What are the most effective ways to organize your notes for a presentation?

As a keynote speaker and author of LinkedIn Learning courses, I use mindmaps to structure a coherent narrative. Here is why: - Visual Organization: Helps in laying out ideas clearly. - Logical Structuring: Aids in crafting a logical narrative. - Consistency: Ensures a consistent message throughout. - Rehearsal Tool: Assists in practicing the speech. - Engagement: Fosters audience engagement. - Idea Generation: Spurs creativity and enriches the presentation. These points highlight how mindmaps are instrumental in both organizing content logically and aiding in rehearsal, ensuring a compelling and well-delivered presentation. I often create an infographic based on the mindmap and had it out to the audience.

The first question I think about when preparing for presentations of any kind from 1:1s to conference keynotes is first decide what do I want to achieve. What outcome do I want from this presentation, what do I want the audience to take away. Then I design the content to achieve that outcome. It helps build trust and credibility to bring data to the topic and use storytelling to make your presentation compelling.

For presentation I prefer to make notes/slides that will actually help me speak well. Usually I keep these four things in mind while making any presentation: - 1. Visual presentation with crisp talk is best to create a long lasting impact 2. Less is more ‘I usually pay attention to choice of words and structure the content well'. 3. Prefer to format it in an engaging way while highlighting key words. 4.Time it well- Act as per circumstances and accordingly make some change;if needed

There are various structures you can use to present. A couple of my go-to's are these outlines/templates: - Goal (What's the audience's goal?) - Problem (Problem keeping them from reaching goal) - Truth (Something insightful that challenges their way of thinking about solving problem or why they are going about it ineffectively) - Change (What is the "new way" to approach it, e.g. your solution). Another is answering 3 simple questions: 1. Where are we? (Current situation) 2. How did we get here? (Disect the problem, pain points) 3. What do we need to do? (Your vision for the path forward)

As a presentation coach, I always encourage presenters and speakers to use a Message Map. While similar to a mind map, a Message Map is a visual tool that helps you keep your message clear, compelling, and concise. The key differentiator in a Message Map is that it focuses your key message on what's in it for your audience, the why instead of the what. And it holds you to three positive points, or reasons to believe that message, because three is a magic number for the human brain.

To structure and refine ideas, I use the outline feature on my mobile app to capture them on go and revise them multiple times before drop more contents into each section

Identifying a toolkit of formats that works best for you is very important. One size does not fit all and as you develop ways that work best for you, it's important that you identify a few formats so that you can pivot if circumstances require. For example, if you prefer slides yet for some reason, there is a technical glitch and your slides aren't showing/an embedded software isn't activating, it's important that to have other ways to organize yourself so that you can still present information in an engaging way, rather than be flustered and potentially distract from the importance of your work/message.

I would use slides with few words (at time meaningful visual/picture is enough); I use Notes section in power point to list key talking points

The key is to remember that the presentation is for your audience hence selection of format depends on what they would : - 1) Like to know, see, experience & feel. 2) Understand easily and enjoy the learning. 3) Remember after the presentation, and 4) Apply the learning. Keeping this in mind you can make presentations effective, memorable and liked every time. Once you are clear on that then select from the various options such as : - Index Cards - Easy to handle, portable. Slides - Effective for guiding both the presenter and the audience. Handouts - Provides the audience with a physical takeaway, as a reference after the presentation. These are good to start with, for specifics please feel free to contact. Thank you!

The format of a presentation may vary on the goal. Think about what are you trying to achieve with the presentation. Is it a brainstorming session and you need to present the problem in front of your audience and open the forum for discussion? Is it a training session, where you might need to demonstrate a software solution, or engage in a hands on activity for faster learning? Or perhaps, a classroom type session for communicating a new process put in place that you want your audience to understand and follow.

I generally use a slide with visual or words to represent key points to take away. They act as my prompt or reminder to what I want to deliver at the point as part of an overall story. I also believe in prepare-prepare-prepare as a way to sharpen the delivery

A high-impact way to think about this is soundbites. In a world where it can sometimes be difficult to read the room – especially when the room is an auditorium – one aid you can always use is people’s inclination to use their phones to take photos of content that resonates. Consequently, if you can structure your presentation meaningfully around these soundbites and then design your presentation to highlight them, you not only get instant audience feedback to help you know that you’re on the right track each and every time you see a phone pop up above the sea of heads, but you also make to easy and engaging for people to share your content well beyond the auditorium across their social channels, both during and even after the event.

Even if presenters have a monitor in front of the stage that duplicates the main screen, speaker notes can still be valuable for several reasons: Cues: Include cues about slide transitions or emphatic points. Key Points: Data or statistics, or key details that should be covered. Engagement: The presenter can engage with the audience more rather than read thru the monitor. Detailing: In-depth info can be very useful for answering questions or providing additional context. Confidence: Having notes can reduce the stress of public speaking. In summary, notes do not substitute the monitor but help the presenter deliver a polished and engaging presentation by offering guidance, reducing the risk of missing important information.

This is actually one of the most useful points because writing a script and reading off from it never gives a good presentation experience since it makes the presenter stiff and robotic. Having keywords and cues to help you remember about the point that you would like to make ensure no important topic is missed out and allows the presentation to flow more naturally.

