How to Write a Great Presentation?
How long is it taking you to write your presentations? Most people take hours or even days to write a 20-minute presentation on a topic in their own field of expertise. Perhaps there’s a better way.
When you start to write a presentation the first item to note is ‘What do I want this audience to do?’. This is called the ‘Call to Action’ and it should be in the Conclusion of your presentation. Be specific when you write it. It might sound like this, “In conclusion, I am asking each one of you to revisit your sales forecasts, increase them and resubmit them to me by the end of the week.”
The second item to write should be the Purpose of the presentation. It should be very similar to the Call to Action. It might sound like this; “The purpose of this presentation is to convince everyone in this room increase their sales projections and submit them to me by the end of the week.”
The next item would be 'Facts & Proof'. What three key points will convince the audience to do as you ask? An example might be; “The three key points I wish to address are 1) Our performance to date, 2) the new lines being released next month that will generate growth opportunities and 3) What’s in it for you, why should you strive for higher goals.”
Once you’ve identified the three key points you then need to flesh them out with supporting facts and proof. Please note: you must have proof and not just facts. This is the biggest difference between interesting and boring presenters. If you offer proof you will allow your audience to ‘buy into’ your key points. Facts are important but restrict them to the major ones only. All additional facts should be in the handout.
Next, you need to write the Summary. Again this is a pitfall for many presenters. The Summary should be a summarized version of the three key points. Simply restating them is too little. Repeating every single point you made is way too much. Use a succinct summary of the facts that supported the Key Points.
It is recommended that you use the words, “In summary…” or similar. This will refocus the audience’s mind and in some cases regain their attention. Think of it this way, if someone walked in on your presentation just as you were saying ‘In summary…’ then they should still get a good idea of the key points.
Finally; you need to write an attention-grabbing opening. These will be the first words out of your mouth. It must ‘grab their attention’ and draw them into the presentation. It might be a question or a shocking statistic. It could be a quote or a story or a newspaper article. It must lead to your purpose smoothly so don’t try to be too dramatic or theatrical. If you want to be very clever then you can finish off the presentation by tying back to the impact opening and make an impact close. But that’s an advanced skill.
So when you next make a presentation you will:
- Grab their attention
- Clearly state the purpose
- Give them facts
- Prove the facts
- Summarize the key points
- Call them to Action
But only you and I will know that this wasn’t the order you wrote it. I hope this helps the next time you need to write a presentation. Follow the formula and I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised… and so will your audience.
Regards,
David Nottage.