In business there is a concept of the “elevator pitch.” Effectively, if you happened to get into a lift with a potential customer, could you deliver your pitch within the elevator ride? And yes, elevator rides are short. This applies to every single presentation. What is your message?
Too often presentations fail to deliver because they speaker doesn’t actually have a single identifiable message, they simply have information. Identifying your message before you construct your story allows you to consider how to tell your story (p1) and then how to illustrate it (p2). Simply presenting data or talking for 10 minutes is not effective presentation.
For your next presentation write down in three sentences a pitch that have your audience interested in your presentation. If you can’t cover a pitch in three sentences (not the content but the interest) then you haven’t identified your message. Your audience won’t be able to either. If you can, they will put their hand over the elevator button and say, “tell me more.”
