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Prepare for a Presentation

Well Begun Is Half Done

By Ellen Finkelstein www.ellenfinkelstein.com

{Slide 1] I’m Ellen Finkelstein, and welcome to this training video on preparing for a presentation—well begun is half done. With proper and thorough preparation, not only can you ensure a better result, but you’ll save time as well. You might think you’ll save time by skipping some of the advance preparation, but you won’t. We’ll go deep into the steps you need to take to prepare a presentation, everything except slide creation and delivery. Below this video window, you’ll find several downloads. The one I want to emphasize now is the script of this video. It includes everything I’ll be saying, so don’t feel that you have to write down everything now. You can just watch and enjoy. You’ll be able to start using these principles for your next presentation. I think you’ll find that you’ll get better results, spend less time creating your slides, and you’ll even feel less anxious, because you’ll have every step scheduled and planned for.

[Slide 2] Schedule Your Preparation Time

[Slide 3] Have you ever stayed up late the night before a presentation because you didn’t realize how

long the preparation would take?

[Slide 4] Or worse, boxed yourself in so badly that you had to give a presentation without proper

preparation because you didn’t have time to get to it?

[Slide 5] The way to solve this problem is to schedule your preparation time before you do anything else.

You do this with a form, which I call the “Presentation Preparation Planner & Schedule.” You can

download this form below the video window. I’ll show you the form now.

Here’s the form. The form has two values. One, it makes sure you don’t leave out any of the preparation

steps. Two, it schedules time for these steps, so you don’t get caught at the last minute. Let’s go through

the form in detail. You know you should do all these steps, right? But how many of you have actually

made a schedule like this?

I’m going to go through the form from start to finish so you get an overview of the process of preparing

for a presentation. But several of the steps need more elaboration and I’ll come back to them afterward.

Step 1: Complete the Overview Planner Form

[Slide 6] The first step is to complete the Overview Planner form. This form is also available for

download below this video window and I’ll go through it in detail when I finish discussing this form. For

now, you just need to know that the Overview Planner form is a presentation planner. What’s the

difference between the Overview Planner form and the Presentation Preparation Planner & Schedule?

The preparation planner helps you plan the preparation of the presentation, while the Overview Planner

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form plans the presentation itself. The Overview Planner form gives you a place to write out your goal,

short message, key statements, opening, closing, and more. Filling out the Overview Planner form is the

first step you should take when you find out that you’ll be giving a presentation. It doesn’t take very

long, about 30 to 45 minutes, although you’ll probably make some adjustments as you go along. It’s

always good to fill out these forms with a pencil or on your computer, so that you can easily make

changes. I give you these forms in Word document format, so you can easily fill them out either way.

[Slide 7] The Overview Planner form will guide you throughout the process of preparing for your

presentation. It’s like a blueprint and just as a blueprint guides builders to build a house, keeping

builders from making mistakes, tearing down mistakes and rebuilding, your Overview Planner form will

keep you on the right track and help you avoid creating disorganized content and unnecessary slides,

then having to redo your work. This 30 to 45 minute period will save many times that in the end. In the

last column of the Schedule form, write down when you’ll do this step.

Step 2: Brainstorm Ideas

[Slide 8] You’re not finished with the overview/planning form, because you should consider other

approaches and ideas. Spend some time thinking of possible points that would be valuable or persuasive

to your audience. Most people need a little boost to their creativity and brainstorming is a good

technique. The purpose of brainstorming is not to come up with a lot of ideas and stuff them into your

presentation. Instead, the purpose of brainstorming is to:

Come up with a lot of ideas that would work with your audience and your goal

Find new ways of approaching and expressing these ideas

Throw out most of them so that you have a succinct key message and 3 main points

You may want to brainstorm with colleagues or at least consult with them and your boss on your results.

When you’re done, make any necessary changes to the Overview form, such as new key points or new

data.

This 30-60 minute period will help ensure that you don’t leave out anything and that you find unique

ways to express the concepts. In the last column of the schedule form, write down when you’ll do this

step.

Step 3: Research Your Audience

[Slide 9] The better you know your audience, the more your presentation will hit home.

I’ll explain more about researching your audience later in this training video, because you’ll want to

make sure that you style your presentation in a way that is congruent with the decision maker’s style.

This hour or so will help ensure that your presentation is relevant and useful to your audience. In the

last column of the schedule form, write down when you’ll do this step.

Step 4: Figure out how long your presentation should last

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[Slide 10] Many presentations go over their allotted time and many presenters get cut off short, because

they didn’t plan properly. You need to know 2 facts, obviously:

1. The time you’ve been given to speak

2. How long your presentation takes

Poor planning can hijack both of those items. Let’s start with the time you’ve been given to speak.

+ 30 minutes Let’s say you are given 30 minutes to speak.

- 5 minutes Subtract 5 minutes for pleasantries & setting up

- 10 minutes Subtract 10 minutes for Q&A. If people don’t have any questions, prepare some additional content to fill in the time.

