If your job entails talking to and influencing people Tom Bird and Jeremy Cassell have prepared a six-step guide to presentation fundamentals that will almost certainly help you make your point.
The Leader’s Guide to Presenting
Tom Bird and Jeremy Cassell are co-authors of 'The Leader’s Guide to Presenting', published by FT Publishing.
From our work with highly effective presenters in a variety of businesses and professional firms we have identified six presentation fundamentals that help ensure your business presentations have a successful outcome. Paying attention to these when you are planning and preparing your presentations will make you more influential and will engage your audiences more effectively.
1. Prepare and present with the audience in mind
First ask: “What do I want to achieve through this presentation?” This defines a clear outcome, and there are generally three types of desirable outcome: you either want your audience to ‘do’ something, ‘understand’ something or ‘commit to action’. Whatever the objective, you need to specify it first as it will inform everything else. Then consider who is the audience and how will they feel about this topic at the start of the presentation. Ask: why should they care about this and what do they already know about the topic? Think carefully about what the audience will need from the presentation in order to ensure you achieve your desired objective. You must be clear about your key points and, putting yourself in the audience’s shoes, think about what questions they might have.
2. Pace your audience before leading them to your outcome
Another fundamental mistake we see from presenters is less obvious but just as impactful: they try to lead their audience to the desired outcome too quickly and without recognising or acknowledging their current reality. Leaving them behind communicates a lack of empathy that will have a negative impact on your desired objective.
Pacing the audience is the process of letting them know you understand how they might feel about the topic on which you are presenting before you launch into your content. You can do this effectively by taking a moment to look at things from their point of view:
- How might you feel about this topic right now?
- What other priorities, pressures or challenges might you have that could be taking more of your focus at this moment?
- What else might be happening for you that might negatively or positively impact your view of this presentation?
- What concerns might you want addressed?
Based on your answers you can construct a few pacing statements, which you can make at the very start of the presentation, that demonstrate empathy and understanding of the reality for your audience. You are looking to make three or four statements that elicit nods from them. Once you have this agreement you can move on to your presentation, as you will have established empathy.
3. Manage your attitude proactively
If you are nervous, change your physiognomy: look up rather than down, focus on breathing from your diaphragm (rather than your chest) and manage your thoughts so that you mentally see a positive outcome. To change your attitude, you need to take a minute to become aware of what you are thinking, which can only be managed if you are aware of it.
4. Less is more - reduce your content
5. Make an impact at the start and finish
If you plan to take questions, do this before your final summary. If you get a tough question at the end you don’t want that being what the audience remembers. Save your summary and key points for after the questions.
6. Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse
These presentation fundamentals work on the basis that people buy an idea emotionally first and then justify it logically (think about any personal purchase you have made recently). Your presentation needs to recognise and leverage this if the audience is to be open to your logical case. By following the steps outlined here, you maximise the chance of achieving your outcome more of the time – something that as managers and leaders we are judged upon.
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About the author
Tom Bird, author, facilitator, trainer and keynote speaker who specialises in presentation skills, influencing and communication
About the author
Jeremy Cassell, freelance trainer with experience as national training manager for L’Oreal and national sales training manager for Walkers
Further reading
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Update History
- 15 May 2017 (12: 00 AM BST)
- First published
- 05 Dec 2022 (12: 00 AM GMT)
- Page updated with Further reading section, adding related resources on presentation skills. These additional articles provide fresh insights, case studies and perspectives on this topic. Please note that the original article from 2017 has not undergone any review or updates.