Important presentation? Little or no time to prepare? How can you quickly organise your thoughts and deliver a convincing presentation?
STRUCTURE! Simple as that. Unstructured presentations lack focus and make it difficult to hear your key message. A set of logical mental frameworks or ‘plans’ enables you to structure your thoughts quickly and leads to seamless delivery.
Here are some easy-to-implement ways to build structure into your presentation.
Announce
Give an overview of what to expect in your presentation. For example, “I will explore on:
- WHAT the challenges are
- WHY change is important, and
- HOW we will achieve this.”
This focuses the listener. After all, it’s easier to listen to content if you know what to listen for.
Elaborate
This is where you get to add detail to your outline. To highlight the need for change, you can use a simple TIMELINE. For example you can describe a situation as it was in the PAST, the challenges TODAY and the desired action plan in the FUTURE.
For your action plan, choose the THREE most important areas to elaborate. A recent example of this is where a senior executive at a sourcing company presented her action plan to ensure consistent supplies of materials for production. She focused on 3 key areas:
- Improving forecasting
- Simplifying ordering procedures
- Making specific commitments to key suppliers.
Using simple ‘3’ structures avoids overloading the listener with too much information and makes things memorable.
Wrap up
Once you’ve elaborated the details and recapped the key points, finish your presentation by highlighting the SPECIFIC benefits of the plan and then moving to the BROADER benefits to the organisation.
A well-structured presentation shows clarity of thought and focuses the listener. Having a clear set of mental frameworks or ‘plans’ helps you build an important presentation quickly and deliver it seamlessly, even with little or no time to prepare.
Acknowledgements: The above mental frameworks or ‘plans’ are selected from Think on your Feet®.
