Presentation Skills HQ

In step 1, we looked at the audience and attempted to understand what was important to them and also how we can adapt our style to get a better connection.  It is worth noting that the planning phase is an iterartive process; we work back and forth through the steps as new information comes to hand.

Step 2 is about objective setting. This creates a framework around which we build our presentation.  It dictates what we need to do in the pitch. For example, if we say that we want the audience to believe that we are capable of delivering on our proposal, but they currently dont believe we have the skill, then we need to demonstrate in the pitch that we do.  Just to say we have a great team wont be sufficient.

The other benefit of setting an objective is that it keeps everyone on track.  If someone has a left field idea, then it is useful to refer back to the objective and ask how it will help the team meet the objective.

A useful model to use in setting an objective is the “from to think do” matrix (Abela 2008).  Here we simply ask, firstly, what is the audience currently thinking (attitude) and what do we want them to think and secondly, what are they curremtly doing (behaviour) and what do we want them to do.

The advantage of this matrix is that it gives us a metric to measure our success by. It also gives us a measure as to whether the objective is too big or too small.

Abela, AV 2008, Advanced presentations by design creating communication that drives action, San Franiso, Calif. : Pfeiffer, San Francisco, Calif.