The Cost of a Bad Presentation – Can You Afford to Pay It?
This article is for successful executives only. Your image as an executive and leader is being judged and evaluated every time you give a presentation. You have to make sure you pass the test. Here’s how to communicate with power and influence.
There is a cost/benefit aspect to every presentation you give. In the first minute the audience is deciding four things:
• Are you the appropriate person for the topic or issue?
• Do you know what you’re talking about?
• Do they believe you?
• Do they like and accept you
If they feel you’re not the right person to be speaking, it doesn’t matter what you say.
If they feel you don’t know what you’re talking about, it doesn’t matter what you say.
If they don’t believe you, it doesn’t matter what you say.
If the don’t like and accept you, it doesn’t matter what you say.
You only have about 60 seconds to establish your credibility, believability and likeability. Your success as an executive depends on how well you answer those four questions. Can you answer them?
A Presentation is a Business Transaction
A presentation is a business transaction. There are tangible benefits for delivering a presentation that generates the desired results. And there are tangible costs for missing the mark. It’s up to you to decide if you can afford to not make every presentation pay off.
You are an executive. Success in your career depends on how well you meet goals and generate specific results. That’s how you measure the value of any presentation. You look at it in terms of the “opportunity cost” and the value of results. That’s how your organization, management, peers and employees are deciding how important you are and what to pay you every month.
The Cost of a Presentation to You
On an average out-of-town, one-day meeting, a one-hour presentation costs about $200 per person. That’s important to know because no one wants to waste money. Still, there’s a more personal calculation. Forget bean counting; let’s calculate the cost/benefits in terms of your career, confidence, advancement potential and influence in the organization.
1. What is the value of the result you are responsible for delivering? This may be organizational, or hard money like $15 million dollars in incremental revenue.
2. How important are the members of the audience in achieving that goal? This is a key consideration. If they have a direct impact on delivering the results – they’re very important. If they don’t really have any impact on achieving your goal – why are you there?
3. What percent of the audience can you afford to ignore you? How many of those people do you need to make things happen? If it’s the sales force, you need as close to 100% as you can get. Can you achieve your goals if 1 out of 10 people tune you out? How about 2-out of 10?
4. Long term, what do you stand to lose if you appear disorganized and unfocused, and fail to deliver the desired results?
Who Can You Afford to Write Off?
Don’t pay the cost of a bad presentation. It doesn’t matter if you’re a manager on the way up or the CEO at the top – your messages, organization, storytelling, examples, explanations, call to action… all create the power and influence you have in your company. Based on that, is there anyone you can afford to write off?
So, look at your schedule, make a list of your speaking and presenting opportunities and develop a strategy.
Don’t Blame PowerPoint
Then face this startling statistic. The average executive spends about 70 minutes on a presentation. It doesn’t matter if it’s a departmental meeting or an analyst meeting, it’s slam-bam-thank you ma’am. According to communications expert Nancy Duarte, you should invest about 60 hours on planning and preparation for a 60-minute presentation. And that’s not including 30 hours of rehearsal.
Okay, you have to do your “day job” and can’t spend weeks locked in your office before every conference. So you do what 95% of speakers do – grab a bunch of old presentations, borrow some from your co-workers and cut & paste together a “Franken-Presentation.” It’s not made up of organization, data and insights – it’s made of parts of … other parts. The moral is, don’t do the PowerPoint first.
Make Presenting an Opportunity
Before you do anything, decide what on the business objective and your personal objective for the presentation. Answer these simple questions:
Audience
– What does the audience really want?
– What do you want them to do?
– What’s the least amount of information they need so they will do what you want them to do?
Don’t try to be comprehensive. It’s better to use one simple example that makes the audience want more.
You
– How do you want to be perceived?
– What are three traits you want to display?
– Who do you need to convince and impress?
This is where the old adage comes in that “It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.” Trust me – it’s what you have to say. Your goal is to say something valuable and look like who you want to become. If your ambitions are to rise in management, then communicate like a CEO. Here’s something important. The higher the presenter is on the company food chain – the fewer the supporting images.
Plan It. Don’t Paste It.
Invest the time to prepare. Here are some links to resources that might help you.
Content – Improve ALL Your Content In One Step! Be The Best & Most Effective
Organization – 3 Big Ways to Make Your Content More Relevant, Engaging and Actionable
Who you need to be – Six Ways to Get to The Top and Stay There: What You Need Now!
You Can Communicate with Power & Influence
How you connect and relate to the audience is the most important thing. Make it personal – “Here’s what this means to you.” Then deliver the least amount on information that relates to each individual in a meaningful way. You aren’t there to “blow them away.” Just communicate the value of whatever you’re speaking about and the value of the results.
You Can Influence Action and Results
Your ability to influence action and results is critical to your success. Forget the kind of power you see executives wield in the movies. That’s fear and domination. You will succeed through leadership, persuasion, communication skills and your capacity to build relationships. Of course, you have to know what you’re talking about.
It all comes down to one thing: You aren’t your company. You aren’t your title. You aren’t your project. You – are YOU.
Own it.
Don’t Pay the Price
So be prepared. Don’t shortchange the audience or yourself. You know you will be judged and evaluated, so be ready for it. In the first 60 seconds, you can be confident and connect with the valuable people sitting before you. Warm to them. Inform them. Let them see you as a person they can trust, accept and believe.
That’s how you deliver the results you need. And reap the success you deserve.
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