Architects typically don’t design buildings by first assembling the sticks and bricks and then standing back to see what it looks like.
They design buildings by first asking lots of questions to determine what the end result needs to do.
What will be its purpose?
What features does it require to accomplish that purpose?
Who wants it, and why?
Who will use it, and why?
Is there space for a big, leisurely building, or must it be compact and minimalist?
Only after satisfying themselves that their grand, preliminary design meets certain tests do they begin the task of detailed fabrication.
Those who craft the best presentations observe the same process.
What do you want your remarks to do? What task must they perform?
Draft your plan beforehand.
I’m not talking about the outline of content, but about the central message, the theme, the Big Idea.
Here’s a test to apply to your thinking: “When my audience leaves at the end of my remarks, I want them to (blank).”
Now fill in the blank.
Next, determine what it will take to move your audience to take whatever action you’ve proposed.
What’s important to them and their interests?
What facts are appropriate for informing them?
What stories dramatize and humanize your points?
What benefits will appeal to them?
What hazards or risks await them?
Then, finally, what do you want them to do? Do more than tell yourself at this point. Tell your audience. (This is your call to action, and no presentation is complete without it…even if it’s no more than suggesting they think about your remarks over a cup of coffee.)
Whether you’re preparing for a major speech to a national conference or a 5-minute report to your co-workers, visualize your ultimate design before you begin building the structure. Your message should drive the construction process, not the other way around.
In the end, you want a rational, cohesive result that stands confidently in the minds of your audience, not a flimsy collection of bits and pieces that will collapse onto itself with the first challenge.
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