Using A Systems Approach To Create Presentations

Use a process to create better presentations
Use a process to create better presentations
Image Credit: Alden Jewell

So just exactly how do you go about creating a presentation when you’ve been asked to give a speech? All too often we forget about the importance of public speaking and go about creating presentations in a haphazard manner that is more hit-or-miss than planned. The results generally show that this is what we did. During the development of our presentation, we can find ourselves going down the wrong path. Even worse, changes to what we are going to be talking about can happen late in the speech development process and this can end up being very expensive in terms of time and effort. There has to be a better way!

The Systems Approach To Creating Presentations

If we forget about the process that we go through when we are creating a speech and instead spend some time thinking about how other things in the world get created, we’d realize that when a new product is being created the people doing the work will generally follow a progression of steps that will lead them from the planning phase through the completion of the project. If we apply this systems approach to creating a speech then we can end up with a much better and more efficiently developed presentation.

When we are creating our next speech we want to make sure that we know what we are doing and we want to know why and how we are going to go about doing it. We can make this happen by applying proven techniques to the creation of our speech. What we need to know is exactly where we are going to need to start when it comes time for us to create a speech. We also have to have an understanding of what will be required for us to do in order to get the result that we desire.

One of the biggest problems that we all face is that although we may know how new products are produced, we seem to forget all about this when it comes time to create a speech. Instead of using a careful proven methodology, we instead throw our hand up, dive in, and start to throw some material together. We will often start things out by using an old presentation, we’ll then create more slides to add to the old presentation, and then we hope that the whole thing will somehow communicate our message to our audience. In the end, it doesn’t and you end up with egg on your face.

Three Steps To Creating A Presentation

If you want to be able to create great presentations each and every time, then you need to create a process by which you create speeches. The same technique that is used to solve virtually any project can be applied to the process by which you create a speech. Using a methodological step-by-step approach will allow you to create better presentations and do so more efficiently.

The first step in this process is to, before you do anything else, sit down and take the time to plan what you are trying to accomplish. Ask yourself “what do you want to get out of giving this presentation?” This part of the process will involve having you understand who will be in your audience and what their interests will be. You are going to want to use this information to create both themes and strategies for your speech.

The next step in your process will be to organize what you are going to want to tell your audience. In order to do this you will create a framework on which you’ll be able to create your speech. The goal here is to create a skeleton for your speech that contains all of the important parts. This will require you to identify the key ideas that you’ll want to include in your speech, Once you know what you want to cover, you’ll then have to organize them into a clear, concise, and convincing flow that you can use to build your speech with.

What All Of This Means For You

Creating a speech can be a challenging task. All too often when we go about creating a speech we don’t do it in an organized manner. Instead, we just end up throwing the things that we think should be in the speech together. The speech that we end up creating looks like this was the way that we made it and it doesn’t convey the benefits of public speaking. A much better way to create a speech is to use a process.

When things besides speeches are being created, we often use a methodological process to put them together. These processes have a clear start, middle, and finish. These processes start out with a planning phase that allows us to understand who we will be talking to. We need to take the time to understand what our audience will want from our speech. Next, we need to organize our speech. This involves creating a framework for the speech that is made up of the most important points that we want to share with our audience.

The importance of creating effective presentations cannot be overstated. We need to stop trying to throw together presentations and instead apply a proven methodology to create high-quality presentations every time. Take the time to plan and organize your next speech and you’ll be pleased with the results that you are able to get.

– Dr. Jim Anderson
Blue Elephant Consulting –
Your Source For Real World Public Speaking Skills™

Question For You: What do you think would be the best way to find out what the interests of your next audience are?

Click here to get automatic updates when The Accidental Communicator Blog is updated.
P.S.: Free subscriptions to The Accidental Communicator Newsletter are now available. Subscribe now: Click Here!
 
Note: What we talked about are advanced speaking skills. If you are just starting out I highly recommend joining Toastmasters in order to get the benefits of public speaking. Look for a Toastmasters club to join in your home town by visiting the web site www.Toastmasters.org. Toastmasters is dedicated to helping their members to understand the importance of public speaking by developing listening skills and getting presentation tips. Toastmasters is how I got started speaking and it can help you also!

What We’ll Be Talking About Next Time

Every time that we agree to give a speech, we really want it to go well because we understand the importance of public speaking. However, this does not always happen. What this means for us as speakers is that we should all be searching for a way to make this business of giving speeches run more like clockwork. What can we do to boost our odds of giving a successful speech? It turns that there is something that we can do. What we can do is to employ a systems approach to giving speeches and this will allow us to make sure that everything that has to be done will get done. It all starts with us planning and organizing our speech. However, after that, we still have work to do.