What's the point?
“ The best sentence? The shortest.”
Anatole France
Have you ever been to a presentation, watched a video, or read an article and found yourself halfway through wondering "So, what's the point?". This is such a common mistake, people give more information than necessary and often lose the direction of their work.
It comes down to presentation skills. Even when writing an article or making a video. We want to impress, seem smart or over prepared. The more information we present we think we are being thorough, but in fact we might be hindering the overall message we want to deliver. Let's go over some simple steps you can take to GET TO THE POINT.
The Answer
What is the one sentence answer to someone asking what your presentation is about? As an example, my one sentence answer to this article would be:
"I show you how to cut the crap and get to the point of a presentation to create a more engaging experience."
Anything you add to your presentation that doesn't support this one sentence should be left out. It'll be heartbreaking to remove all those clever quips, or data sets, or anecdotes, or case studies, but in the end if it doesn't support that one answer it's not meant for this.
Who is This For?
Who is going to be consuming this? The importance of knowing this is key to delivering the answer. If I'm delivering a presentation on performance to a
bunch of accountants, I'm going to speak their language. I will use data sets and numbers. I'm going to relate to what they know best and what they would want from my answer. This would not be the time to showcase my skills for blog writing, or the color scheme of the website. This is the time to drive home facts and figures. A + B = C.
Presenting For Everyone But Yourself
This is probably the hardest part. To be perfectly honest, blame your Mother. She told you everything you said was funny and you're special (which you might be, I don't know your life). But the fact of the matter is you aren't speaking to hear yourself speak, you are giving information to a group of people who probably couldn't care less if you or a robot were speaking. I know, I'm sorry, this probably hurt your feelings. It hurts mine every time. But here's the secret, if you follow these steps...they might start to care.
Present, Don't Read
Aside from getting to the point, a common mistake is reading everything on your slide. Stop doing this. Immediately. The average person can read a small amount of text while listening at the same time. The result is they've read your notes faster than you can speak them. Now, they just sit there, staring at your face as you read something they just read. Boring. Present an idea on your slide and expand on it. Engage with your audience. Make them want to interact. Make them lean forward in their chair waiting with baited breath as to what you'll say next.
Understanding these steps will be the start to delivering more concise presentations, sales pitches, or even a pitch to get promoted. To be clear, this doesn't mean your presentation on the dynamic of phase shifting in quantum physics should only be 10 slides, but it doesmean you shouldn't go off on a tangent about thermo-nuclear fusion in the middle. Remember, get to the point quicker, and you may just be asked for more presentation opportunities.
*I know nothing of quantum physics or thermo-nuclear fusion