Your 30-Day Guide to Preparing for a Presentation

By Alexa Fisher

Every presentation is about empowering the audience with your ideas. To be effective, even the greatest ideas must be presented in a way that is mindful of who is listening, putting their needs first.

Here is how anyone can establish benchmarks when building a successful presentation with the audience in mind.

30 Days

Take time to learn about your audience. In your first week of preparation, identify memorable content that will align with your audience’s needs. It’s important to emphasize the story you are trying to tell the audience, even if that story revolves around data points. Use this week to collect and organize the content so you understand your presentation’s order and flow. This will set you up as a relaxed and prepared speaker that naturally foges a connection with your audience when the big moment comes.

The second week can be devoted to crafting content, building interesting slides and making sure you’re prepared with the practical things. These can range from what you’re going to wear to the technical details of the venue where you will be presenting. This stage is about mastering the details, so that there aren’t any surprises the day of the presentation.