When people ask me how to improve a presentation, they often want to talk about delivery: how to sound more confident, what to do with their hands, how many slides to use or how to control the nervousness that appears just before they begin.
Those questions matter, but after many years of giving presentations and helping other people prepare for them, I have found that some of the biggest problems begin earlier. They begin when the presenter sits down to prepare and asks, “What do I want to say?”
It sounds reasonable. You have information, ideas or recommendations you want to communicate. Yet once you begin with yourself, it is easy to build the presentation around what you know rather than what your audience needs.
Think About the Audience Before You Build the Presentation
Imagine that you have twenty minutes to present a proposal to senior managers. You know the subject well, so you prepare slides explaining the background, the work your team completed, the data you collected and the process that led to your recommendation.
Meanwhile, the managers may be wondering what it will cost, what problem it solves, what risks are involved and what decision you need from them.
If you make them wait fifteen minutes before reaching those questions, you may lose their attention even though your presentation is accurate and professionally prepared.
Before deciding what to include, think about the people who will be listening. What do they already know? What matters to them? What might concern them? What do they need from you in order to understand the issue or make a decision? The answers will help you decide not only what belongs in the presentation, but also what can be left out.
Knowing More Does Not Mean Saying More
One of the difficulties of presenting a subject you know well is deciding what not to say. I have seen presenters try to demonstrate their expertise by including almost everything they know, only to leave the audience with plenty of information and very little clarity.
Your knowledge should help you choose the right information, not force you to use all of it.
Suppose you spent six weeks analyzing a problem. Your audience does not necessarily need to travel through those six weeks with you. They may need three findings, one conclusion and a clear recommendation. Much of the value of your work lies in helping you decide what deserves their limited attention.
The same applies to slides. When people are trying to read a paragraph, study a chart and listen to you at the same time, you are asking them to divide their attention. A slide should support what you are saying rather than compete with you.
Know What You Want the Audience to Take Away
Before preparing the details of a presentation, I find it useful to complete one sentence:
“When this presentation is over, I want the audience to...”
Perhaps you want them to approve a proposal, understand a change, reconsider an assumption, adopt a new process or remember one important idea. If you cannot complete that sentence clearly, the presentation probably needs more thinking before it needs more slides.
Once the purpose is clear, use it to test what you have prepared. Does this example help? Does this chart make the issue clearer? Does the audience really need this background? If removing something makes the message easier to understand without weakening it, I would seriously consider removing it.
Give the Opening and Ending a Job
Many presentations begin with several minutes about the speaker, the organization and what will be covered. Sometimes that information is necessary, but it is rarely the reason people are listening.
Your opening should help the audience understand why the next few minutes deserve their attention. You might begin with a problem they recognize, an unexpected result or a question that genuinely matters to them. The right opening depends on the audience and the purpose.
The ending deserves the same attention. If you presented because a decision is needed, make that decision clear. If you want people to act, they should know the next step. If your purpose was to change how they think about an issue, return to the idea you most want them to remember.
The Audience Is Part of the Presentation
Good preparation gives you structure, but it should not make you a prisoner of what you prepared. Watch the people in front of you. Are they following? Has a question shown that something was not clear? Does a point need another example, or can you move on?
That flexibility becomes easier when you know what really matters. You are no longer trying to protect every sentence or slide because your attention is on what the audience needs from you.
The next time you prepare a presentation, resist the temptation to begin by opening PowerPoint and asking what you want to say. Begin with the people who will be listening and decide what they need to understand, remember or do when you finish. Once that is clear, your content, examples, slides and delivery have a much better chance of working together and helping you achieve the real purpose of the presentation.