7 things you can do to better prepare yourself for a presentation

Written by: Kanika Khosla & Tab Chao — March 25th 2018

Here are 7 things to help you better prepare yourself when you know you have a big presentation coming up.

Start early

Don’t wait till the night before to put your presentation together. Your presentation matters as much as the information you are trying to convey. Leave enough time for yourself and your team to be able to iterate and really become comfortable with the presentation. By the time you actually present, you will find that because you have had enough time to digest the information, the presentation will feel like second nature. Ideally (if time permits) start the groundwork 2 weeks before the presentation.

Clearly divide up the work & collectively own the presentation

Make sure your team is onboard and clearly knows how they are contributing. Everyone should feel like they own the presentation, to ensure a cohesive team while presenting. Each member of the team should know what parts of the presentation they are responsible for and be proactive in providing feedback and helping the rest of the team. You can start this as a brainstorm session on post its or just a few notes on a notepad. Ultimately it needs to be clearly articulated on your Trello board or an equivalent project manager tool you are using.

Create multiple iterations

As any designer knows, the design is never done — there is always more that can be improved and iterated on. Allow enough time for the team to provide feedback on the visual design as well as time for your visual designer to create 2 -3 iterations of the presentation.

Do a quick presentation with your peers with a draft

In the first week, use your draft to do a quick presentation to peers outside of your team who aren’t familiar with the topic. Think of this as a low-fidelity prototype.

Practice as a team and be open for feedback

Once all the content is in place, start practicing the presentation as a group and do a few run throughs. Set a timer to see how long you take. Make sure there is a note taker to document everyone’s feedback. Incorporate the feedback to improve individual parts as well as the whole presentation.

Set the scene and do a final mock presentation

Do a final run through as you believe it is going to be the day of the presentation. Tell your audience their roles (which will be the roles of the individuals you are presenting to that day). Don’t worry if you can’t find the exact number of people. The most important thing is for your team to present like it is the real deal. Ask your audience to be critical of your presentation and incorporate their feedback.

Take a break before the presentation

Feel free to practice the morning of the presentation, but give yourself at least a 15–30 minute break before your presentation where you are getting some fresh air, doing some stretches, using the restroom, or clearing your head.

With these steps in place, you’ll knock your presentation out of the park and deliver a presentation that captivates your stakeholders and moves your project in a better direction.

Till next week,
Team Flux