Begin With The End In Mind

Jerry Seinfeld once stated, "According to most studies, people's number one fear is public speaking.  Number two is death.  Death is number two.  Does that sound right?  This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you're better off in the casket than doing the eulogy."

I recently attended a presentation where the speaker had checked off all the correct boxes.  They had a presentation with an agenda.  They had handouts.  They included a Q&A at the end of the presentation.  Everything looked ready to go.  Then they started speaking.  After starting with a joke that didn't work, and a complete walkthrough of EVERY bullet in the agenda, they got into the "meat" of their presentation.  Unfortunately, the audience had a small problem. We knew where the speaker was going, but had no idea why they had picked that particular path.

In any presentation you have less then five minutes to win over your audience.  I like to start with a  great story to draw them in, then I tell them what they are going to walk away with by the end of the presentation.  I even use the words, "Let me begin with the end in mind...by the time I finish today you will know X,Y and Z and be able to A."

Most audiences understand how tough it is to stand in front of them.  That empathy gets you the first five minutes.  However, if you haven't piqued their interest and shown them that they will be better off at the end of the presentation, then watch the Blackberry's and iPhones come out.

Have a point, make your point

How Do I Use This?

• Before creating anything for your presentation think of what you want the audience to walk away with.  Do you want them to do something, to understand something, to feel something or to join you moving forward?  
• Make that point as short as possible - Never give the audience a main point that is a paragraph long.  Think newspaper headlines or TV show names.
• Halfway through your presentation stop and see if the above point is still true.  Can you still "see" your main point? 
• After you have finished creating your presentation, practice it a couple of times.  Yes, I mean walk through it in your mind or out loud. As you hear the information does your main point still sound clear?