- 5 minutes Subtract 5 minutes for your close and getting signature

Speaking Time: 10 minutes So your talk will be 10 minutes long.

Each situation will be a little different, but you can see how those subtractions can add up!

This 15 minute period is important! In the last column of the schedule form, write down when you’ll do

this step.

Step 5: Write out your talk

[Slide 11] Now you know how long your talk should take, but how do you know how long your talk will

actually take? The only way to know is to time it. Just this little step would save so many presenters so

many problems!

Therefore, before you go any further, you need to write out your talk and speak it out with a timer. Then

you’ll have a good idea of the length of your talk. You might find out that it’s way too long. You can

shorten it before you waste time creating slides you can’t use and before you deliver the presentation.

Now, how much time and embarrassment does that save?

On the other hand, you could find out that your presentation is too short. Again, you’ll save a lot of

embarrassment if you know that now, rather than later.

How should you write out your talk? First, use a computer, don’t handwrite it. You’ll need the ability to

easily edit what you’ve written. Second, you have a choice of writing out full sentences or phrases. Here

are the plusses and minuses of each choice:

Full sentences: This is a good choice if you can’t easily convert phrases to full sentences when

you speak and end up with lots of ums and uhs, or pauses while you’re trying to think of the

right word. However, you don’t want to memorize your talk, because your delivery will seem

robotic and unauthentic, so be careful to use your full sentences just to help you with phrasing,

not as an absolute script.

Phrases: This is a good choice if you have the ability to easily convert the phrases to full

sentences without flubbing your delivery, because your delivery will seem more natural.

However, if you vary your talk too much as you practice, your timing may be inaccurate.

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Use your Overview form as your guide for writing your opening, key points, and closing. The Overview

form contains an outline of what you’ll be saying and will keep you from going off track.

As you write, keep in mind your research on your audience and your goal. These are also in your

Overview form. Everything you write should lead toward your goal and be appropriate for your specific

audience.

I’m going to cover the topic of how to organize your talk in much more detail later in this video.

This hour or more will be the basis for all your presentation practice and the actual presentation as well.

In the last column of the schedule form, write down when you’ll do this step, but be sure to leave some

extra time if needed.

6. Get Supporting Data & Incorporate It into Your Content

[Slide 12] You may have added reference to some supporting data when you wrote out your talk, but

now you really need to do some research. Whether you’re giving a sales presentation, a keynote speech,

or an in-house report, you need to have backup data that supports what you’re saying. In some cases,

you may not use the details unless questioned on it, but in most situations, you’ll present the data to

support your key messages.

Many people wait until they’re working on their slides to do this research, but that’s too late. Do it now,

then add it to your talk.

This hour or so will give you the back-up data you need to make your presentation authoritative and

persuasive. In the last column of the schedule form, write down when you’ll do this step.

7. Speak Out Your Talk, Recording & Timing It

[Slide 13] You’re ready for your first run-through! This is exciting! You need to set up both a recorder

and a timer.

To record your talk, you have several options:

You can use a simple tape or digital recorder.

If you have a microphone for your computer, I recommend Audacity, which is free recording and

sound editing software. You can get it at http://audacity.sourceforge.net/. I also suggest getting

the LAME MP3 Encoder, which lets you save your recordings as MP3 files; go to

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/help/faq?s=install&i=lame-mp3 to read more. A simpler option

is to use Windows’ Sound Recorder. In Windows Vista and 7, click the Start button and enter

Sound Recorder in the Search Programs and Files box. You’ll see Sound Recorder at the top; click

to start the program. Sound Recorder saves recordings as WMA files.

If you have a webcam, you can use its software to make a video recording. At this point, just pay

attention to the sound when you listen to the recording.

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To time your talk, you can use your watch or an online stopwatch. I found one at

http://www.online-stopwatch.com/.

The time involved obviously depends on the result of step 4, where you figured out how much time

your talk should take. In the last column of the schedule form, write down when you’ll do this step.

8. Check the Timing & Listen to the Recording

[Slide 14] The first step is to check the timing. Was your presentation too long or too short? If so, go

back to the drawing board and make the necessary adjustments. I think it’s better to come in a little

short than to have to rush. I like to prepare additional information in case I end early and then I can

choose, while I’m presenting, whether or not to use it. Remember, however, that each time you practice

your presentation, the time will come out a little different. We’ll talk more about practicing later.

Now, listen to the recording. This can be painful, but remember that it’s your first run-through of your

first draft. Have your script printed out and write notes for changes as you go. You can stop and start

many times, if you want, to make sure you have time to write down the edits you want to make.

When you’re editing, ask yourself:

Does the presentation sound convincing?

Does it sound smooth and professional?

Did I leave out anything important?

Did I stray off my points?

Will this meet the wants/needs of the audience?

