THINK IMPACT WHEN GIVING A PRESENTATION

THINK IMPACT WHEN GIVING A PRESENTATION

from the article 'Create a Dynamite Presentation in 6 Easy Steps'
By Geoffrey James | April 19, 2010

Decide on the Impact

When most people start out to create a presentation, they start with the question: “what do I want to say to these people?”

That’s the exact wrong question to ask because it’s all about you and not about the audience.

The correct question to ask is: “what decision does these people really need to make?”

The greatest enemy facing EVERY business — bar none — is inertia. People avoid making key decisions out of fear, stupidity, lethargy, tradition, etc.

So start from the point of wanting to be of service, and that means creating an presentation that persuades your audience to make a decision.

If you don’t know what decision you want the audience to make, don’t bother giving a presentation, because you’re just wasting everyone’s time.

Now, before going any further. Ask yourself, in all honesty:

* Do I know EXACTLY what decision I want my audience to make?

If you DON’T then please don’t bother to craft a presentation, because you’ll just be wasting everyone’s time.

However, if you DO know what impact you want to have — i.e. what decision you want your audience to make — read on…

MY THOUGHTS

of course! the best way for people to appreciate what you're telling them is to get something out of your presentation. there must be some need that your presentation can meet. your audience should want to do something different - or new- after listening to you.

i think you've made impact when your audience becomes uncomfortable. by uncomfortable, i mean not being happy with the way things are. suddenly, they question the status quo. presentations are too short to really make people change. but to get them to think (seriously) of altering some things - that, to me, is impact.