Step-by-Step: How to Prepare for a Presentation
New Member-Exclusive Benefit: ICF Engage

Speaking Up! How to Prepare for a Presentation Step by Step

Posted by Nancy Duarte (USA) | June 14, 2013 | Comments (3)

If you’re interested in sharing your services as a coach with a larger audience, adding speaking engagements and larger-scale seminars to your slate of service offerings can help enhance your practice. In addition to meeting a growing demand in the marketplace, a well-crafted and –delivered presentation can be your best form of advertising, driving new clients your way.

Although coaches are well-versed in the art of effective oral communication, successfully developing and delivering a presentation to a larger audience might require you to tap into new or less-used skill sets. Like becoming a great coach, becoming a skilled presenter takes discipline, hard work and the willingness to rehearse until your delivery comes just as naturally as a one-on-one coaching session. Here are 10 steps to help you develop and deliver an effective, engaging presentation.

1. Get to Know Your Audience
Just as you serve your clients through coaching, you must serve your audience with your presentation. The more you learn about your audience, the more you can tailor your information to inspire, motivate and persuade them. Go beyond superficial qualities, such as age, gender and professional affiliation, and dig for deeper insights. Ask yourself the following questions:

  • What are they like?
  • Why are they here?
  • What keeps them up at night?
  • How can you solve their problem?
  • What do you want them to do?
  • How can you best reach them?

2. Find Common Ground
Developing a rapport with someone can make all the difference in the way your presentation resonates with them. Think about the last presentation you sat through. How did it make you feel? Now think about how you felt after the last conversation you had with a good friend. There is probably quite a difference. When you have things in common with a person, you feel like you are on the same team. You’re more likely to be relaxed and receptive. The more you can make your presentation feel like a friendly conversation, the more engaged your audience will be. Further consider your audience to identify what you have in common.

Some commonalities to consider include:

  • Shared experiences.
  • Common goals.
  • Aligned beliefs.

3. Define Your Big Idea
Your Big Idea is the crux of your presentation. It states a clear opinion on the subject, as well as what’s at stake if your audience chooses not to adopt this stance. For example, “Coaching Women Leaders” might be your presentation topic. A Big Idea would be, “You must invest in coaching women leaders or risk jeopardizing the health of your organization.” The Big Idea should be a complete, concise sentence that includes two components:

  • Your point of view (i.e., your unique perspective on the topic).
  • What’s at stake (i.e., why the audience
    should care).

4. Define the Audience’s Journey
When you give a presentation, you’re usually asking people to change their behavior or beliefs in some way. The more clearly you define what you want your audience to believe and how you want them to act as a result of your presentation, the more easily you’ll be able to plan the path to get them there. Before you begin developing your presentation, map your desired audience transformation:

  • Move from (what the audience currently believes and how it currently acts) .
  • Move to (what you’d like them to believe and how you want them to act moving forward).

5. Generate Content to Support the Big Idea
When you’re planning a presentation, it’s tempting to build your slides first and use them as an outline for your talk. However, it can be helpful to take a step back and “go analog.” Grab a stack of sticky notes and start brainstorming. Begin by gathering existing content. Then, build on it. Finally, create new content.

Use the sticky notes to map out how the content you’re generating will help support your big idea. This tactile process will help you avoid two common traps of depending on presentation software: overly linear thinking and cluttered, disorganized slides. Stepping away from the computer will also eliminate distractions and help you focus.

6. Anticipate Resistance
Asking audience members to change their behavior or beliefs in order to adopt your Big Idea is a big deal, and some listeners might object to your premise or argument. Think about why and how your audience might hesitate to adopt your message, and be ready to overcome potential arguments. Consider how they might demonstrate the following:

  • Logical resistance: An audience member might resist your argument by reasoning through why the budget doesn’t add up or timing doesn’t work. She won’t buy into your idea if she perceives holes in your argumentative structure or the way you made your case.
  • Emotional resistance: Some audience members will object to your argument on the basis of a specific emotional response (such as fear, anger or guilt) or an ingrained aspect of their personality (such as their desire to go along with the crowd).
  • Practical resistance: Barriers such as money, time and geography can all limit an audience member’s ability to make the changes you’re calling for.