What would I think if I were in the audience? As Nancy Duarte says, “Never give a presentation

that you wouldn’t want to sit through.”

If you think you need to make lots of changes, considering re-recording your presentation to get a better

result.

Again, the time involved will depend on the length of your talk. Since you’ll be writing down notes as

you listen, you’ll probably have to stop and start several times. I suggest adding 15-30 minutes to the

length of the talk for this item. In the last column of the schedule form, write down when you’ll do this

step.

9. Make Adjustments & Edits

[Slide 15] After timing and listening to your first run-through, you’ll know exactly what to do. Just

incorporate the edits you made. Add or remove content as needed. Remember that you don’t have to

get to the perfect time, because you don’t have an exact time yet. When you present with slides, the

time will change. Being in front of an audience will change the time also. For now, just get within a few

minutes of your ideal time.

This half-hour or so will greatly improve your presentation! In the last column of the schedule form,

write down when you’ll do this step.

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10. Storyboard Your Presentation, using the Tell ‘n’ ShowSM Method

[Slide 16] You may be itching to open PowerPoint and design slides, but hold off! This step can save you

a huge amount of wasted time. In his book, Speaking PowerPoint, Bruce Gabrielle says that about 2/3 of

the time people spend creating slides is wasted. You can save a lot of that time by storyboarding.

Storyboarding is the process of sketching out what your slide will look like. A storyboard is just a bunch

of boxes, each representing a slide. I recommend doing this with pencil and paper, so that you can

sketch out ideas for visuals. Storyboarding is used for animation and even live movies and plays; it helps

directors visualize the flow and look of each scene.

Then sketch out a visual that will show your point. The purpose of a visual is to help your audience

understand and remember your point, and often to help persuade as well. Graphs, diagrams, and

photos are essential for this purpose. All-text slides will hinder your audience from understanding and

remembering what you say because they have less visual impact; they aren’t very persuasive either,

according to research.

Be sure to include slides for your opening and closing.

[Slide 17] Use the Tell ‘n’ ShowSM Method. You write in the slide title and then a sketch of an image,

diagram, or graph. Don’t worry how many slides you create, just write each new concept or thought as

the title of a new slide. Remember that although you have only 3 main points, you may need several

slides to fully explain each point.

I have a storyboarding form that you can download; you’ll find the link below this video window. Once

you have your storyboard done, you’ll be amazed at how quickly you can create your slides. You can also

use the storyboard when you need to run your presentation by your boss or colleagues.

I’ll be covering the storyboard form more later in this video. But for now, remember that this hour or so

will be the basis for all your slides. Obviously, presentations with more slides will take longer. In the last

column of the schedule form, write down when you’ll do this step.

11. Get Approval from Your Boss, If Required

[Slide 18] Do you need to run your presentation by your boss? Now’s the time, before you start creating

slides. Imagine creating an entire deck of slides, running them by your boss, and finding out that you

have to redo them all. Ouch!

Instead, show your boss the storyboard. First, he or she will be SO impressed at your planning. Second, it

will actually be easier for your boss to review the slides (if your storyboard isn’t too messy); they’re all

laid out on a few sheets of paper, so they’re easy to scan. Show your boss your Overview form, too.

You’ll have an easier time explaining your logic and why you made the choices you did.

Of course, the big benefit is that any changes you have to make will be much easier at this stage. Just

take out the old eraser!

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Actually, even if you don’t have to get approval, you might want to run your presentation by some

colleagues. Any feedback at an early stage is valuable.

This is optional, but when your storyboard finalized, you may want to go back to the text of your talk

and pencil in slide numbers. This will help you for step 14, when you insert the text of your talk into your

PowerPoint file.

This quarter-hour or so will give you the go-ahead to create your slides. In the last column of the

schedule form, write down when you’ll do this step. Of course, if your boss makes lots of changes, you’ll

need to fit those changes into your schedule, so go back and reschedule time as necessary.

12. Create your title slide

[Slide 19] Now is the time to open PowerPoint. If you have a template or theme that you use, apply it

now. If not, I recommend not working on design right away; continue to focus on your content. Your

Overview form contains your presentation’s title and subtitle. Use that to create your title slide. By

default, PowerPoint opens with the Title layout, so all you have to do is type the title and subtitle in the

appropriate boxes. You can use your name as the subtitle if you want.

Leave ¼ hour for this step and enter when you’ll do this step in the last column of the schedule form.

13. Create the rest of your slides

Now take out your storyboard form and use it as your guide to create the rest of your slides. You will be

amazed how easy this step is, now that you have a blueprint. When using the Tell ‘n’ ShowSM Method,

you mostly use the Title & Content or Title Only layout. Enter a title that states the point you want to

make. It should be a full sentence or almost one, something like a newspaper heading. So, instead of “3rd

Quarter Results,” your title would read, “3rd quarter results were up 5%”. I recommend using sentence

case, which means that only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized. This makes reading the title

more fluid for your audience.