Though nothing quite compares to the classic pen and paper, I firmly believe that the effectiveness of a person often depends on the tools they use. Personally, I'm a big fan of Microsoft OneNote. It's like a warm-up act for using MS PowerPoint. OneNote's versatility helps me lay out my ideas in an organized way before I create the final, polished presentation in PowerPoint. It's like a bridge that connects my initial thoughts with the engaging presentation I aim to deliver.

I agree that the effectiveness of the presentation is practice practice, practice! And you should do it in front of a mirror which also highlight your non verbal communication and tone

After brainstorming I then tend to put away the document and spend some time just thinking and mulling over the topics. The best way for me to do this is to keep my body busy in a way that leaves my brain idle and available to think (a bike ride, a long walk, a road trip, anything like this). This processing stage is key because I tend to be drafting an order of things and uncovering things, I might have left out previously. Finally, I sit with the original notes and my newly formed thoughts and type up a final, organized view of what I want to cover off.

When I’m beginning to prepare for a presentation, I write out my talk track in narrative form. It helps me articulate my thoughts and makes me feel less nervous knowing I have a fail-safe if I totally freeze. Then, as I practice and get more comfortable with the material, I gradually delete more and more of the narrative until I’m left with just a few keywords. This helps me hit my most important points while still keeping a natural delivery.

For an important presentation, I would practice it in front of someone who knows nothing about my work. I used to make a mistake of running through it with persons who understand my field of work. The feedback will be valuable when it tells you where the gaps are in the content (i.e., making unnecessary assumption, unclear narrative flow, use of acronyms, etc.).

Review and revise? Not needed anymore. You still need to review and revise, but it's the output that the AI generates for you from your notes. You can challenge the AI to see if there are any shortcomings in your thought process instead of painfully trying to figure it out yourself. What you will be reviewing is the output that you will be using from those notes, not the notes themselves. The review is important because AI can hallucinate details, and that keeps you sharp. It's an amazing thing to move from reviewing your notes to reviewing the summary you are about to publish from those notes.

To keep it simple, I often go by these magic numbers in planning for my presentation: (1). The rule of three: I use this rule throughout, to condense my presentation within a planned timeframe (e.g., break down a big theme into three subtopics; three key takeaways as a summary, etc). (2). The rule of 18 minutes: When possible, plan the talk within the 18-min duration (i.e., TED-Talk's length). A long presentation often would lose the audience.

I believe "Simplicity brings Clarity that leads to Mastery." Here is how - Use Bullet Points and Lists Keywords and short Phrases Abbreviations and Symbols Color-Code as applicable Visual aids to Emphasize Prioritize your Information Share only Necessary details yes Keep It Short and Simple Share One Point Per Line / Slide / example Question format to Provoke thought Use a consistent Font type and size Test for Clarity - simplify, simplify, simplify : ) Please remember that your audience will appreciate a clear, organized, and concise presentation that allows them to focus on your message and engage effectively. I hope it helps you, Thank you for reading! Please like if you liked : )

Depending on your audience and setting: 1. If using slides, keep it simple. One key point / slide. 2. Watch and listen for questions. Pause to answer them before going on. Be willing to give illustrations to help explain. 3. If speaking without notes or slides… make it interactive if possible. If not, “less is more."

Use storytelling to convey your speaking points. Contextualize data points to bring the backstory out. The story behind the data will help the listener or viewer to both understand and pass it on to others. But most of all: be authentic, enjoy the talk, and look at people while you’re speaking.

It's crucial to read the audience and be prepared to navigate between slides fluidly, as there's no need to rigidly stick to a pre-determined sequence; it's akin to interactive books that guide you down different paths based on your choices, ensuring the presentation caters to the audience's specific needs and engagement.

I've always found a little bit of revision very useful but excessive prep and scripting makes me sound wooden. I prefer to leave myself room to improvise on all but the most important points. This way, you can adapt your flow and style to match the audience's reactions and maybe even stop to take questions midway.

What I have learned is that presentations can be broadly divided into two categories: one-presentation reports and living presentations. The former remains static, ideal for conveying consistent, unchanging information, while the latter is dynamic, adapting to each audience's unique needs. Living presentations, like a sales pitch or a dynamic classroom lecture, are excellent examples of how content and delivery can be tailored to create a more personalized and engaging experience, ensuring that the message resonates with the audience's specific interests and concerns.

I always think hard before the presentation and build in a relevant story - something that happened with me or someone that I know. The more authentic, the better - and then I relate it to what I'm going to speak. Factor in some impromptu humour. Engage the audience, even if just by a simple show of hands.

Use the slides themselves! Each bullet should be a prompt that enables you to tell the audience what you want to tell them. If you know your subject, this approach will replace any need for “memorizing” notes - the deck will become your notes.

Elmore Leonard was quoted saying, " If it sounds like writing, I re-write it". This rule of thumb applies to presentations too. A presentation is only effective if it addresses the problem statement, process and solution. A lot of people get lost in their own "my presentation looks amazing" syndrome. It isn't about the presentation, it is about the communication.

Here are tips that I use before speaking 1. Have a core message or theme to anchor you - what is the one word that you can anchor to as you develop your material? 2. I like to share a personal story that connects to the core theme of my presentation, and I will often lead with my story. 3. Have a couple proof points - key facts or supporting data points - that you can share spangling as needed.

What I find helpful when crafting a presentation is researching thoroughly the audience demographics and expectations. Tayloring proactively my content in a form that will resonate with my audience will be a stepping stone toward engagement. It can be in the choice of words, in the type of images, the depth of data or or narrative style: know what your audience need and is comfortable with !