity and impact, I use Prezi. Prezi’s canvas allows me to visually map out my presentation, ensuring a clear and cohesive structure. I organize my content around central themes to which I frequently return, reinforcing key messages and maintaining focus. This approach helps the audience follow the narrative and understand the connections between different points. By zooming in and out on specific topics, I can emphasize important details while keeping the overall structure visible, making the presentation more engaging and impactful. This method ensures my presentations are both dynamic and easy to follow.