Now you need to pay attention to the design of the slides.

Because you have your storyboard and your data handy, this process will go quickly, but will probably

take at least 3 hours. Of course, the time will depend on how many slides you have to create. On the

schedule form, enter when you’ll do this step.

14. Put the Rest of Your Talk into the Notes Pane

[Slide 20] It’s good to consolidate your content and your slides don’t contain what you will say for each

slide. The Notes pane is at the bottom of your PowerPoint screen and you can use it to enter the text.

Just copy the text for the current slide from your script, click in the pane, and paste.

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You can drag the top border upward to show more of the notes. In earlier versions of PowerPoint, the

amount of text you could put here was limited, but now it accepts multiple pages. On the other hand,

you generally don’t want to have pages of text for one slide; that will be boring for your audience.

Notes pages can also be very useful for handouts and for sending the presentation to people who

couldn’t attend. Sending just the slides is a bad idea!

This step shouldn’t take more than ½ hour, but will depend on the number of slides you have. Schedule

this time in the last column of the schedule form.

15. Print the Notes Pages

[Slide 21] You can now print out Notes Pages, which contain an image of each slide along with the text in

the Notes pane for each slide. This is a good document for practicing.

[Slide 22] Alternatively, you can just put slide numbers in your text document at the point where you

need to switch to a new slide. As you can see throughout this handout, I’ve inserted slide numbers at

the point where I’ll change to a new slide.

This step shouldn’t take more than ¼ hour. Schedule this time in the last column of the schedule form.

16. Do Your 1st Practice in Front of the Computer

[Slide 23] You’re ready to do your first practice. This one will be done seated in front of your computer.

Print out your final copy of Notes Pages or your script with slide numbers. Open your PowerPoint

presentation and go into Slide Show view.

Start speaking out your presentation. For the first time, feel free to read or almost read your notes. By

the 3rd practice, you won’t need to do that anymore. Stop as you go along to make changes to your text

or slides. You’ll know when something doesn’t work well.

Give yourself a little more than twice the time you’ll speak for this task, because you’ll be stopping and

starting.—let’s say ½ hour for a 10 minute presentation. On the schedule form, enter when you’ll do this

step.

17. Do a 2nd Practice, Standing Up

[Slide 24] Your 2nd practice should be more formal. Stand up and use a remote if you’ll use one for your

actual presentation. If you can get some colleagues to spend the time, they can provide useful feedback

and make your practice more valuable. It’s different when there are real people in the room! To get

honest feedback, ask each person to give you at least one aspect of your presentation to improve. If

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you’ll be doing a Question & Answer session, you might want to ask your test audience to ask you

questions. You should include beginning pleasantries and your close. Make sure your audience knows

that this is just a 2nd practice, not a polished dress rehearsal. This time, don’t actually read your script,

but feel free to refer to it if you forget what you’ll be saying.

If you can videotape yourself, the video will provide you with excellent

feedback. You can simply use a webcam on your computer. Remember

that if you don’t have a camcorder, most digital cameras can take video.

You’ll need a tripod, though. I’ve discovered that I can use a USB extension

for my standalone webcam and put it on top of a tripod. I do this because

the webcam’s sound is better than my camera’s. The point is that it’s

pretty easy these days to videotape yourself and doing so is invaluable.

Your colleagues may not notice or want to tell you that you shift your

weight from side to side or fiddle with your hair. The videotape will tell

you.

The second practice will take about the same time as your actual presentation, but if you do it in front of

colleagues, there’s no telling how long their feedback and/or questions will take. So I would leave ½

hour to do the practice and add another ¼ hour for feedback/questions, whether from colleagues or by

viewing the videotape. Schedule time for this step on the schedule form.

18. Do a 3rd Practice, a Dress Rehearsal

[Slide 25] Finally, do a dress rehearsal. Ideally, you want to be in the same place you’ll deliver the

presentation, although that often isn’t possible. You should use a projector if that’s what you’ll be using

for the presentation. Don’t ask me how many people forget this step, connect the projector at the actual

presentation and find that something doesn’t work! They can’t get the desktop on the screen, or video

in the presentation doesn’t play, or sound doesn’t work, and so on. Another problem is that people

create the presentation on their desktop computer, but deliver it from their laptop and find that it

doesn’t work on the laptop. Or you may be required to transfer your presentation to another computer

and find that it doesn’t work. I would fight to use your own laptop, but if that may happen, at least copy

it to a laptop and try it out. So, test your equipment in advance!

By this time, you shouldn’t need to use your notes very much, if at all. If you still need them, you may

want to create a shortened set of notes that you can quickly refer to when necessary.

This practice should go fairly smoothly, so it shouldn’t take much more time than your presentation.

Schedule time for it on your form.

19. Create Handouts, If You Want Them

[Slide 26] Will you be giving out handouts? If so, you need to create them, arrange for copies to be made

or a web page for download. You can use your script document as a basis for your handouts, which

should save you time.

