tips, tricks and templates

for creating your next presentation

POCKETPRESENTATION

PLANNER

2

Pocket Presentation Planner –

tips, tricks and templates for creating your next presentation

© Marc Jadoul, 2018

This content is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial

4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. You are allowed to share –copy, distribute and

transmit– this document for non-commercial purposes, provided that you make clear to

others the license terms and reference the title and the author.

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Contents

About this booklet ........................................................................................................................ 5

What’s your purpose? ................................................................................................................. 7

Who’s your audience? ................................................................................................................. 8

What’s your pitch?...................................................................................................................... 10

Build a message house ............................................................................................................. 11

Ethos, pathos and logos ........................................................................................................... 12

Principles of persuasion ............................................................................................................ 13

Look for metaphors and visualizations ............................................................................... 14

Create your storyboard ............................................................................................................ 15

What’s a good media mix? ...................................................................................................... 16

How many slides will you need? ........................................................................................... 17

Are you prepared for Q&A? ..................................................................................................... 18

Validate your preparation (before you give it) ............................................................... 19

Evaluate your presentation (after you gave it) .............................................................. 21

Additional notes ........................................................................................................................... 22

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About this booklet

Do you know the 3 P’s of a professional public presenter? It’s all about our

pitch, your preparation and your presentation.

mediumaudience

!

message

YOU

your

PITCHyour

PREPARATION

your

PRESENTATION

6

The setting is simple: when you want to deliver specific content to a

specific audience via a specific medium, you will need to connect the corner

points of the triangle in the picture above.

1. First, you will need to define your Pitch. The message(s) you want your

audience to remember. How you will grab their attention and capture

their interest. The story you want to tell them. This is where techniques like power mapping, message house building, and storyboarding will

come in.

2. Take ample time for your Preparation. Choose the most effective

medium (e.g. a PowerPoint show, Prezi, naked speech, video testimonials, …) for getting your story across and adapt your content

to it. This is where your right brain hemisphere comes to the fore. When creativity, design and empathy turn out to be your most valuable

attributes.

3. And finally, the moment will come when you are scheduled to face your

audience and deliver your Presentation. Be prepared. Use all possible means of visual, verbal and non-verbal communication to persuade

your listeners with your value proposition and to call them to action.

This Pocket Presentation Planner is a checklist for business presenters that

summarizes some of the tips and tricks I wrote about on my Business

Storytelling blog (http://B2Bstorytelling.wordpress.com). It gives you

templates for building a message house, mapping your audience,

calculating the number of slides you need, anticipating Q&A, and much

more.

Success with your next presentation!

Marc Jadoul

December 2018

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What’s your purpose?

Each presentation has a specific purpose and some outcome(s) you want to

achieve. You may e.g. be trying to sell a product, convey an idea, or educate people. They will define the content, style, and medium, key messages of

your presentation.

List the 3 main objectives and of your presentation:

1)

2)

3)

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Who’s your audience?

Did you ever wonder why people will come to listen to your presentation?

Describe your audience members and their (possible) reasons for attending your talk. What do you know about their background/knowledge, needs,

and expectations?

In many cases the persons that demand most of your attention or ask many

questions are not the ones that are taking the (business) decisions at the

end of the day.

Draw a power quadrant of your audience to assess the (e.g. technical or financial) authority or expertise of your listeners vs. the effective decision

or execution power they have.

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0

Deciders

Controllers

Influencers

Spectators

Decision power

Au

tho

rit

y/

exp

erti

se

High Low

Expert

Laym

an

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What’s your pitch?

Never forget that value is in the perception of the beholder. Adapt your

pitch to address the “What’s In It For Me” (WIIFM) concern(s) of your

audience. What will you give them in return for listening to you.

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Build a message house

A message house is a great and simple tool for defining and structuring your

messages, synchronizing them with others and making them remembered by your audience. Provide an umbrella statement and identify your core

messages and foundation.

Umbrella statement (vision, mission, value, …)

Core message

Perception

Proposition

Differentiation

Relevance

Core message

Perception

Proposition

Differentiation

Relevance

Core message

Perception

Proposition

Differentiation

Relevance

Foundation (trends, facts & figures, …)

12

Ethos, pathos and logos

Already in the 4th century B.C., the Greek philosopher Aristotle formulated

his theory on the three persuasive appeals: ethos, pathos and logos. Since then, Aristotle’s rhetoric has become one of the foundations of public

speaking and, as such, an equilibrated mix of the 3 ingredients should be

considered a prerequisite for any well told story.

Ethos (ethical appeal, trustworthiness or reputation)

Pathos (emotional or imaginative impact)

Logos (reasoning or argumentation)

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Principles of persuasion

Robert Cialdini defined 6 principles of persuasion (the 7th one, Unity, was

added later). Which one(s) will you use to appeal to your audience?

Reciprocity

Liking

Authority

Social proof

Commitment

Scarcity

Unity

14

Look for metaphors and visualizations

Brainstorm on metaphors for your messages and visual representations

for the facts and figures you want to present:

15

Create your storyboard

Try drawing a storyboard for your presentation:

16

What’s a good media mix?

Which media are most effective for getting your story across? e.g. a

PowerPoint show, Prezi, naked speech, video testimonials, a live

demonstration, etc.

17

How many slides will you need?

Do you want to apply Kawasaki’s 10/20/30 rule?

10 slides / 20 minutes / 30-point font

Or, calculate the number of slides you will need for your presentation:

Speaking slot(in minutes)

Speaking time(in minutes)

Q&A

(3 mins per slide)

≤

Number of slides

≤

(2 mins per slide)

x0.8

÷3

÷2

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Are you prepared for Q&A?

List some possible questions from the audience:

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Validate your preparation (before you give it)

Does your presentation address the 7 C’s?

Compelling

Credible

Concrete

Clear

Consistent

Customized

Conversational

Are your addressing your audience effectively?

Attention

Interest

Desire

Evidence

Action

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Are you closing effectively?

Memorable (what is your take-away?)

Action (is there a concrete call for action/follow-on?)

Summarize (did you wrap up the content?)

Does your presentation pass the elevator test?

Can you “sell” your message in 30 seconds?

Can you summarize it on the back of a napkin or business card?

Can you deliver your story in half of the available time slot?

Can it be understood by your mother in law?

There are seven cardinal sins that every presenter should try to avoid. Did you violate any of these?

Too long

Too much detail

No story

No call to action

Unclear message

Boring slides

Wrong pitch

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Evaluate your presentation (after you gave it)

Did your audience…

Lost attention?

Left the room?

Provided non-verbal feedback during your presentation?

Asked questions during your presentation?

Requested a copy of the slides?

Approached you after the presentation?

Possible areas for improving the 3P’s:

Your pitch:

Your preparation:

Your presentation:

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Additional notes

Write below whatever else comes to your mind…

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More tips, tricks and best practices on

http://B2Bstorytelling.wordpress.com

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Marc Jadoul is marketing director at Nokia,

spare-time communications consultant, and a passionate

B2B storyteller.

Over the past decades, Marc has given hundreds

of business presentations to tech sector executives

worldwide. Author/co-author of nearly 200 papers,

magazine articles and conference talks, and a frequent

speaker and panelist at ICT industry events, he has earned

‘best presentation’ awards

at different occasions.

Marc lives in Belgium and speaks Dutch, English

and French.