It will take little effort on your part to structure your talk properly but the payback is vast. Your presentation will be so much more effective if it is properly structured. Think about a written document; a written report. We would always structure these properly. We would have a contents page, chapters and within each chapter, headings and sub-headings. We would break the document down into 'digestible chunks'. We would make it easy to read. (Even if we didn't structure our documents properly, theoretically, the reader could spend time going over and over what we had written in an attempt to make sense of it.) What about the verbal presentation? What do the audience do if this is not structured properly? Once you, the speaker, have said the words, they disappear into the ether...the audience can't get them back and rearrange them to help them understand. Your words have gone. You would always structure a written document but how many presentations have you listened to which had no clear structure? And, if you think about it, it's even more important to structure a verbal presentation because the words, once spoken, are lost. So, how do you go about structuring a presentation? Well, there's nothing new under the sun, as they say. How about: 'Tell 'em what you're going to tell 'em...Tell 'em...Tell 'em what you've told 'em'. Or in presentation speak, divide your talk into an: Introduction...Main Body...Conclusion. Think about the news on TV. They start with the headlines, give you the detail and then give you the headlines again. Simple but effective. So what should you include in each part of your talk? Introduction Start by saying something interesting to grab the audience's attention. What you say must be directly relevant to the subject of your talk. This gets you off to a flying start and shows the audience that you will be interesting. Secondly, introduce yourself to the audience and establish your credibility. Then you need to 'sell' your talk to the audience. Tell them why they should listen, why what you are saying is important to them. You can now précis the content of your talk. Tell them what you are going to cover and why. This helps the audience to 'see' what your talk is all about and put what you say into context. Finally, deal with any administration points, for example, can they ask you questions during your talk, or would you rather that they asked them at the end. Main Body Make it clear that you have started your first point. Precis what you are going to cover. Then you can give them the detail (not too much!) and finally summarise what you have said. Do not be afraid of repitition, the audience need it for your points to sink home. Repeat this structure for each of your main points. Conclusion To finish your talk, restate your objective - remind the audience what they need to do, and why they should do it. Summarise all of your key points as a final reminder and finally, finish on a high by referring back to the opening statement you made right at the start of your talk. Although this structure may sound a little prescriptive, the audience will not see that your structure is following a set of rules. All they will notice is that your talk is delivered in a logical way and is easy to follow.
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