{"id":460,"date":"2022-06-06T09:00:45","date_gmt":"2022-06-06T09:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cube-ld.co.uk\/blog\/?p=460"},"modified":"2022-05-06T11:33:54","modified_gmt":"2022-05-06T11:33:54","slug":"preparing-perfect-presentations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cube-ld.co.uk\/blog\/preparing-perfect-presentations\/","title":{"rendered":"Preparing Perfect Presentations"},"content":{"rendered":"

You\u2019ve been asked to do a presentation, so striking while the iron\u2019s hot, you settle down with your laptop, or a notebook and pen and get to work. But before you launch into creating content or designing attractive slides \u2013 stop.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s no denying that for many business professionals, being able to deliver a great presentation is seen as a key skill. Nearly 70 per cent of people surveyed by <\/span>a Prezi and Harris Poll<\/span><\/a> agreed that presentations are critical to success at work. But while the focus of presenters is often on the nuts and bolts of the presentation \u2013 the content, the delivery, even the setting \u2013 creating a presentation that truly delivers is not as easy as it appears at first sight.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

No matter how confident you are about your subject matter, how much of an expert you are on what you\u2019ve been asked to present, or how impressive a PowerPoint or Keynote whizz you might be, starting to create your presentation before you\u2019ve prepared thoroughly can not only be a waste of time \u2013 it can seriously hamper its effectiveness. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It might sound counter-intuitive \u2013 but the best step forward can actually be a backward one. Before you commit any of your thoughts to the screen \u2013 or the paper \u2013 pause and rewind. Being <\/span>strategic and tactical<\/span><\/a> in your thinking is something we always advocate; employing <\/span>reflective questioning<\/span><\/a> before you commit further to your presentation is absolutely worth the time and effort. Finding the answers to the following three questions will be critical to the ultimate success of your presentation.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

1 – What is my objective? <\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Before you go any further, consider the aim of your presentation. Is a presentation actually even appropriate to the situation? Is it going to be the best format to deliver what is required, or would you achieve your objective more effectively via another medium, such as a report?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2 – Who is my audience?<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Having established that a presentation is indeed the best choice to communicate your message, take yourself immediately out of the equation. The audience \u2013 not the presenter \u2013 is absolutely <\/span>the heart of any presentation<\/span><\/a> and should be at the forefront when it comes to planning. What is the audience\u2019s current level of knowledge? What do they need from the presentation? Are they detail fiends, for example, or do they just want the bottom line? Maybe you\u2019ll be presenting to people in both of these camps.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Try to find out as much as you can about your audience\u2019s expectations beforehand; once you\u2019ve worked out what they want and need, your presentation will be easier to create and eventually to pitch. Audiences are ultimately selfish \u2013 they\u2019ll only listen if they feel there\u2019s going to be something in it for them. You need to cater to their needs and appeal to their interests if you\u2019re going to engage them with your presentation.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Imagine that everyone has an internal radio station \u2013 let\u2019s call it WIIFM – What\u2019s In It For Me? We only want to hear what chimes with our internal radio. Really good presentations tune into their audience\u2019s internal radio stations.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Once you\u2019ve answered those two questions, you can progress to the final one.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

3 \u2013 What\u2019s the content?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With the preparations complete, now finally it\u2019s time to consider what you\u2019re actually going to put into the presentation itself. What do you need to cover – and what can you safely leave out?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Next time, we\u2019ll move on to structuring of the presentation itself, the decisions you have to take to create engagement, and hints and tips to get your presentation doing what you need it to do.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cube Learning and Development<\/span><\/a> delivers bespoke, personal coaching programmes to help you with effective communication and presentation. For a no-obligation chat about this and our other training, call Chris Burton on 07879 602002.\u202f\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You\u2019ve been asked to do a presentation, so striking while the iron\u2019s hot, you settle down with your laptop, or a notebook and pen and get to work. But before you launch into creating content or designing attractive slides \u2013 stop.\u00a0\u00a0 There\u2019s no denying that for many business professionals, being able to deliver a great presentation is seen as a key skill. Nearly 70 per cent of people surveyed by a Prezi and Harris Poll agreed that presentations are critical to success at work. But while the focus of presenters [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":461,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53,7],"tags":[82,83,81,80,87,84,85,79,72,78,86],"class_list":["post-460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-productivity","category-training-workshops","tag-audience","tag-content","tag-creativity","tag-critical-to-success","tag-effort","tag-facts","tag-factual-content","tag-key-skills","tag-objectives","tag-presentation","tag-time"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cube-ld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cube-ld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cube-ld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cube-ld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cube-ld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=460"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cube-ld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":462,"href":"https:\/\/cube-ld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460\/revisions\/462"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cube-ld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cube-ld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cube-ld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cube-ld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}