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Leave 1 hour for this step and schedule time for it.

We’ve now completed going over the Presentation Preparation Planner & Schedule form. As I

mentioned, now I’ll cover some of the steps in more detail.

[Slide 27] Complete the Presentation Overview Planner

[Slide 28] After you finish scheduling all your steps, you’ll return to Step 1 at the time you’ve scheduled

for it. That step is to complete the Overview Planner form. As I mentioned earlier, you can download it

below. The Overview Planner form helps you plan out your content.

[Slide 29] Goal: You start with your goal. In most cases, this is easy. You want to sell your product or get

approval for your proposal. But it isn’t always obvious. I’ll tell you a story.

[Slide 30] In April, 2009, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and a number of other performers did a benefit

concert for the David Lynch Foundation to raise money to teach at-risk children the Transcendental

Meditation technique. Before the concert, there was a press conference to explain to reporters the

value of TM, the scientific research on it, the results children who had already learned had gotten, and

so on. They asked a doctor who had done quite a bit of research on TM to speak about the research

relevant to these children. This man had presented many times at scientific conferences, where the goal

was to inform the scientists in the audience about the results of his research.

So, he gave a similar presentation at the press conference. When I watched it on video later, I saw that

he got it all wrong. He didn’t realize that because his audience had changed—reporters interested in

Paul and Ringo getting back together—and the event was completely different—a press conference

designed to persuade reporters to write something about TM’s benefit’s—that his goal should be

different. Now mind you, I know it’s hard for scientists to turn into persuaders. They hate that. But

nevertheless, his goal had changed from informing to persuading. Specifically, he wanted these

reporters to put a sentence or two about the scientific research on TM in their articles—not an easy

task. Overly scientific lingo and complex charts just didn’t hit the spot.

The morale of this story is that your goal affects your entire presentation, so you need to get it right. If

you have a hidden agenda (you were told to just state the facts, but you want people to realize some

aspect of them), make sure you include it, even if you have to write it invisible ink!

In a training presentation, think of the end goal. You might be training people in customer service, but

your goal is not just that the trainees remember the information, but that they apply it and give

customers better service.

[Slide 31] Audience: The next line is a statement about who your audience is. This is Step 3 in the

Planner & Schedule form, but we’re discussing the Overview Planner, which is Step 1. You won’t have all

the information you need right away, but you can come back to it. I’ll elaborate on this point later,

because it’s a pretty big topic.

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[Slide 32] Title & Subtitle: The next row is your title and subtitle. The title can be important in attracting

the attention and interest of your audience. Instead of a boring title like “Acme Payroll System,” you

might try one of the following:

Are you inviting legal challenges because of an outdated payroll system?

Reduce your department’s workflow with a fully-automated payroll system

Reduce double-entry and errors with an integrated payroll and HR database

If you already know, from your audience research, what problems your audience is experiencing,

consider addressing that problem in your title.

You can use your name as the subtitle but if you can get more mileage by making the subtitle more

meaningful, put your name in a text box below the subtitle. Here are some title-subtitle combos:

Are you inviting legal challenges because of an outdated payroll system? You need the support

of automatic updates and free ongoing training

Reduce your department’s workflow with a fully-automated payroll system. Say good-bye to

piles of paper and too much overtime!

Reduce double-entry and errors with an integrated payroll and HR database. Our goal is to

streamline your workflow.

As you can see, you can target specific needs and benefits in your title and whet your audience’s

appetite for your presentation. Try out some variations before deciding on your final title.

[Slide 33] Message in 1-2 sentences: The next row is your message in 1-2 sentences. This is sometimes

called an elevator speech. The idea is to know what you would say if you met with the main decision

maker for your presentation while waiting for the elevator and he or she said, “I’m sorry but something

came up and I won’t be able to attend. But since we’re going up in the elevator together, tell me quickly

your points.” What would you say?

Hopefully, you won’t have to give your presentation in an elevator! But you will find it useful to

condense it to a couple of sentences because then you can check every slide against that elevator

speech and make sure you are on track. All of your slides and all of your script should be connected to

your elevator speech. Whatever isn’t related should be discarded.

[Slide 34] Theme: I got the idea of a theme from Claudyne Wilder’s book, Point, Click & Wow! The theme

might be your company’s motto. For example, if your company excels in ongoing support, that might be

your theme. The idea, then, is to interweave this theme throughout your presentation. You can do that

by mentioning it several times, by your use of photographs (showing customer service reps), and with

stories of how your customer service reps helped existing customers work through problems that came

up.

[Slide 35] Opening: Your opening is extremely important. Recent research on students showed that they

make a judgment about a professor in about 3 seconds! Moreover, that judgment was confirmed after

being in that professor’s class for several months. The point is, they made accurate judgments, and very

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quickly. Similarly, as soon as you start to speak, audience members get an impression of you. I have a

post on openings at http://www.ellenfinkelstein.com/pptblog/a-good-introductionopener-2/, but here

are the basic principles:

Your opening should answer the following

Who are you?

