If you’ve experienced presentation procrastination and have limited time to prepare
1. Do some quick research
What do you need to accomplish? If you have a clear goal, that will make it easier to focus on and develop your main idea. Anything that doesn’t directly support that goal can be saved for Q&A.
Who will be in the room? From friend to ambivalent to foe, how would you describe the audience? How likely are they to do what you’re asking? If they don’t care – why should they, and if they’re highly skeptical of your issue or perspective, what is their main concern? This line of questioning can help you center your thoughts and understand your audience’s state of mind.
If you’re giving a briefing, draft a headline for each update and ask the audience where they would like more detail.
2. Build a STORYBOARD
Did someone say slides? With limited time, prioritize what you’re going to say over working on visuals.
Start with one of our STORYBOARDs. They provide structure to organize messages and your ask, along with prompts to address all of the questions your audience is mulling – is the speaker credible? what do they really know about me? why does this issue matter?
Script your closing. How do you want to end your talk? Write down some ideas, then try them out by saying them aloud to find the best one.
Script your opening. Tell them who you are and what they’ll get from your time together. If you’re standing in for someone, let them know who the person is and how you know each other/work together.
Script your ask. What do you want to them to do with the information you’re providing? Be clear.
3. Start talking
Beyond researching the audience and having a goal, the best use of your time is practice saying your presentation.
Rehearse aloud. Use simple, conversational English. This makes it easier to remember what to say and for your audience to understand. Rehearse your opening, closing, the ask. . . practice saying aloud “I know there are concerns about. . .” “If you remember one thing from today. . .” “If we meet this goal, this is what it means for. . .”
Experiment to find out what feels most natural. Pause before and after, and choreograph with hand movement.
If you’re standing in for a colleague who had to cancel
Find out the reason for the presentation. Is it part of marketing campaign, business development effort or is there another driver? Having this answer can help you place the presentation in its proper context, which in most cases alleviates pressure.
If you’re given someone else’s presentation deck to use, make sure it meets your needs. Move any heavy text to the notes section and use headers as guide posts for you and the audience.
Avoid the apologies. They know you’re not the designated speaker. If you have to get back to them on an answer, you will. But avoid the temptation of setting low expectations by minimizing what you bring to the presentation.
Have fun.
