When it comes to creating a great presentation, we’ve learned that the most difficult step is the very first one _?_ figuring out where to begin. It can be tempting to open up PowerPoint straight away and start creating slides, but this approach is like trying to build a house without first laying solid foundations _?_ your presentation is guaranteed to fall flat. Not only that, but your production journey will almost certainly take far longer and be much more stressful than it should be.
The key to great presenting is what happens before you start creating slides. By focussing your effort on everything that happens before the big day, you’ll be _??training hard and fighting easy_?? _?_ the actual delivery will be a cakewalk. You might even enjoy yourself!
‘How To’ Series Part One
Developing Presentation Content
Over the coming week I will be sharing my top tips and advice to help you prepare your presentation content. The four key areas that we will cover are outlined below:
1. Creating objectives
Before you can begin producing slides or content, you need to first understand your purpose for giving the presentation. What is it that you are trying to achieve? Why have you been invited to speak? What is your audience expecting of you? Answering these questions first and foremost is crucial to the rest of your production journey. Having a clear sense of purpose for your presentation will give you the clarity and focus you need to justify your creative directions.
2. Knowing your audience
Many presenters get so caught up thinking about what they are going to say that they forget about the most important person in the room _?_ the audience. No two people can be reached in exactly the same way, and some groups of people respond in completely different ways to others _?_ you wouldn’t give the same speech to a group of teenagers as you would to an audience of retirees. It’s up to you to understand who your audience is and tailor your message to suit. click here to read more…
3. Telling a great story
A good presentation always has a sense of story to it. No matter what the content of your information may be, as the presenter, you’ll need to lead your audience through it from start to finish, and this means you’ll need to create an engaging and logical story structure. Think of this as the high level overview of the direction your message will take from beginning to end, which you’ll then support with your detail.
4. Creating interesting content
Getting people to listen to you is all down to how well you can connect with them. The worst thing you can do is stand up and deliver information without any thought for the people listening to you – it will make your audience feel like you are talking _??at_?? them rather than _??to_?? them. It’s important to understand how to make your audience interested in what you have to say by thinking about what will motivate them to listen.
The ability to create these solid foundations will turn your presentations from boring lectures into engaging, inspiring and memorable events. Don’t forget to be a diligent builder _?_ and remember, at Presentation Studio we’re always here to assist you on your quest to creating great presentations.
Our latest blog will give you some insight on the content marketing approach for presentations.