Important presentation? Little or no time to prepare? How can you quickly organise your thoughts and deliver a convincing presentation? A set of logical mental frameworks or ‘plans’ enables you to structure your thoughts quickly and leads to seamless delivery.
An easy-to-implement structure for any presentation is to ‘Announce, Elaborate and Recap’.
1. Announce
Give an overview of what to expect in your presentation so your listener knows where you are going to take them. 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.
2. 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, highlight the most important areas to elaborate – three key areas is often enough to satisfy your listener. As an example, when 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.
3. Recap & Highlight the Benefits
End your presentation by summarising the areas covered. Then 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.
