This discussion series is an excerpt of my book: The Competence Myth - Why your technical skills are no longer enough and what you can do about it (Post #6, based on Chapter 12: Articulating Yourself
Ok, let’s jump right into it. What do you need to do to be an effective speaker or presenter. Or, let’s ask a different question, What are the necessary elements that make any given presentation as effective as possible? Here are the key ingredients.
Number 1. It begins with organization, it virtually impossible to present your ideas in a coherent manner without first organizing them. Well.. duh…No don’t go there. This is the distinction between an open discussion and a cohesive verbal presentation. And that difference is not always fully appreciated. Given that you are the acknowledged subject matter expert, you might assume that you’re simply talking about something you have intimate knowledge of. Therefore you can just wing it. You can just informally present your ideas. Yeah, Let it “flow,”
No, nothing could be further from the truth. Organization is everything. And that requires the discipline to write things down, create PowerPoint slides or other materials. Then you must edit and arrange. In this process, you begin to discern the most logical flow for the information you wish to present. The best approach is typically to create an outline, and then fill in the detailed content.
But here’s the key, you need to be mentally and emotionally prepared to edit over and over again. Don’t get stubborn about any particular point or approach to presenting a certain idea. Invariably, your best results come from the refinement, not the initial effort.
Ok, that’s all we time for now, next time, we discuss the second key ingredient to an effective presentation. See ya.