Nail Your Next Presentation

In-Person - Online - Hybrid

Virtual presentations deprive us of this kind of enjoyable physical connection, whether it’s a handshake, casual conversation or a quick check-in in the coffee room. In addition, we now live in a world complicated by hybrid meetings, raging rates of attrition and head spinning uncertainty in regards to RTO, return-to-office, schedules.

In tackling the difficulties of this new normal, an almost fanatical focus on creating a culture of open, clear communication is a must to increase accountability, trust and morale. However, after conducting presentation skills workshops and providing one-on-one coaching to wonderful clients for years, I know firsthand how nuanced these presentations can be. For example, how do you:

• Aritculate a vision that inspires people to act when you have no firm RTO date?
• Get buy-in to a new business model to reduce the serious impact of turnover on your clients?
• Build consensus for how to make hybrid meetings flexible, supportive, inclusive and secure?

For most of us, it takes continuously fine tuning proven techniques and a lot of practice to get this right.

This is especially true if you need to convey a lot of information, in less time, without omitting critical details. Consider these tips if you want to maximize your impact and minimize the effort it takes to prepare.

Create

Work your plan: Many years ago a colleague got me in the habit of always identifying our goal and desired outcome before attending a 1:1 meeting with senior management. This habit has served me well ever since.

That’s why I still recommend that even if you only have 5 minutes, grab a pad of paper and quickly jot down your goal. This one step will instantly help you pinpoint exactly what you plan to accomplish and why. Goals could include:

• Inform: “Here’s what we know, here’s what we don’t know, and here’s what we’re doing.”
• Persuade: “We’re going to have to learn how to live, and work, through the employee changes.”
• Motivate: “I believe in each and every one of your capabilities — and I believe even more so in our joint capabilities. We can do this together.”

When presenting to an important client, your manager or board, the last thing you need is to come across as unorganized or long-winded. Focusing on your goal from the beginning keeps you on track without getting derailed by side issues.

Convey

Step 1: Clarify your main idea - PART 1 of this post focused on distilling a bundle of information into one key point which is your: main message ~ big idea ~ what’s the so what.

People only remember so much information, as do we, so get rid of all that isn’t essential. This helps you get to the very heart of the problem, complication, issue or opportunity much faster and articulate it in a way that’s dramatically easier to grasp. For example:

• We need to retain high-potential employees who will one day fill our succession pipelines.
• This business redesign model will significantly reduce the impact of turnover on our clients.

This is both easy and hard, but definitely worth it because what comes next drives acceptance of this idea, which you’ll then go on to prove with supporting arguments, reasons or key points.

Step 2: Group and summarize your key points – Now that you know precisely what you want to accomplish, and how to succinctly communicate it, start convincing your audience that your statement or point of view is true. Show them step-by-step how it’s based on solid logic, strong evidence and irrefutable facts. For example:

Recommendation: We need to retain high-potential employees to one day fill succession pipelines.

Supporting points (how):

1. Accelerate our hiring process
2. Show employees how their contributions make them a valued member of the team.
3. Give employees plenty of reason to stay

Recommendation: Redesign our business model to significantly reduce the impact of turnover on our clients.

Supporting points (how):

1. Create four person teams to support each client
2. Document processes to serve clients better
3. Set expectations more clearly during the interviewing process

Can you craft your compelling story around 3 – 5 supporting points? This makes it a whole lot easier for your audience, and you, to absorb and remember.

Step 3: Put the rest of the details in last – When you get this far, now is the time to back up each supporting point with the facts underneath. Have you done some research or analysis before you’ve reached your recommendation? Here’s your chance to use it.

According to Laura Faulkner, head of research at Rackspace Technology in Austin, Texas,

“Decision makers want to know what to do right away. And they want to know why that’s the right thing to do and what they risk if they don’t act on what the data is telling us.” So tell them.

• Here’s what the data tells us... As of August, 2021, 4.3 million Americans, or nearly 3 percent of the work force, called it quits and left their jobs.
• What the data has taught us... The top reason for high turnover among tech talent is the lack of tech leadership and clarity of vision around technology-led business.
• Let me show you what the data supports... A late August survey of 238 executives, conducted by Gartner, found that two-thirds of organizations had delayed their return-to-office plans because of news about coronavirus variants.

This isn’t the only way to organize a presentation, but I’ve found it’s one of the best ways to take a lot of information, present it persuasively in limited time, without omitting important details. It also helps you remember what you want to say, why you’re saying it and how best to present it.

To summarize, we still may not be meeting in person, and our unpredictable world still presents plenty of challenges. But this framework should give you a solid foundation on which to build a powerful presentation and the confidence to deliver it with great assurance.

To Learn More:

WORKSHOP (online) - Step Up Your Persuasive Presentations:

COACHING (online) - Presentation/ Communication/ Leadership/ Meeting Skills Coaching: