A tech presentation is daunting, especially when the stakes are high, such as presenting to senior leadership or prospective clients.
But a presentation is also an excellent opportunity to deliver your message. A group of attentive people, listening to every word you speak. It doesn’t get better than this.
So how can you ace it? Here’s a framework you can use for your next big presentation.
#1 Start the presentation with “what’s in it for them”
In a presentation, everyone invests their most valuable asset—their time.
Start by addressing what’s in it for them and what they’ll gain in return for their time.
Here’s an example intro slide.
In the above intro slide we:
- Give them a reason to care (preventing financial loss)
- Establish relatability (reference to a past outage)
- Instill a sense of responsibility (towards their employees)
#2 Explain the purpose behind your presentation
Now transition to your “whys” after establishing what your audience can take away.
- Why are you presenting it now? (because a major e-commerce event is coming up soon…)
- What changed from last time? (you have better tools, technology, people now…)
- Why should they care? (employee happiness score was low due to such recurring outages…)
Highlight your competitors’ strategies at this point.
Having established the reasons why your audience should listen to you now, let’s proceed to actions.
#3 What’s your CTA (call to action)
Once your audience understands the message, clearly articulate what actions you need them to take.
Are you asking for budget approval?
Are you asking for their time commitment?
Are you asking for a new team?
Be very clear about your ask.
This is where most of us fall short. Don’t make that mistake.
Here’s an example call to action slide.
#4 What does the listener (or the team/organization) miss if your CTA is not done
Remind the audience of what the organization stands to lose if the necessary actions are not taken.
By now they should have the message.
But it is essential to reiterate so that the point is delivered.
Here are some examples:
There will be a missed opportunity to save costs and improve margins.
Customer experience will take a hit.
Our brand will suffer a bad PR.
Be very specific and make it impactful.
#5 How does the roadmap for CTA look like…
End your presentation with a plan of action.
Everyone wants to see a plan.
The plan gives confidence that you can walk the talk.
Make it very simple and call out only key milestones.
Here’s an example roadmap.
That’s it! You now have a compelling framework to apply in your next big presentation.
To recap:
- Start with “what’s in it for them”
- Explain the purpose behind your presentation
- What’s your CTA (call to action)
- What does the listener (or the team/organization) miss if your CTA is not done
- How does the roadmap for CTA look like
All the best! You’ll rock it…
In case you haven’t read, Presentation Zen is an amazing book for every presenter our there. Do yourself a favour and grab a copy!