What is your topic?

Why is it important?

Here are some other ideas for openers:

Ask your audience a question. For example, “How many of you regularly give presentations to

small audiences of 1 to 10 people?” Asking the audience a question is my personal favorite,

because I like to involve them immediately.

Begin with an interesting, relevant quote. Then use that quote to launch your talk. For example,

“Author and columnist Earl Wilson said, ‘If you wouldn’t write it and sign it, don’t say it.’ This

gives us a clue as to how you can gain believability from your audience.”

Mention something another speaker said, or a current event, that is related to your

presentation.

Start with a short, relevant personal story or experience.

When you’ve written your introduction/opening, rewrite it and edit it until you like it. Then practice

giving it out loud. Practice again. Time it. Record it and listen to it. Make adjustments and practice the

new version. You should be able to speak it out without looking at your notes. This is a time when you

need to really connect with your audience. When you’re done, you’ll have a great opener to your

presentation!

On the other hand, you don’t want your opener to sound too slick and memorized, so allow yourself to

create variations as you practice.

The space on the Overview Planner form is just a few notes of what you want to include; you’ll expand

on it when you write out your speech.

[Slide 36] Key Messages 1-3: The next 6 rows let you write out 3 key messages and proof for those three

messages. Let’s start with the 3 messages. Why 3? There is certainly some argument about how many

points people can remember. The number 7 is now understood to apply only to memorizing simple

numbers, like a phone number. You’ll see people recommending 3-5. I think that 3 is the right number.

Maybe it’s my age, but I have trouble with 4 unless they flow from each other inexorably, that is, they’re

so connected that it’s easy to remember them as a group.

Obviously, you’re going to say more than 3 sentences in your presentation! Key messages are more than

just sentences; they are your top outline points, the roman numerals I, II and III. You expand on them,

provide evidence for them, and discuss them, but there are only 3 main points. These are the points you

want your audience to remember after they leave, so they can tell someone they meet, “I just heard a

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presentation on new trends in software. He said, “small, global development, and online. Small as in

iPhone and Android apps, global development as in developers all around the world contracting directly

with small companies through sites like Odesk and Elance, and online as in web-based applications vs.

applications installed on your computer.”

Do you see that because the presenter had 3 points, the audience member was able to remember them

and then expand on them? I believe that if there had been 4 points, one might have been forgotten. An

excellent way to test this is to ask your colleagues during your second practice what they remember as

the main points of the presentation.

What if you think you have 10 points to make? Ideally, you should combine them into 3 larger points.

What if your presentation is a 3-hour training session? Training is a little different and my training

sessions don’t always have 3 points. I’m not expecting people to remember the points, but to use them.

That’s why I always provide handouts, so people can go through the content again, start using it, and

integrate the knowledge into their daily work flow.

But, for a more typical presentation of ½ an hour to an hour, you want people to remember your points.

So keep them to 3.

The next question is how do you choose the order of your 3 points? This is very important and the order

will depend on your goal. I’m going to give you 2 ways to determine an order.

[Slide 36] Problem-solution-validation: This method is great for selling a product or service or

for proposing a new project. You explain what the problem is. For the potential customer, you

might get this information by asking in advance, or you can make assumptions based on the

problems other customers had. You emphasize the consequences of this problem. One of my

title-subtitle pairs used this: “Are you inviting legal challenges because of an outdated payroll

system? You need the support of automatic updates and free ongoing training.” The first phrase,

“potential legal challenges,” states the problem and the second phrase, “automatic updates and

free ongoing training,” shows the solution. By emphasizing the problem, you get your audience

to identify with their own situation and to desire your solution. You end with validation, which

explains why you are the best source for the solution; testimonials, names of well-known

existing clients, and years of experience are all types of validation.

[Slide 37] Why-what-how: If you’re recommending a course of action, you can answer the 3

questions people have: why should I do it? What should I do? How should I do it? Again, by

explaining the why, you engage the audience at the beginning.

When you write down your 3 key messages, read them out and see if the overall argument is compelling

and persuasive. If not, try changing their order or changing your key messages. When I discuss the step

of writing out your script, I’ll mention another structure that you can also use.

Proof for Key Messages 1-3: For each of your key messages, you need to provide evidence. Evidence can

be one or more of the following:

1. [Slide 38] Quotes from experts or customers

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2. [Slide 39] Data in the form of a graph or table

3. [Slide 40] An image that shows your point, in this case you might be talking about your excellent

training facilities

4. [Slide 41] A diagram that explains a process you’re discussing

You may need to use multiple forms of proof for each key message.

[Slide 42] Closing: Your closing is just as important as your opening. In your closing, you want to

summarize your points and their logic in a way that helps your audience understand and remember

everything you said. Like your opening, you need to practice your closing many times, until it’s smooth

and convincing.

