Tool: Presentationplanner 1 Define the Purpose

LSM588: Planning and Delivering Effective Presentations

Cornell University

Tool: PresentationPlanner1 Define the Purpose

The first step in planning a presentation or talk is deciding what you want or need to talk about. Once you’ve done that, you define the desired outcome. What result do you want to achieve? What benefit will your listeners get from your message?

To develop a clear purpose statement, fill out the form below. If you need additional space in a table or elsewhere on a page in this document, simply click at the desired location and press Enter one or more times.

Topic
I will talk about:
Desired Action or Result
I would like participants to (do or think what?):
Audience Benefit
I expect my audience or participants to gain these benefits:

2 Consider the Audience

Once you have defined a clear purpose for your presentation or message, research your audience and answer the following questions.

Audience Summary
Who will my audience be
(including demographics, role in the organization, extent of influence, etc)?
Current and Desired Knowledge
What do they know? What do they need to know?
Feelings and Preconceptions
How do they currently feel about me and my topic?
Motivational Factors
How will I motivate them? What will it take for audience members to listen to me and
do as I ask?

3 Formulate the Content

Once you have defined the purpose of a message and have considered your audience, ask yourself what you must communicate in order to obtain the desired results.

You may wish to brainstorm on Post-It notes or small sheets of paper, writing down possible ideas and then arranging them into a hierarchy. Which ideas belong with others? Which ones are main ideas and which ones are subordinate ideas? Eliminate nonessential ideas based on your purpose, allotted time, and audience understanding.

When you have identified your likely content, use the form below to organize and condense your notes into several main points that your audience will need to know in order for you to fulfill your intended purpose. Enterseveral supporting elements for each point—key facts, stories, illustrations, and/or visuals that would support each point.

First Point / Supporting Elements: Key Facts, Data, Stories, Visuals
Second Point
Third Point

4 Prepare the Opening and Closing

Once you’ve planned the body of your presentation, take time to sketch out an effective opening and an equally effective closing. A good opening captures the audience’s attention, sets the presentation tone, and informs the audience of your presentation’s purpose. The closing should remind the audience of the benefit of the message or should repeat a call to action. The closing should be brief and memorable and should not introduce new information.

A good opening is often based on “RAMP,” or you may decide that “AM” is sufficient in certain situations. Use the outline below to fill in brief notes for your opening and closing.

OPENING / Notes
Rapport Builder
Greet the audience, tell them how much you look forward to being with them, thank your hosts and distinguished members of the audience, etc.
Attention Getter
Begin with a question, a story, startling statistics, a quote, a demonstration, etc.
Message Purpose
Tell your audience the purpose of the presentation.
Plan
Let your audience know how many points you will cover, whether/when you will take questions, the length of your presentation, etc.
CLOSING / Notes
Summarize main points, quote someone, tell a story, usepoetic language, issue a call for action, or refer to your opening attentiongetter.

5 Draft a Full-Text Version

Once you’ve planned your content and considered your opening and closing, a recommended preparation step is to write out a full-text version of your speech or presentation.

While the temptation may be to memorize this full-version text, the purpose of this step is to fleshout the words and phrases and plan transitions between your talking points. It also serves to commit your content to long-term memory, helping to prepare you to do the actual delivery without notes or prompts.

Write out your full speech or presentation below, including the opening, the message content, the transitions, and the closing. Use as many pages as you need.

Full-text Draft:

6 Create Notes and Rehearse

To practice your presentation or speech, use the space below to draft a simple outline you can use while rehearsing. To prepare this, refer to your full-text draft as well as the earlier notes you sketched regarding the main points and the opening and closing. These rehearsal notes should contain just enough to keep you on track as you go through several practice sessions, preferably spaced across several days.Keep practicing until you no longer need the notes.

Use a smartphone or video camera to record your rehearsals. If you haven’t already done so, you may wish to critique your own rehearsals by using the Presentation Review Template provided earlier in this course.

Rehearsal Notes:

7 Consider Visuals

When you have mastered the content of your message, consider whether visual aids would help convey parts of your message more effectively. These could include one or more physical objects, a whiteboard, a slide deck created in presentation software, or other visual aids.

In the first column in the form below, list only the parts of your presentation you believe would benefit from visual aids.Only include points or concepts where a visual aid would likely pass the triple-E test: where it will Explain, Enhance, or Entertain. In the second column, note which of those three apply. In most cases, you should notuse a visual aid if its main function would be to serve as speaker notes or as a crutch that would limit your ability to make eye contact and connect with your audience.

To add additional rows, click in the last cell in the bottom row and press the Tab key.

Point or Concept that would benefit from visual aids / Triple-E Test
Explains? Enhances? Entertains?

After identifying any parts of your message that would benefit from visual aids, use the space below to quickly sketch out ideas for visual aids. Label your notes or drawings with numbers corresponding to those in the table above. Add an additional page if needed.

8 Record and Review

As a final step in your preparation, watch the video you recorded during your earlier rehearsal, or record another practice run.Watch yourselfwith the sound turned down so you can focus on your body language and nonverbals. Then play the video again, looking away so you can focus on your vocal quality. In the form below, make brief notesabout the nonverbal aspects of your delivery, indicating where you performed well and where you can improve.

Aspect of Delivery / Notes
Command of Material
Eye Contact
Facial Expressions
Body Language and Gestures
Vocal Pitch and Pacing
Overall Presence

Once you have filled in some notes, use the letters “XXX”or a color highlight to mark the row where you think improvement is most likely to increase your connection with your audience. Then practice your presentation more, focusing on that area. Changing habits is not easy, so it’s best to work on one area of improvement at a time.

9 Deliver Your Message

When you reach this point, you are fully prepared! On the day of your presentation, envision success. Refrain from negative thinking. Focus on the value you will bring to your audience.

10 Affirm and Improve

After the presentation, take a few moments to note what went well and where you could improve. Your skills and confidence will increase with each presentation!