Check out this one minute video, also on the theme of your presentation’s objective!
Problems, Problems
What’s the point of the whole thing? I find it frustrating when people give a presentation that just starts, continues and then just… stops. I’m a selfish audience member – I want to know what I’m going to get out of the whole thing. This could be some useful information, a clever strategy or a new idea.
The best way to put your audience at ease is to set up the thing you’ll achieve in your talk – solving a problem is satisfying for most people because as a species we’re naturally problem-solvers. Puzzles, mysteries, mechanical processes, you name it. We love to work out solutions to problems.
Structure
It also really helps say what you’re going to cover. Are there three sections or twenty-seven? Be clear about what’s going to happen. Another benefit of the ‘problem/solution’ approach is that it does all this for you:
- You had a problem.
- It had a result.
- You took action.
- Its result is your amazing solution.
Yayyy. Doddle.
Defeat the Monster
The really clever benefit (and you’re really clever, I can tell) of showing how you solved a problem (using a good structure) is that it tells a story in a very simple way.
However, the best stories will have interesting real-world characters (you and your team) and some peril (the problem), with some kind of courageous action. Use your team members’ names, show images of them and the dreadful situation they were in, then their happy faces (or those of your customers) when you came through like the utter heroes that you are.
Climax
The solution is your happy ending, neatly tying up all the loose ends and returning to the shire. This is important for two reasons:
- It telegraphs the ending, instead of the presentation finishing unexpectedly.
- It feels satisfying – it’s the story structure we’re all familiar with.
Happy Ending
Tell them (very briefly) what you’re going to talk about. Show them an interesting sequence of events. Tie it all up with your brilliant solution.
Tomorrow: show some emotion!