Before putting together any business presentation, I suggest you answer these three questions:

1. what is the central message of this presentation?
2. why does this message have value for the audience members?
3. how does this message connect to the organization's vision, mission and strategies

I encourage you to answer these three questions before you do anything else. The greatest visuals in the world, the most organized power point presentation, and the most inspirational stories will be meaningless if the audience does not clearly understand what your point is, why it has value to them, and how it fits within the organization.

Far too often, presenters march into the preparation of a presentation without clearly defining their message, the value to the audience, and the desired outcome. Whenever you present, remember that the presentation is for the audience's benefit, not yours. Delivering a great presentation and developing a reputation as an effective presenter may very well enhance your career, but that is not the purpose of the presentation. Always shift the value of the presentation from your perspective to the audience's.

Once you clearly know the answers to these three questions, the next important question to answer is: What is the best way to deliver this message?

This is where your ability as a presenter will significantly impact the business outcomes.

There are five stages to a successful presentation. They are the:

1. weeks before the presentation
2. minutes before the presentation
3. presentation itself
4. minutes after the presentation
5. weeks after the presentation

Each stage is critical to the success of a truly high impact presentation.

WEEKS BEFORE THE PRESENTATION

During this time frame, you have the opportunity to truly begin to understand your audience. Even if these individuals work with you everyday or report to you, don't assume that you understand their situation.

There are three main things you can do to see things more clearly from their perspective. First, you could survey the entire group. Give them three or four key questions to answer and have them send them back to you anonymously. This way you can gather some honest input in preparation for the presentation. Second, you could interview five or six individuals within the group to gain valuable input. I suggest you give them six or seven questions to think about prior to the interview. Third, you could spend anywhere from half a day to two full days working side by side with them to really understand their perspective. Just because you work for the same company does not mean you know what they go through on a regular basis. The key is to make sure that you truly understand their point of view before you try to present a message to them.

In preparation for a thirty-minute presentation for Marriott, I read the biography of Bill Marriott, Sr. and the autobiography of Bill Marriott, Jr., stood behind the registration desk and the concierge station for three hours at a full-service Marriott hotel, spent two hours with the housekeepers, and interviewed five general managers at various Marriott brands. To prepare for a presentation at McDonald's, I worked as a crew member for seven hours, interviewed fifteen department heads, and read Ray Kroc's book, "Grinding It Out." In preparation for a presentation to eighty truck drivers who were members of the UAW, I rode with a truck driver for eleven hours and interviewed the president of the company. Preparation in the weeks before the presentation is what makes the delivery valuable.

MINUTES BEFORE THE PRESENTATION

Once your presentation begins no one cares how much prep work you did. Either you deliver the goods or you don't. Just as a golfer visualizes a successful shot before swinging the club, a successful presenter visualizes how their presentation will have a positive impact on the audience outcomes after it is over. Oftentimes, I will mentally replay a successful presentation before I stand up to speak. Then I will remind myself exactly how the audience will be better off after the presentation than before it. Finally, it is important for the presenter to come across as sincere and interested in the audience. I suggest that you spend the minutes before a presentation going around and saying hello to the audience members. Be relaxed and natural. You're not an actor going on stage. You are simply delivering a meaningful message that has value for the audience. Enjoy this process. Remind yourself one more time that the presentation is not for your benefit. It is for the audience's benefit.

THE PRESENTATION ITSELF

There are a few key principles to keep in mind during the presentation:

• Keep the audience involved
• Vary your approach
• Be clear about your point
• Don't fill the time slot, fill the mental slot
• Challenge the audience to develop an action plan

Audience involvement is crucial. Remember: this time is for them, not you. One way to get them mentally involved from the beginning is to start with a rhetorical question. You might say, "How can we collectively and individually break all previous sales records?" Then pause and let the audience reflect for a few seconds. Throughout the program build in opportunities for the audience to write down their ideas, discuss their thoughts in small groups and have open question and answer periods.

Bill Gove, a professional speaker for more than fifty years, once said, "The enemy of the speaker is sameness." Even if you are very gifted at some aspect of presentations, you will lose your audience's interest if you do it over and over again. Vary your delivery by mixing in personal and famous stories, visual aids, slides, power point, analogies, quotes, and other ways to make points that support your central message.

Remember to avoid the "donut presentation". A donut presentation has no center or central message. This happens when the presentation is well organized and presented in a crisp and clear fashion, but after it is over the audience does not know what the main point is or how it fits in with the mission, vision and strategies of the organization or what to do with it. High tech does not necessarily equal high impact. The key is to derive a clear message that has relevant meaning and value for the audience.

By all means, do not fill up the time allotted to you. Focus on filling the audience's mental slot with meaningful ideas, powerful questions and challenges that will cause them to bring out their best efforts.

In the end, the key to a successful presentation is what happens after it is over with. If there is not a change in attitudes or behaviors that lead to better results after the presentation as opposed to before the presentation, then there was no need to have the presentation. Challenge your audience to commit to an action plan within the framework of the presentation.

MINUTES AFTER THE PRESENTATION

The integrity of the presenter either adds or subtracts from the value of the presentation. The "throw away" comments that presenters make after the presentation is over can diminish all of the work they poured into their program. Comments like "I doubt they understood what I was really saying" or "This group probably won't do anything with what I told them" or "I don't know why I wasted my time preparing for this group. They don't care anyway" can really devastate an audience. Be careful that your casual comments after the presentation support the message that you were trying to get across. If you are saying that the key to success is teamwork and communication and then you immediately degrade another person as soon as you sit down, your message will be lost.

WEEKS AFTER THE PRESENTATION

Even the greatest presenters in the world can be quickly forgotten. If you want your message to actually generate better results, then it is very important to reinforce the message in a variety of ways. You could send a series of weekly letters to each of the audience members for six weeks after the program is over. You could leave them voicemails. You could send visual reminders that they could put in their office that reinforces your central message. The key is to keep the message alive long enough that it directly impacts what people do and how they do it.

Presentations can drive better business results. The work described here is quite time consuming, but the payoff in terms of enhanced outcomes can make it very worthwhile. I suggest that you focus on doing fewer presentations that have greater impact on aligning individual activities with the corporate vision and strategies and move the needle significantly forward on your critical business issues.

Dan Coughlin is a professional speaker, executive coach and consultant who specializes in enhanced individual effectiveness.

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