Is your presentation really necessary?

Is your presentation really necessary?

This may seem a strange question to ask in a blog about perfecting your presentation style, content and delivery but it is the first thing you should think about when you begin to prepare for a presentation. There are two reasons:
1. Every presentation you give should serve a real purpose – even if that is simply to entertain.
2. By only delivering presentations that are meaningful, you will enhance your reputation as a good presenter.

Business presentations can be dull at best and crushingly boring at worst…usually because they serve little or no purpose. The presenter does not connect with the audience because the information in the presentation is of little interest or value to audience members.

One of the most common mistakes people make is to think that presentations are always necessary. Sometimes they are the best way to give information to a group of people, but there are plenty of other options; group e-mails, bulletin boards (virtual and real), conference calls, newsletters (e-mail or hard copy) or even an old-fashioned letter.

You should consider carefully whether any of these would be more appropriate for your message—and for your audience—before you decide to create a presentation. Think about whether:
• Everyone needs to have the information at the same time.
• Your audience needs to be able to ask you questions.
• Members of your audience need to be able to discuss with each other the material in your presentation.

If the answer to these questions is no, or not necessarily, think carefully before you embark on a presentation. It probably isn’t the best approach in the circumstances.

Once you have decided that a presentation is the most appropriate way to communicate with your audience, think about its purpose before you launch into creating slides. Why are you thinking of giving a presentation? What do you want to achieve? What is the point? Ask yourself these three questions:
• Who is the presentation for?
• What do I want the audience to do, know or understand differently as a result?
• What is my audience interested in knowing/hearing?

These three questions are deceptively simple. They are vitally important but so often overlooked, and not just by people who are inexperienced. You would be surprised by the number of very experienced presenters who forget to think about their presentations from their audience’s point of view.

This is the single biggest reason why so many presentations are condemned as boring. They simply don’t provide listeners with what they need or are interested in.

The challenge of presenting is to give your audience what it wants in such a way that people take the action you want to to achieve from your presentation. No mean feat.

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July 3, 2009  Tags: , , , , , , ,   Posted in: General

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