How do you want to be perceived when you’re on the stage? Is it important to you to be looked at as a subject matter expert? Or do you simply want your voice to be heard? These are some of the questions I would ask those who have asked me “how should they should prepare for their next presentation”. You see, that’s a question that honestly only you can answer. But what I can do to assist you is to give you a few things to think about. Will there be decision makers in your audience or are you simply speaking casually in front of your peers?  Whoever the audience may be, you should always make note of how important the presentation is to you, and most importantly, how important is this presentation to the decision maker that picked you. Don’t get me wrong, every presentation should be deemed important. Honestly speaking, some of your presentations will hold more weight than others. Taking an assessment of all the factors surrounding your presentation will give you a good estimate of how much work you’ll need to complete.

There’s a lot that goes into delivering a powerful message. The practice hours alone can be a huge turn off to even the most determined out there. Many people don’t want to prepare months in advance for a 45 minute talk. I’ve had clients who didn’t see the point in practicing weekly for an event that was happening at the end of the year. I’m not here to say that they are wrong in their way of thinking, because it’s what they want to do. But when you get to thinking about your audience.. who will be there.. what are their backgrounds.. the age range.. you start to see that the more time you have to prepare, the better your chances are at tailoring your talk specifically for them. You are now doing what you need to do prepare a once in a lifetime experience. And every time you are on the stage, you should be aiming to give a custom tailored experience. An experience in which the audience feels like your content is new and they are receiving information that no one else is getting. That’s just one part of the many steps it takes to create a memorable presentation and it will require a lot of prep time.

For any presentation big or small, you have to be clear on your message and how to get it across. That means jotting down ideas and really taking the time to strategically brainstorm. Earlier I mentioned thinking of the backgrounds and age ranges of the people you will be talking to. Those two pieces alone can go a long way in helping you determine how to structure your talk. You have to remember, with any audience, you’ll be dealing with people who comprehend and retain information differently. You have to put in the work to attempt to satisfy all of them. I say attempt, because realistically, everyone won’t be satisfied. There will be someone who will think you could have presented a piece of information differently, or that you weren’t clear enough. But at the end of the day, you must put in the work and try!

The last prominent factor that you should think about could drastically increase or decrease your prep time. And it depends on if you intend to memorize your content or not? In the past, I’ve suggested that you should never try to memorize content. It’s too much added pressure. If you forget one line, it could throw off your whole talk. But there are some people who still do it. On the other hand, outlining your content can be very effective. It will help you appear as more natural speaker and will give you more range to be creative as needed.

But maybe you don’t even feel like memorizing and outlining? Maybe you think you could wing it. I would still suggest talking through what you want to say beforehand and becoming comfortable with what you say and how you say it. Although it may add a couple of hours into your practice time, it goes a long way. How important your presentation is will be up to you. You may take it lightly, but remember, it’s also your reputation that’s on the line. How far will you go to ensure it doesn’t get tainted?

Make your next presentation, your best presentation!

Sincerely,

Julian A. Leonard
(Founder of The JLeonard Group LLC)

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