Presentation Prep – Knowing your stuff is not enough

I was talking to a friend recently about a presentation she had to give the next day and she was feeling nervous, a bit stressed and worried that she wouldn’t come across as credible and knowledgeable. Then she said, “as long as I know my stuff it will be ok. It all comes down to that doesn’t it?”.

Well, yes. And no.

Knowing your stuff is a non-negotiable and the feelings she was experiencing are common. But these things are self-focussed and neglect to consider an important component – the audience. How does “your stuff” and which bits of this knowledge help your audience? What do they need to know and what value do you bring them?

It’s a problem and solution mindset and approach – what is the problem that the audience could be experiencing in their worlds, what’s the impact of it and how are you helping them to solve that problem and move towards a solution.

Pure transfer of knowledge and information is likely to fall short, as it leaves it up to the individuals in your audience to put it into context, make sense of it and figure out where and how it helps them. You might get lucky with a few people but in general most will switch off if they can’t see or understand the relevance. It’s your job to make this easy for them.

Here are some considerations to help you set the scene in your own head as you prepare your presentation.

What’s your objective?

What you want to achieve in your presentation; for you, the audience and the business. This needs to be strong and clear and a central driver of your message. Hint – it’s not ‘giving information’ or to come across as the smartest person in the room.

Consider the ‘why’, the What’s In It For Me for your audience. Why is it important to achieve the objective? How does achieving it help your audience? What is the problem you are trying to solve?

Audience Analysis

Who is your audience and what is their current state/disposition? What problem and impacts are they experiencing? How does it look from their perspective, not just yours or the business? Importantly, what is this problem costing them?

What is the desired state you would like them to get to? What then, do they need from the presentation to get them there?

Solution

Now that you understand the problem they may be experiencing, why are you there and how you can help? How does your presentation help solve the problem or alleviate the impacts they are experiencing? What solution are you offering and why is it the best way to go?

Throughline

What is the exact idea and takeaway for the audience? This will give your presentation a clear and central message, a point. Your throughline is the connecting theme that ties it all together. Think of a story, a movie. They are not a collection of separate ideas, they are connected. Bringing the ideas together gives them meaning.

So, then think about what information is needed to demonstrate your point, build on the theme and relate back to your throughline.

Action

Think back to your objective. What do you want your audience to do as a result of your presentation? Has the throughline or journey you have taken them on led them to a clear call to action?

How do you want your audience to feel so that they are more likely to take that action? Data, information and rational analysis alone is unlikely to get them there.

You’ll notice that the above considerations involve a lot of thinking and not a heap of content or massaging of information. That comes next as we begin to structure the presentation and decide what bits of ‘knowing your stuff’ need to be included.

It is tempting to skip these steps and jump straight to structure, or even to rely on your knowledge and ‘wing it’. If you’re wanting to engage your audience, genuinely help them and get a result, take the time to do the thinking first.

By not making it about you, you'll calm the nerves, challenge your Imposter Syndrome and the credible and knowledgeable bit takes care of itself.