Successful Presentations 1.2: Planning

Main ideas and lessons

• Purpose of a presentation: A presentation is communicating ideas/messages to an audience in order to achieve a goal.
• Planning is the first step: Preparation focuses on two main areas:
  1. Preparing the presentation content
  2. Preparing yourself so you feel comfortable speaking in front of an audience
• Key messaging (content strategy):
  • Identify your key messages—what you want to say.
  • Keep the number of key messages controlled:
    • 3 key messages is fine
    • More than 5 is probably too many
• Audience needs (audience strategy):
  • Consider the audience by asking:
    • Who are they?
    • What are they concerned about?
    • What do they need to know?
• Successful presenters balance both sides:
  • A successful presenter combines:
    • what the presenter wants to say, and
    • what the audience needs to hear
• Recap / strategy outcome: The strategy for any presentation is formed by:
  1. Identifying the messages to communicate
  2. Thinking about the audience’s needs

Methodology / instruction list

1. Step 1: Define your presentation’s goal Presentations communicate messages to achieve something.

2. Step 2: Identify key messages

   • Decide what you want to say.
   • Limit key messages to:
     • ~3 messages (recommended/acceptable)
     • Do not exceed 5 (likely too many)
3. Step 3: Analyze your audience
   • Determine who they are.
   • Identify what they care about.
   • Identify what they need to learn/know.
4. Step 4: Align messaging with audience needs
   • Ensure your chosen messages meet what the audience needs to hear.
5. Step 5: Use this balance as your presentation strategy
   • Strategy = (messages to communicate) + (audience needs)

Speakers / sources featured

• No specific speaker name or credited source is mentioned in the provided subtitles.