Four key objectives of a presentation
You already knew that defining objectives is important, especially when designing presentations. Without clear objectives, we will not be able to get results. We will not be able to add meaningful content to the presentation slides.
So, what are good objectives for presentations, and how do we define them?
Having clear objectives will mean that we have clear directions. This is true especially designing presentation slides. We need clear directions to know what goes on to the slides and what to throw out. Slides that are cluttered and difficult to understand are those designed without clear directions.
Very often, the content was put together in a quick and disorganized manner. It was not well thought through and included unrelated content. This makes the resulting presentation messy and difficult to understand.
Very much just like when driving to our destination. If we don’t take time to plan our route, we might end up taking a longer route and at times get lost and not reach our destination.
Designing results-orientation presentations are the same. We need to have clear directions before we start putting slides together.
Thinking about the objectives does not help much. We need to write it down on paper so we can see it. And especially if we are working in a team to develop those presentation slides, everyone in the team should have a copy of the objective to work towards the objective.
So write down the objectives before you start designing those slides.
Every presentation has its own defined objectives depending on the topic, scope of the presentation, the audience profile, time allocated for the actual presentation, and other factors.
Above that, all presentations should have these four important key objectives as a part of the overall objectives.
#1 Enables Quicker Communication
The first key objective is one that enables quicker communication of ideas. So we need to ensure that when we design our presentation slides, the content ideas are simple enough for us to communicate them quickly.
The quicker, the better.
Simple content is easier to communicate. We don’t need to spend too much time explaining because simple content is straightforward and easy to comprehend. If the content is complex, we need to spend lots of time to explain it for the audience to understand.
#2 Enable Increased Retention
The second key objective is to enable increased retention. When you present, you want your audience to remember as much as possible the things that we shared during the presentation. If we share ten things, we want the audience to remember at least seven things.
So we need to design the presentation content to be simple enough for the audience to remember them easily.
#3 Ensure Higher Acceptance
The third is to ensure higher acceptance. Acceptance of our ideas. Acceptance of the things we share during the presentation.
There might be many decision-makers at the presentation session listening to us. We must ensure that the things we share are easily understood so that deciding on the spot is a no-brainer.
This is of utmost importance if the presentation is to get approval or a signature for a business proposal.
#To Improve Closing Rate
The fourth is to include an objective that will improve the closing rate. Everything that we do to prepare for the presentation is to get buy-in into our ideas, our products, our services.
So we want to ensure that we have the first three key objectives in place when we communicate and, as a result, achieve the fourth objective, that is, improved closing rate.
Yes, specific objectives for the presentation are a must. The above four key objectives are paramount and must be included as part of the overall objectives of the presentation.
Without considering or including these four key objectives, our presentation doesn’t have the drive to achieve the desired results.
Do you have a habit of writing down your presentation objectives before you begin designing your slides?
If not, maybe it’s good to start getting into the habit of writing down the presentation objectives before you begin building your slides. It might take up a little more time in your presentation design process. You will soon realise that, the resulting presentation will be more polished your audience will love it.
