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Consider The Setting Upfront: Act 1 - The First Act Is The Introduction, The Setup of Your Presentation. This

The document provides tips for developing effective presentations. It recommends (1) considering the presentation setting upfront to tailor the approach, (2) spending significant time developing compelling content through research, and (3) starting with an outline before creating slides to organize ideas. It also suggests (2) following a three-act structure for introductions, the main content, and conclusions. Presentations should have (3) one main point per slide, avoid bullets, and keep things simple with less text and visuals.

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Delicia Hosanna
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24 views

Consider The Setting Upfront: Act 1 - The First Act Is The Introduction, The Setup of Your Presentation. This

The document provides tips for developing effective presentations. It recommends (1) considering the presentation setting upfront to tailor the approach, (2) spending significant time developing compelling content through research, and (3) starting with an outline before creating slides to organize ideas. It also suggests (2) following a three-act structure for introductions, the main content, and conclusions. Presentations should have (3) one main point per slide, avoid bullets, and keep things simple with less text and visuals.

Uploaded by

Delicia Hosanna
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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1.

Consider the setting upfront


A critical factor to consider before developing a presentation is to take into
account the setting of the presentation. Is it in-person or virtual? A keynote
address or a breakout session? Small room or large room? Casual
environment or formal? Whatever the setting, your approach to developing
and giving the presentation should factor in the unique setting and respond
with an appropriate approach.

2. Spend time developing great content


This should go without saying, but content is the core of your presentation.
While all the other ideas below will help to make your content more
impactful, a great presentation starts and ends with great content. So don’t
shortchange your audience by shortchanging the effort you spend on
developing compelling content. You’ll need to invest many hours
researching, writing and brainstorming if you aim to create a presentation
that your audience will appreciate.

3. Start with an outline


Don’t start with PowerPoint or Keynote! Many people start their
presentations by getting right to creating slides.  But you need to remember
that your presentation is not your slides; your slides only support your
presentation. So it’s best to start by creating a simple outline of the main
points you want to make in each act and go from there. The key is to get
your main ideas on paper and organize your thoughts before you start
creating slides. You’ll gain a better understanding of the flow of your
presentation and what content needs to be added, omitted or reordered.

4. Follow the 3-act structure


While not every presentation can easily fit into the 3-act structure, it’s
generally a good method to follow.

Act 1 – The first act is the introduction, the setup of your presentation. This
is where you grab the audience’s attention early on, giving them an
expectation of what they are going to get out of it and a reason to keep
listening. A compelling story or illustration can serve as a powerful opener.
Additional thoughts on the opening: You’ve got mere seconds to hook
your audience, so open with a bang! Absolutely, positively, DO NOT be
salesy or self-deprecating in your opening (or at any point in your
presentation for that matter). And unless you want to lose the audience’s
attention and respect out of the gate, don’t open with those token and
boring slides that talk about you, your firm and all those accolades. Jump
right into the real content!

Act 2 – The middle act is where you sustain their interest. Typically you are
detailing a problem and offering a solution, while educating and informing
along the way. It’s here where you really build your case and sell the
benefits. This is where you’ll want to provide compelling examples, data,
statistics, etc. to support your points.

Act 3 – The final act is where you resolve the problem, recap and remind
the audience of the high points of your presentation. Then leave the
audience with a call-to-action. What is the audience supposed to take away
from your presentation? That should be clearly defined in your closing act.
Also, a final story or illustration and questions from the audience are a great
way to draw the presentation to a close.

5. Have one main point for each slide


It’s best to make only one main point for each slide. Be concise and
coherent and don’t try to cover too much ground on a single slide. Instead,
keep your slide (and your words) focused on hammering home the main
point. But always use brevity; once you have made your point, move on.
You don’t want to lose the audience by belaboring a point once it has been
made.

6. Avoid using bullets


Nothing gets abused in presentations more than bullets. A slide full of
bullets will undoubtedly ensure that your audience will stop listening to you
and instead read what’s on the slide. The fact is, they can read faster than
you can make your points. So remember, they are there to listen to you, not
to read your slides. Bullets might be helpful as notes, but there’s little
reason to include them on your slides.

7. Less is more
Keep in mind, your slides are there to support your presentation, not BE
your presentation. So it’s best to always keep things as simple as they can
be, because your slides are slides, not Word documents! Many presenters
have entirely too much text on a slide and include way too many visuals,
leaving audience members dizzy wondering what they’re looking at. And
don’t design your PowerPoint presentation to be a leave behind. If you want
to give your audience a substantive leave-behind, that should be treated as
an entirely different document altogether

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