In our _??Developing Presentation Content_?? blog post, we talked about the importance of creating a set of objectives. In this post, we’ll go into more detail and tell you exactly how you can go about it.
The first thing you’ll need to remember is to be specific. Your objectives have to be achievable and quantifiable, which means no generalisations. For example, the objective _??I want my presentation to be memorable_?? is too general. If you fell over on the way up to the stage, I’m sure everyone would remember your presentation! Try being more specific, for example _?_ _??I want my audience to understand and retain the information I deliver to them, whilst seeing me as professional and inspirational_??.
As far as your actual objectives themselves, the best way to create them is to ask yourself logical questions about your presentation. The answers to these questions will form the basis for your objectives. There is no limit to the questions which you can ask yourself, but a sample list might look like this:
- Why am I making this presentation?
- What is it that I am trying to achieve?
- Why has my audience come here?
- What is my audience expecting of me?
- What do I want my audience to know?
- What do I want my audience to think?
Once you have your list of questions, make a list of answers, and your objectives will follow. For example:
Q: Why am I making this presentation?
A: To raise awareness of the growing problem of childhood obesity
Objective: To have my audience leave the room with a clear understanding of the childhood obesity problem, and enact my suggested preventative measures in their own lives
The more questions you ask yourself, the more objectives you’ll have, and the more objectives you have, the better you’ll understand how to make the most of the time you have with your audience.
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