There’s a format to a closing: Summary-Ask for Questions-Conclusion. The final conclusion should

contain a 1-2 sentence summary (think back to your elevator speech) and end on a positive, compelling

note. It will lead into your request.

[Slide 43] Request What You Want: If you are requesting a purchase or approval, you need to ask for it

here. Some people have trouble forming these words, so write them down and practice saying them.

Here are some examples of phrases you can use:

Is there any more information you need or can we go ahead with the next step?

Have I given you the information you need to move on with this?

Does everyone agree that this is the way to go? (Or, it seems we all agree.)

Have I made the solution clear? Are you ready to go with it?

When can we start to do business together?

I think we agree that it’s time to take action.

When you have your Overview Planner done, congratulate yourself! It’s an important step for creating

an outstanding presentation! It’s Step 1 of the Presentation Preparation Planner & Schedule.

Researching Your Audience

[Slide 44] I wanted to expand on this topic separately. This is Step 3 in the Preparation Planner &

Schedule, but part of the Overview Planner, which is Step 1, so you won’t have all the information until

you need for the Overview Planner until you do your research.

Here’s what you need to know:

1. Who are they: What are their titles and relationships? If you want to get a decision, what style

decision maker is the key person?

2. What do they know: Do they have technical knowledge? Are they beginners in this topic?

3. What do they need: Why are they attending? Do they need your solution? Why? What

problems are they experiencing? If they’re managers, you’ll need to think like a manager. If

they’re technical folks, you’ll need to think like a techie. Or perhaps your audience is required to

attend.

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4. What do they want: This is a little different. A sales supervisor may need better CRM software

so his sales reps sell more, but he may want software that’s easier to use so the sales reps don’t

bother him all day with questions. You’ve heard about WIIFM, what’s in it for me. What value

will you give your audience? What will they take away? How will you solve their problem?

As you work on your presentation, keep your audience in mind. It helps if you know the people, but

even if you don’t, try to image their needs and desires. What would you want to hear if you were in their

shoes?

Consider the venue. At some conference seminars, the audience wants to be entertained while learning.

In other situations, they expect you to be serious and informative.

[Slide 45] Sometimes you can get more information, other times not. Here are some ideas:

1. Call and ask some questions. For example, if you’re giving a sales presentation to a potential client, you can say, “I’d like to tailor my presentation to meet your needs. Let’s discuss what problems you’re facing and why you need a solution.”

2. Also ask, what information will you need to feel comfortable making a decision? Pricing is obvious, but what else do you want? Testimonials? Statistics from previous customers?

3. Ask who will be at the presentation and their background. You want to know which interests they represent, their level of knowledge, and whether they are managerial, administrative, or technical.

4. For a larger group, send an e-mail with a brief survey. You can set up an online survey for free at www.surveymonkey.com or www.surveygizmo.com (but you’ll have to pay if you have a large group). You can ask questions like:

What do you hope to get out of this presentation?

What are your concerns?

What would your ideal solution look like?

For persuasive presentations, for which you want a decision, it’s helpful to consider varying decision-

making styles. A number of writers have come up with a list of styles, usually 4 or 5. I’ll give you a couple

of them here.

In 5 Paths to Persuasion by Gary Williams and Robert Miller, the authors define five decision-making

styles. Most people probably use a combination of these styles, but they’re helpful in understanding

why people need different types of presentations to feel comfortable making a decision. They are:

Thinkers want hard facts based on research and numerical data. They want to know all the

advantages and disadvantages. They’ll probably want to think over your presentation before

making a decision.

Charismatics like new ideas and want to get to the bottom line quickly. They may give your data

to others to analyze.

Skeptics want to hear the experience of others they know or respect. You can do this with solid

data and references they can call.

Followers want proof that your solution has been successful elsewhere. They are uncomfortable

with new ideas.

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Controllers want to hear the solution from someone they trust and respect. They accept change

only when required to do so.

[Slide 46] I like a breakdown that I heard recently in a webinar:

Driver: A CEO type, like Donald Trump. They want you to get to the point and be direct. They’re

easily bored. Ask their opinion, because they like to talk about their own point of view. They just

want the facts.

Analyst: An accountant type. They are more easy-going but detail oriented. They want safety.

They like a written handout with facts and figures. Prove everything but don’t give too much

detail because they tend to overanalyze and become indecisive. They need to understand how

your solution will add to their safety.

Promoter: A marketing type. They’re high-energy and are looking to work a deal. They need

excitement and change. They are people oriented. They want your solution to be exciting and

profitable for them. They need a deadline for action. They don’t want details; instead they want

the big picture.

Friend: People-oriented and easy to get along with. They don’t like conflict. They have a hard

time saying no because they want everyone to be happy, but may back out later. They need

reassurance that they’re making the right decision.

