by Gilda Bonanno LLC
How many
times have you sat through a presentation, only to walk out wondering
"what was the point of that?!" Whether
it was a one-minute presentation or one hour, if the audience doesn't know what
the point was, then the presentation was not successful. Here are some things
you can do to ensure this doesn't happen to you:
Have a
message. What is the one thing
that you want your audience to walk away with from your presentation? That one
thing is your message, also known as your theme, your purpose and your
point. Realistically, that's all the audience can digest and
remember from a presentation, especially considering the sheer amount of data
and information that is thrown at them on a daily basis from all sources.
Describe
your message in one sentence. It could
contain a call to action such as "company x has solid financials, a good
product and a sound business plan, so we should invest in
it." Or it could be informative such as "you can overcome your
fear of public speaking." If you can't say it in one sentence, then you
haven't focused enough yet.
If
something doesn't relate to your message, cut it out. When you
are preparing your presentation, look at every example, detail and
story you'd like to include and be ruthless about cutting out what
doesn't relate to your message. You want to make it easy for your
audience to focus rather than forcing them to sift through all the extra
information to uncover your message. If you have extra details, keep them in
your notes so you can use them if someone asks you a question. You
can also include them in your handouts (like an appendix in a book),
but don't clutter your presentation (or worse, your slides) with them.
Be
explicit about your message. State what your message is in
your introduction to help your audience focus on your message as
you're going through the body of your presentation. And repeat your message in
your conclusion so it's the last thing they hear, which will help them
remember it.
Sometimes
it's not clear to you what your message is. In that case, set aside extra
time to prepare. Look through your material and keep organizing and
reorganizing it until you see one clear theme or message
emerge. You're not ready to deliver your presentation until you have
identified it -if it's not clear to you what the message is, it won't
be clear to your audience.
Having a clear message
will keep you focused and organized as you are preparing and delivering your
presentation. Your
clarity and focus will, in turn, ensure that your audience understands what you
are trying to communicate. No one will walk out of the room after your
presentation asking "what was the point of that?!"