6 Steps to Win Your Presentation!

Have you ever needed to develop a presentation?

Maybe some slides? PPT. Prezi. That sorta thing?

Maybe it was the back-of-a-napkin kinda thing, but the argument needed to be made.

Perhaps it needed to be boardroom-worthy?

Any which way, any professional like you needs to know how to put a killer one together.

I’m covering exactly how to do this on Friday as part of my leadership coaching.

Today, I thought I’d offer up the areas I think are really important when developing AND delivering your presentation. I mean, if you wanna crush it that is.

I’ve learned these principles over the course of my 34-year-career as a consultant, business owner, angel investor, and, yes, as you know me, a career coach.

I pitched to board members, financial geeks, my bosses, staff, prospects, clients, and audiences.

I give presentations weekly at a minimum. Maybe you’ve caught my Live Office Hours sessions on Thursdays. (Make sure to SUB here if you don’t want to miss any!) 

When you have that range and variety, you notice what works across the spectrum!

Here are six tried-and-true steps and tactics I take whenever I create a presentation (or talk or paper):

1. Think about them. It’s frightening to me how many people put a presentation together without obsessing (yes, obsessing) over their audience. What the heck? It’s about them! Ask yourself—before you even start—who are they? What's the purpose? What have they been through? Who am I in relation to them?

2. Determine how to engage them. You want your presentation to be fun and engaging for them. There’s that “them” thing again. What would connect them to the topic? Give them a better perspective if they never encountered this before? What questions would elicit the reaction I want them to feel?

3. Draft it in an order that brings it to its best life. There is a sequence to your presentation that will elicit the best results. But, there is a sequence to develop your presentation that will make it the very best it can be. I actually have a 10-step process I use when building talks or presentations: 1) Consider them, 2) Outline your main points, 3) Write out your points, 4) Clarify your message, 5) Incorporate examples, 6) Make it succinct, 7) Evaluate it for motion, 8) Talk it out, 9) Edit it, and 10) Take a last pass. Yes. 10 sweep throughs.

4. Consider the visual aids. What would a presentation be without some visuals? Not all visuals are created equal and not all visuals work best in each situation. Think through whether you want to use just a straight talk, slides, handouts, note cards (be like Coach!), B-Roll, and/or pictures.

5. Sequence the delivery properly. The most effective presentations go a little somethin’ like this…introduction, their problem/aspiration, tap emotion, your position and expertise, the solution, proof it works, the steps to take, benefits, costs, risks, and call to action.

6. Physical aspects. It’s called a presentation for a reason. You’re presenting! That means it’s active. That means stuff like body parts are moving. There’s more to it than that. Which gestures are best? What kind of space are you in? Where are people sitting? How will the sounds travel? Or not?

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If you like this kind of material and want to grow and develop all the skills required to basically crush your career and life, then why not check out my leadership coaching program and also join me Friday?

The short story is I meet monthly with the members to teach my latest strategies, tactics, and tools on building a rewarding career and leading a fulfilled life.

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The easiest way for you to see what’s inside the library, learn the methodology I teach, and the topics I’ve already covered is to grab my FREE, valuable skill-building roadmap and leadership assessment. (See pic below.)

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Tons of bonuses. It’s really killer.

Either way, I hope you enjoyed this digest and I’ll see you soon!

Andy

…put people first, results second.