The point is that the same presentation won’t work with everyone. Sometimes you can ask a

subordinate how the boss makes decisions. Does he or she want lots of facts? Like out-of-the-box

thinking? Need lots of confirmation in the form of testimonials and references? When you have the

information you need, make sure that you present your information appropriately. More data and

analysis or less? Get to the point right away or build consensus? Emphasize references (other

customers), testimonials and expert opinion or just explain how you can solve their problem?

What do you do if you can’t get this information? You need to allow for all possibilities and use

interactive techniques to see what the decision-maker wants. To customize your presentation as you go

along, you can use menus, custom shows, and links to supplemental presentations. In one of the later

training videos, I will thoroughly cover these interactive techniques.

Writing Your Script

[Slide 47] One step that I wanted to expand upon is Step 5 of the Preparation Schedule form, writing out

your content. As you do this, use the Presentation Overview Planner to guide you throughout, so you

don’t wander into unproductive directions.

Obviously, you need to expand your key messages and explain your proof in detail. But I’d like to call

your attention to a model that comes from advertising and specifically copywriting: It’s called AIDA.

Attention: You start by getting your audience’s attention. They’re probably somewhat attentive,

but you want to focus them on you and the importance of your topic. You want to raise their

alertness level. Once you do this, the rest of your job is easier. Common attention-getting

techniques are asking the audience a question (don’t make it too challenging!), telling a brief

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story, or stating a quote or statistic that’s interesting or surprising. Include an attention step in

your opening.

Interest: Once the audience is alert, you pique their interest so that they want to hear more.

Often, this step involves telling the audience why the topic is important to them (what’s in it for

me = WIIFM) or explaining that you’ll be able to offer them a solution to their problem. You can

tell a story about you or about another customer. You want to draw them into the topic. Include

some aspect of this point in your opening, but continue to keep their interest as you talk about

the problem and how you can help your audience solve it.

Desire: You want to activate the desire of the potential customer to have the solution (or the

executive to have the project). You do this by showing the benefits clearly, providing

testimonials that state how happy others are with the product or service, perhaps explaining

problems that could occur without your solution, using emotional and personal cues, etc. You

also need to respond to any objections. Include desire-promoting content when you explain

your solution; you can help them imagine how wonderful their life will be if they buy your

product or service.

Action: You end with a call to action—asking for the sale or approval. At this point you can

repeat your guarantee, if you have one, to help overcome any feeling of risk. You complete this

step when you request what you want.

[Slide 48] Complete the Storyboarding Form

The Storyboarding form is the 3rd form you can download below this video window and it’s the simplest.

All it is, is a series of boxes. In these boxes, you will hand-sketch each slide, based on your Overview

Planner, the data you researched, and your script.

For photos, you don’t have to sketch out the photo; it’s enough to write, “photo of our employees on

the plant floor.” For a graph, you can describe the chart you’ll be using. The point is to give yourself

exact instructions to follow when you start creating slides.

You’ve already seen my training video on slide layout and you can use those principles as you sketch.

Use the Tell ‘n’ ShowSM Method. There are two reasons for this:

[Slide 49] Picture superiority effect: Years of research confirm that people understand,

remember, and agree more when pictures accompany words. In addition, the best results are

when pictures are combined with verbal speech, rather than with written text.

[Slide 50] Divided attention: When you speak over a slide of text, people try to read the text

while you’re speaking. They can’t do both well at the same time and most people will put more

attention into reading the text and as a result will miss a lot of what you say.

If you use the Tell ‘n’ ShowSM Method during the storyboarding process, you’ll naturally create effective,

powerful slides.

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Summary

[Slide 51] As you can see, I’ve consolidated the information in this training video into 3 points, based on

the 3 forms I’m suggesting that you use when preparing for a presentation:

1. The Presentation Preparation Planner & Schedule form helps you plan and schedule your

preparation so you won’t get caught short of time. You just go down the form and schedule the

time in the last column. Then, at the appointed hour, you do the step.

2. The first step on that form is to complete another form, the Presentation Overview Planner. This

form is your blueprint for your content.

3. Finally, you use the storyboarding form to sketch out your slides before creating them.

This is the entire process of scheduling and preparing for a presentation. When you have done all the

steps, you’re ready to stand up and deliver! Good luck on your next presentation! Please let me know

your experience using these tools.

I’ll be giving a presentation at the Hook Conference in Nashville, Tennessee at the end of March and I’ll

be using this system. I’ve been using the Overview Planner for quite some time now, but for this

important presentation, I’ll be using all the forms. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Don’t forget to download the forms, the script, and the PDF of the presentation by clicking the links

below this video. The next training video will be on how to create clear graphs (also called charts) and

diagrams. These are such important parts of our proof, our evidence, but if we want our data to be

convincing, we need to make them clear.

Please tell your colleagues about this training series and refer them to

www.outstandingpresentationsworkshop.com/slidelayout. Until next time!