How can you pace your consulting presentation to cover all key points?

Knowing about your audience and their expectations is a prerequisite to a successful presentation. Whether it's a technical audience or not, it always helps to use the first 60 to 90 seconds in the opening to set the presentation outline, objectives and tell them what they can learn out of it. And once the key messages have been delivered, towards the end quickly remind them what they heard and that will cement your key takeaways in the mind of your audience.

I believe we should: - Assess our audience and understand their expectations; - Try to keep the Q/A until the end; Questions during the presentation will make us lose track of time; - Start with executive summary; - Present the topics by order of importance to the majority of the audience; - Rehearse the presentation with timing – Make sure we’re within the allocated time and that we have extra time for Q/A; - Be concise, and avoid going into details. - We might prepare slides with more details either to share in case the audience asked or to show while answering questions at the end. - Anticipate possible questions and prepare possible answers;

One of the many things I learned from the consultation world is : -Never hit the target without knowing your customer. -It's very important to gather enough information to focus on the valuables of the other party. -This always works in terms of the customer expectations and shows the key insights of your consultation. -You also can show the summary of contents you will be showing to them at first slide of your presentation and rest will be done by customer choices of interests.

Structure is certainly necessary, but not just any structure. Most important is storytelling, which is way humans are evolved to communicate. This helps your audience follow your logic. The standard framework is SCQA: What is the Situation, something we can all agree on? What is the Complication - meaning what is the problem with the situation? Given the complication, what is the key Question we are trying to answer? And finally, what is our Answer? The Answer should be structured as a pyramid, and can take several forms: (1) Deduction-based (logic) answer to the question, (2) Induction-based conclusion (supported by evidence), (3) Hypotheses we want to test or analysis we need to conduct in order to answer the question.

The presentation is the tool you have to communicate a message but also to trigger an emotional reaction to that message which will bring a resolution. So think of what you want to convey in each slide and what do you want the audience to think or do at the end. It has to be a short, unclutered and very visual sequence of messages that leads to that conclusion; so ensure that there is a clear flow, one slide needs to build anticipation for the next; remember that you're telling the story of your message and any good story keeps the audience attention until the end.

Always remember that this is a presentation and not a document walkthrough - your voiceover of the highlights in the presentation itself are as important, if not more so.

What I like to do is to define what is core (essential), think on the profile of participants, define questions for discussion (beginning, middle and end). According to profile design the story focused on what may be of their concern.

You have to build in time for the audience to ask questions as well as time for your responses to those questions. It is better to finish earlier than planned, than to time out of the allocated session before finishing your presentation.

It is always important to practice beforehand by going through the full presentation at least 2-3 times. Present to a test audience (like a colleague) if you can, but even presenting to an empty room helps. What sounds good on paper or in your head often sounds very different once you say it out loud. Paradoxically, being well-rehearsed makes it easier to diverge from the presentation in case of questions or comments.

It is always good to do a dry-run to evaluate if your planned timing worked. Sometimes you may practice with friends or family members. Keep it simple.

A good way for not suffering is to have your tablet or mobile opened. Many times I ran workshops with my tablet and all worked well, energy, internet and group activities, but be sure to login i.g. with PC and tablet.

A common mistake is too many slides and the attempt to include everything STAR approach can help edit S - situation or why are you presenting T - task or what do you need to get across A - action, practice what you want to say and time it, leaving time for interaction or questions R - results, are you aiming for understanding or approval or is the presentation just for information. If it needs to sink in tell them, state why then time for questions then recap what you’ve told them

One of the key strengths of a good consultant is to be able to think on the feet. Use the data points received during the presentation, identify stakeholders who have raised concerns and pair your solution/argument by incorporating both sides. Call out clearly anything that you don’t advise - so you are seen as being decisive.

One important aspect of delivering powerful presentations, including pacing them, is audience awareness. It is important to be aware of every person in the room - are they engaged? Do they agree with what is being said? Spend more time on a topic/ slide when you notice lack of buy in and less where everyone seems to agree. Awareness also helps in jumping across slides to answer any concerns which are handled by later slides. You can then save time by skimming or skipping through those slide. The idea is to have a structured presentation but deliver it dynamically depending on the reaction of the audience.

Whilst you know the topic, the content, your intended flow and likely the outcome you want from the presentation - the audience knows none of the above. You must take people on the journey with you and build the momentum as you go. All too often presenters jump straight into meat of the sandwich without having buttered the bread.

A simple feature that I started using recently after 6+ of Consulting is "Notes" at the bottom of the slide deck. If this space and feature is used appropriately, we can note down the key words and areas we wish to cover on that particular slide and ensure that we do not divulge into other not-so-relevant details to stay impactful, swift, and time-bound. I often use notes to also mention the number of minutes I want to spend on that slide. That allows me to be focused. Even when we display the deck on another screen, 'Notes' feature appear in bigger font on the laptop screen and allows me to read those at the time of presentation, if required.

Lots of valid points here. My own view on the topic has changed over time. Earlier in my career, I would focus a lot on timing the presentation, rehearsing to fit it in the allocated slots. NOW, I have shifted to the following rules: 1. Determine who the most important members in the audience are and what they are seeking - message for them should come through if squeezed for time. 2. Focus on the salient 2-3 points per slide that you want audiences to take away; they can read the rest in leisure. 3. Realize that you don't have to get through everything you wrote up - instead focus on getting the engagement from audience, hearing them, parking things for more detailed discussion and wrapping up on unfinished slides with overall message.

In my view, its important to be in control of your audience and your delivery. If it appears for example, that you are running ou of time, you can engage your audience and request their co-operation and understanding to allow you emphasise only the critical elements in your presentation, with a promise to take questions at the end, if anyone has any areas of interest that may not have been covered. In my experience, if they trust you and beleive in your competence, there is usually NOT an issue here.

Pacing your consulting presentation is an art. Much like a symphony conductor, control the rhythm to keep your audience engaged. As Steve Jobs said, "Simple can be harder than complex." Keep it succinct yet impactful. Break content into digestible chunks, pausing to emphasize key points. Balance visuals and insights – a picture paints a thousand words. Just as Hemingway's minimalism captivates, use fewer words to convey more meaning. Remember, your pace shapes perception.