Why you need to define the goal of your presentation?
The author of the book “The Power Presenter", Jerry Weissman, compared a presentation to a journey from point A to point B. To make the journey as brief and comfortable as possible for everyone, it is worth knowing your destination exactly. By setting a clear goal for your presentation, you minimize the risk of drifting off to side issues. Some of the issues you might want to raise may be of little or no interest to the audience. Worse than that, they may prove counterproductive and drag you away from your goal, wasting the entire effort you put into making the presentation.
Ask yourself what specific goal you want to achieve with your presentation. It can be convincing the recipient to take advantage of your offer or building your authority as an expert in your field. It could be informing the management board about the current financial condition of your company, or showing your organization's financial status in the most favorable light. Different goals call for different ways of presenting data.
The goal of your presentation will determine the way you structure the content. The awareness of the goal is critical. Keeping it always in sight will make you automatically reject all useless content, and focus only on what actually brings you closer to achieving the goal.
Piotr Garlej
