Preparing for a Presentation

Years ago I was in Orlando, FL. speaking to a fertilizer company about their retirement benefits.  When I got to the section on asset allocation I felt I was on a roll and that everyone was really "with" me. I went through Cash with a quick example of a checking account.  Bonds were always easy because I would use the name of someone's high school to teach the principle of loaning money, receiving interest and then your principle back, after a set number of years.  I leaned down and asked a gentlemen in the front row where he went to high school.  He said, "I didn't go." Of course I missed this giant clue and asked the followup, "No problem, where did you go to elementary school?"  He said, "I didn't go to that either."  Thud.  I was mortified and said, "Sir, I am really sorry, and am not going to be able to recover from this gracefully, so let's move on to stocks."

The above experience taught me a valuable lesson on the types of things I should know about my audience before I present information to them.

What You Should Understand Before You Step In Front of A Crowd

The Presentation

• Topic - Not just the general idea but what does your client want to happen because of your presentation.
• Time limit - Important because it helps you understand how many slides you will be using and how much preparation will be necessary.
• Technology limits - Will they have the projector you need, the microphone, the slide advance etc.  Understand that YOU are the show.  Everything else can fail and as long as you are standing the show will go on.  However, if you check these things out before your presentation the odds will improve, that you won't be alone on stage, filling the spotlight.
• Additional learning materials - Do they want handouts, will they be filming, will they podcast this?  If your presentation is going to live after you give it, you will need to put more work into it as each additional audience will not have had the benefit of your presence in their office, cube or home.

The Audience

• Who will be sitting in front of you? - Job title, pay scale, company division, senior leadership, guests, company pressures, company goals etc.  Each different type of audience member needs to be address with some portion of your presentation.  It draws the whole group together and shows that you customized your presentation for the audience.
• Who speaks before and after you? - I want to know what the feeling in the room will be before me.  If I have a dry speaker up before me, then I will need more energy.  If I have a high energy speaker then I will have to bring the room down a bit to help them have the opportunity to understand my presentation.  I also want to know who is after me so that I can highlight them in a positive light, and keep the overall energy in the room flowing.

Individuals

• I like gather the above data and then put myself in the place of each different member of my potential audience.  What questions will they have?  Could they object to something you are going to say?  How will you plan now to overcome that, or provide the data they need to feel comfortable?  What is their work life like now, and how will it be different after listening to you?
• Using Humor - Most people are not naturally funny, so how can you connect with the crowd without the potential of offending anyone?  I prefer to use stories, pictures, and analogies to help the audience members catch my vision.

How To Use The Above Information

1) Presentation - This will take 10 minutes.  Spend the time asking questions of the person who asked you to give the presentation.  If they don't know something ask them to recommend someone who will have more information.

2) The Audience - This takes 10-30 minutes. Spend this time asking questions about what people do, what company goals are, and subjects or touchy things to say away from.  Nothing is worse then talking only to senior management or missing the customer service representatives that will be responsible for carrying out your plan.

3) Individuals - Most speakers skip this step as they already feel they know the individual audience internally or don't want to appear uninformed externally.  Skip this step at your own peril.  If the audience is internal, understand that Bob will raise the XYZ objection and Carol will always say she doesn't have enough time to make the change.  Overcome these in the presentation or keep the answers in your back pocket for when Bob and Carol jump in.  External audiences should be treated as a great learning experience for you.  What do they like, what do they worry about, what have they tried in the past etc.

Proper preparation increases your odds of success