Tips on Making Presentations / Setting Presentation Objectives

How many of you actually wrote down an objective before your last presentation?

If you said, “Not me,” you’re not alone! Most of us prefer to jump into writing our presentation instead of planning it out first.

Your objective needs to answer:

• What do you want to accomplish?
  
• What do you want your audience to take away?
  
• What do you want your audience to do?

If you don’t clearly understand what you want to achieve in your presentation, your audience won’t understand either!

Use your objective as the guiding star for your presentation. It guides you about:

• What to put in (content).
  
• What to leave out.
  
• What words will best communicate your message.
  
• How long to speak.
  
• What support material is required.

Think about the audiences you present to. What are some of the things you might want your audience to do as a result of your presentation? You might want them to:

• Change attitudes or perceptions.
  
• Change behavior.
  
• Take your message and share it with others.
  
• Be inspired.

In creating your presentation objective, make sure it’s SMART…

Specific: Not just “I’m giving you some information.”
Measurable: How will you know if you’ve accomplished it?
Achievable
Relevant: To the audience.
Time: Possible in the allotted time.

The true success of your presentation depends on what response your message elicits from the audience.