When you acknowledge your audience members’ logical objections, apprehensions and limitations, you give them confidence that you’ve taken the time to consider their needs and desires, helping them trust that you have their best interests at heart.

7. Amplify Your Message by Contrasting
Capture your audience’s interest by highlighting the differences between two concepts. This creates suspense and provides context for your idea.

Some types of contrast include:

  • Past vs. future.
  • Speed vs. endurance.
  • Sacrifice vs. reward.

Contrasting is particularly useful when it comes to selling the audience on your big idea: By emphasizing the differences between the idea you’re presenting and a competing point of view, you can better prepare the audience to accept your conceit.

8. Create a Solid Story Structure
Use a three-act structure with a clear beginning, middle and end.

  • Beginning: Describe the status quo (I call it the “what is”) and contrast it with your idea of the future (aka the “what could be”). The disparity will keep the audience engaged.
  • Middle: Toggle between “what is” and “what could be,” using supporting content to show why your Big Idea is more desirable than the status quo and move the audience toward your vision of “what could be.”
  • End: Clearly state a call to action, emphasizing how bright your audience’s future will be if they heed it (I call this the “new bliss”).

This structure is present in some of the best films, literature and speeches in history. Take advantage of its power for your presentation.

9. Add Emotional Texture
A good story elicits visceral responses: It can make our pupils dilate and our hearts race, prompting us to show our response through laughter, tears or applause. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of most presentations. By incorporating emotion, however, you can better capture your audience’s attention and make your message more memorable.

To forge an emotional connection with your audience, incorporate STAR moments (an acronym for “something they’ll always remember”) into your presentation. Examples of STAR moments include:

  • Emotive anecdotes.
  • Shocking statistics.
  • Evocative visuals.
  • Memorable demonstrations.
  • Repeatable sound bites.

Use STAR moments at points in the presentation where you really want your audience to remember what you said and chat about it at the water cooler afterward.

10. Practice, Practice, Practice
Being prepared will give you confidence and improve the quality of your presentation before you ever step onstage. When you know your material inside and out, you’re able to relax and focus on connecting with the audience. As a result, you come across as prepared and conversational. In the weeks leading up to your presentation, leave plenty of time to:

  • Get honest feedback from a fellow coach or
    skilled presenter.
  • Prepare a short version of the presentation in case of unexpected time constraints.
  • Fiddle with your slides and adjust the body of the talk appropriately.
  • Practice in slideshow mode, running through the speech at least once without peeking at your notes.
  • Videotape yourself and review the replay.
  • Remember Duarte’s Golden Rule: Never deliver a presentation you wouldn’t want to sit through.

Nancy Duarte (USA)

Nancy Duarte is a communication expert and the CEO of Duarte, Inc., the largest design firm in Silicon Valley. She is the author of three books on presentation skills: HBR Guide to Persuasive Presentations; Slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations, which has been translated into eight languages; and Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences, which spent 300 days on Amazon’s top-100 list of bestselling business books.

The views and opinions expressed in guest posts featured on this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of the International Coach Federation (ICF). The publication of a guest post on the ICF Blog does not equate to an ICF endorsement or guarantee of the products or services provided by the author.

Additionally, for the purpose of full disclosure and as a disclaimer of liability, this content was possibly generated using the assistance of an AI program. Its contents, either in whole or in part, have been reviewed and revised by a human. Nevertheless, the reader/user is responsible for verifying the information presented and should not rely upon this article or post as providing any specific professional advice or counsel. Its contents are provided “as is,” and ICF makes no representations or warranties as to its accuracy or completeness and to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law specifically disclaims any and all liability for any damages or injuries resulting from use of or reliance thereupon.

Comments (3)

  1. […] If you’re interested in sharing your services as a coach with a larger audience, adding speaking engagements and larger-scale seminars to your slate of service offerings can help enhance your practice. In addition to meeting a growing demand in the marketplace, a well-crafted and –delivered presentation can be your best form of advertising, driving new clients your way.  […]

  2. Excellent workable summary to apply – very grateful for this!

Leave a Reply

Not a member?

Sign up now to become a member and receive all of our wonderful benefits.

Learn more