CAB 9. Every presentation is a showtime

Hello friends.

I wrote before about the concept of PIE. How the various component contributes to your career progression. Performance is 10%, Image is 30% and Exposure is 60%.

https://doktoraz.beehiiv.com/p/big-career-pie

A huge part of Exposure is about the internal networking that you have to do in order for you to be known and recognised by the decision-makers in your company, and I have covered this topic in the last few editions of this newsletter.

The other important component of Exposure is Presentation.

What I mean by this is that every time that you do a presentation at the workplace, it is another opportunity for you to gain more exposure. It is an opportunity to make a good impression on the people who are watching you. You never know who could be in the audience that day. It could be your boss, it could be other directors in your company who could be your potential boss in the future.

Therefore every time that you do a presentation, treat it as SHOWTIME!

Most of you are now going to say ‘but I don’t like doing presentations’. You are not alone. 75% of the general public has glossophobia - fear of public speaking.

I too used to have glossophobia but over the years I have overcome this and the key to this is simple - PREPARATION.

For every presentation, you need to prepare early and prepare well. Not last minute, the night before, type of preparation. A well thought out preparation.

How do I start my preparation?

First, I find out who will be in the audience. Is it my boss? Or the Regional Office team? Or maybe even the Global Office team? It is important to know this so that you can tailor the presentation to their level of understanding.

Then I will outline the presentation. I start by thinking what is the one key message that I want them to remember at the end of the presentation. Just one key message. Not two, not three. Just one.

This is because we all have very bad memories. One study has shown that a week after a presentation, only 10% of the audience can remember something about the presentation.

http://jackmalcolm.com/2012/08/how-much-of-your-presentation-will-they-remember/

That’s why I only aim for them to remember only one key message.

Once I have the one key message, I will then write down 3 supporting messages for my presentation.

So ONE key message, and THREE supporting messages.

Next I will think of a ‘Mind Grenade’ to start the presentation. This is usually some unusual or interesting facts about the topic of the presentation. The idea is to capture the attention of your audience straightaway when you start the presentation.

For example, when I am giving a talk about career progression, I like to show them at the start, the photo of the gorgeous view from my apartment in Manhattan to inspire them to what they can achieved. When I am giving a talk about ‘how to do a presentation’, I like to ask them about the meaning of glossophobia to get their brain going.

Once I have chosen my mind grenade, then I will start writing my presentation fully word by word. I am old fashioned for this part and still use pen and paper to write my presentation.

During the writing, I will include my personal stories and anecdotes, and I will also pay attention to including appropriate analogies. The use of analogies is very powerful because when used correctly it will help your audience understand your presentation better.

For example, to explain to people why getting health insurance is important, you can use the analogy of a car airbag. You never know when you are going need it.

Once I have finished writing the script of the presentation, I will rehearse it a few times to make sure that I am happy with the flow and the choice of words that I have included in the script. At this stage, I would also time myself to make sure that my presentation is within the allocated time. I am sure we find it irritating when a presenter goes over the allocated time, so don't do that!

Once I am happy with my script, then it is time to make my PowerPoint slides to support me during my presentation.

And I will write about how to make good impactful slides in the next edition of this newsletter, and then I will also write how to deliver an impactful presentation.

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Work presentation is another important opportunity to gaining valuable exposure.

For your next presentation, start with a BANG, with a mind grenade.CAB 9