Presentation Preparation – Do It Right!

This semester, my students at Rider University have been doing lots of presentations in our classes. I’ll be sharing these tips for preparing presentations with them, so I thought I’d share them with you, too:

1. Know your audience! Before you start writing, try to “get inside the heads” of the people you’ll be presenting to — your audience. Know their likes and dislikes — and try to know what will grab their attention.

2. Don’t forget that you’re writing for an AUDIENCE, not for readers!

(Generally, readers have the luxury of taking their time with words and concepts…) An audience likes to be “entertained.”

3. Use repetition. Don’t be afraid to repeat key messsages, concepts and benefits to hammer home the messages you want to convey.

4. Be organized. Follow a logical progression — I usually create an outline or “map” for a presentation’s journey, from start to finish.

5. Be consistent. Use the same writing style and the same design throughout the entire presentation — everything should match. Sometimes, this is difficult when several people are working on the same presentation. Make sure you get together beforehand to merge your parts into one cohesive presentation.

Follow these tips, and you’ll be on your way to a good, professional presentation!

Until next time,

Kathy Magrino

2 thoughts on “Presentation Preparation – Do It Right!

  1. Kathy Magrino Post author

    Thank you, Sandy! I appreciate your encouragement and kind remarks!
    K

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