Powerful Presentations Require Planning
A powerful speech or business presentation starts with a clear idea of the end result desired.
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If yours is a sales presentation, that final result may be a call to action to make a purchase. Or it may be to advance the conversation one step closer to the decision point if you are in a long sales process. Confusing the objective could actually derail your mission.
Outside of the sales type of business presentations, your talk’s objective may be to raise awareness of a situation, foster understanding or inspire action on the part of your audience. Whatever it is, you need to be crystal clear about it.
Powerful presentations start with a solid core message aimed at a specific audience. This second step of understanding your audience is critical to your ultimate success. The more you know about your audience the easier it will be to identify the key factors of your speech or business presentations that will be most relevant to your audience.
If your topic is on child rearing and your audience is primarily fathers, you may well design a talk differently than if it were primarily mothers, and perhaps still differently if it were a equal mix of fathers and mothers. Same is true with business presentations. Knowing who your audience is, allows you to tailor your message to meet their specific needs and aspirations.
If your audience knows and uses industry jargon, it may help to speak in appropriate jargon. But if they are not, it goes without saying that the jargon has to go. Powerful presentations always are audience relevant. The art of public speaking is that of making the connection between the information the speaker has, and the receptivity of that information on the part of the audience. Failure to take notice of the audience can lead to very un powerful presentations similar to pounding the square block into the round hole.
So our two ingredients for powerful presentations so far are a clear handle on your message, and an understanding or your audience. The third variable is the setting in which the presentation is made. This setting is the vehicle for your message. You need to be aware of any speeches that may come before or after you. Will you be speaking on your turf or somewhere you have never been. Will you be addressing a dinner crowd, a late in the day crowd, a crowd anxious to get out on the golf course. All of these factors and more will set the stage for your presentation, and may have either a positive or negative effect on it.
Often times you will not have as much control of the venue as you would like. Whatever it is, think about the ramifications if any. Adjust your approach and manner to meet the circumstances. This is where the term art of public speaking comes into play.
In summary, powerful presentations require that your speeches and business presentations take into account your core message, the audience to which it is addressed and the venue in which the communication takes place.
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