Leadership Viewpoint

Think about the very best presentations you’ve ever witnessed. What did they have in common? Now recall a really poor presentation. How was it different? My hunch is that the great presentations had the following in common:

Enthusiasm or passion – the speaker seemed to really care about what he or she was talking about. It was conveyed via gestures, voice emphasis and substance.

Connected to you – the speaker spoke in terms that you could relate to, about a topic that was relevant to you in some way. It was neither above nor below your intellectual comfort zone. The odds are that you also agreed with some aspect of what the speaker discussed.

Simple and easy to follow – the speaker didn’t clutter his or her case with extraneous information or marginal points. Rather, the talk was focused and clear. Points seemed to flow appropriately and hang together well.

Clear visual aids – whatever was used was large enough to be seen, and clear. It actually supported what was said rather than the other way around.

Now let’s recall that really poor presentation. The odds are that at least three of the four items listed above were badly compromised. Perhaps the speaker’s nerves or speaking style got in the way of enthusiasm, or worse, the speaker was forced to talk about a topic he or she didn’t believe in. If it didn’t seem to make sense, the issue could have been one of organization or clutter. Maybe it was just not a topic that you could connect with.

The next time you are asked to make a presentation, keep it simple, enthusiastic, clear and connect it to your audience. Preparation is the path.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!