Presentation Skills – It’s all about your Goal…

The pressure is on.  Steve has been asked to deliver a presentation in a few weeks.  He’s been given the title but that’s about it.  He spends the next week drinking lots of pinot grigio whilst designing a presentation around the title he’s been given.  It looks ok, a few slides, a bit of serious stuff and a couple of gags thrown in for good measure.  After two practice runs, he’s good to go.

Sadly, for Steve, his presentation didn’t grab his audience’s attention.  They drifted off, unsure as to the point of it all.  Steve had made a common presentation faux pas – he’d forgotten about the goal.

Steve, just like many other presenters that I meet, are so concerned with the title, the content and the slides that they forget about the holy grail of presentations…the goal and objectives.  What do you want your audience to think, to do, to feel by the end of your presentation?  What’s the point of it?

If you don’t know the point, then it’s pretty much a dead cert that your audience won’t – and if they don’t then you’ll lose them and sadly, they’ll probably stop listening.

Before designing your next presentation, slam the brakes on, take a step back and ask yourself the following questions

• What’s the ultimate goal or objective of your presentation?
• What tangible changes, results or actions do you want your presentation to inspire?
• If your adoring crowd were to remember one key thing what would you want it to be?

It’s important to refer back to your goal/objectives when designing your presentation.  This will ensure you don’t drift away from the key message you’re trying to get across and will keep it entirely relevant to your audience.

I hope you’ve found this useful. If you want to know more about how we can help you improve your presentation skills, why not get in touch with Mike for a chat on 07825 301660, or click here now for our full contact details.