“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching
“Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start.” -Julie Andrews as Maria in The Sound of Music
“Do you not know, then, that the beginning in every task is the chief thing?” -Plato, Republic
You’ve been asked to give a big presentation for your company. You start to feel excited, but also a little bit overwhelmed. Where do you even start?
Beginning a presentation is sometimes the hardest part. You have many options, and everyone’s process for getting started is a little bit different.
Today, we are going to lay out a series of 6 easy steps you can follow to create your presentation, beginning to end. It’s called the design process, and it is used by architects and writers and engineers and scientists and presenters alike. According to the Chicago Architecture Center, “the design process is an approach for breaking down a large project into manageable chunks.” Let’s examine the design process step by step.
1. Define the Problem/Story
The first step is to figure out what you need or want to share with your audience. I like to ask, “what is the story I need to tell?” That keeps me in a narrative mindset from the very beginning of content development. If you are developing a presentation as part of a team or for someone else (like your boss), you’ll need to gather information about what expectations they have for the presentation content. Make sure you know the story they want you to tell.
2. Collect Information
Your next step to create your presentation involves researching. But not just researching your topic. You also need to collect information on the presentation logistics like room setup, available technology, expected presentation time length, and more. It’s also a good idea to conduct an audience analysis during this step of the process. Audience analysis means gathering information about your audience so that you can craft your message specifically for them.
3. Brainstorm & Analyze Ideas
Once you’ve figured out the story you want to tell, and once you know where and to whom you’ll be telling it, it’s time to start stitching your content together. Again, this part of the process is a little bit different for everyone. It might be a dynamic team meeting around a whiteboard, or it could be you alone with paper and pencil. All that really matters in this step is that you are generating ideas.
4. Develop Solutions & Create a Draft
At this stage in the design process, you are moving from random ideas without clear structure to content that has form and flow. You might even begin to lay out a storyboard to help create your presentation. I like the way Boords.com talks about storyboarding. They say, “Storyboarding does more that summarize your plot’s most relevant details. It’s a process that gives you and your team members a project’s tangible, visual flow when it’s time to collaborate and make key creative decisions in the pre-production process.”
5. Get Feedback on Your Draft
This fifth step is the one that too many presenters skip over. Since presenting is often tackled as a solo venture, it might feel strange to bring others in to bounce your ideas off of them. But trust us, getting feedback is crucial. When it comes time to ask for feedback, it can help to think of your audience instead of yourself. Instead of worrying how you might feel if you get some negative feedback, focus on how that feedback will ultimately help you make the presentation better for your audience.
6. Improve Your Presentation
Once you’ve taken time to collect feedback, it’s time to revise your presentation. Even though this is the last step in the process, you need to be ready to make major changes if they are needed. Check out our blog about the importance of revision in slide design. Some presenters find that they need to make changes, and then go back to step 5 and collect more feedback on the revisions they made. Once you feel like you have your presentation content pretty close to perfect, it’s time to polish and practice. Check out our complete guide to practicing your presentation here. And don’t be afraid to keep making small changes as needed until your presentation is the best it can be.
Once you’ve made it through the 6 steps of the design process, you’ll be ready to confidently deliver an incredible presentation. And next time, that first step to create your presentation won’t seem quite so scary.
From presentation development to design to delivery, Ethos3 is here to help every step of the way. Find out how.
The post How to Create Your Presentation in 6 Easy Steps appeared first on Ethos3 – A Presentation Training and Design Agency.
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