Presenting on short-notice? Get ADEPT™

Ever had your boss catch you at the end of the day to tell you about a presentation he needs you to deliver tomorrow….morning?  Got yourself into a panic wondering where to start and what to put into this presentation…and feeling like you are in a race against the clock? 

You are not alone. Having been a trainer and a coach for the past 19 years, some of the questions I get asked most by professionals and executives are around how to deliver better presentations, especially when given a short notice. 

There are few great ways to tackle this problem and I’d like to take this opportunity to share some of these tips with you.

To be ‘adept’ at something means to be very good at something that is not easy.   And I would say that thinking, planning, then delivering a presentation when you have little time to prepare is challenging.  Still, with a strategy in hand, you can navigate easily through these sometimes unsettling and uncomfortable requests.  

First Shut the Noise.  Very often a touch of panic sets in when approached to do a presentation with little time to prepare.  Our internal chatter runs riot with the “I cannot” and the “I don’t want to”, which plays havoc on our nerves.  So press that <pause> button and – breathe – then change what you are saying to yourself.  Know that YOU have got this. Reframe the situation by resetting your thoughts to “It is a privilege” and “honour” to have been asked to present.  You have been “chosen” because you are qualified to speak on the topic. Time to step into a space of gratefulness and power.

Then, use the ADEPT™ strategy.  Your main focus now is to ensure  CLARITY of the MESSAGE and your KEY TAKE-AWAYS for the audience in mind.  So here’s how you can get ADEPT at preparing presentations efficiently and effectively, when time is not on your side.  

1.     AUDIENCE

Remember that the success of any great presentation lies in knowing and understanding who your AUDIENCE is. Whilst there is little time to do an in-depth analysis, some questions to ask yourself are (and this may mean a quick call to check with others too):

·       Who is my audience?

·       How much do they know about what I am presenting?

·       What is their expectation of me, my presentation topic, perhaps my organisation?  

·       What would make them say YES to what I am suggesting/selling/proposing?

·       What are the MUST-KNOWs and NICE-to-KNOWs for this audience

Knowing your audience also means you can gauge better as to the type of questions you might get asked, at the end of the presentation.  Knowing and understanding your audience, will go a long way in making you feel prepared and therefore more confident with your delivery.

ADEPT™ Tip: Know someone that has presented to the same group of people?  Ask them for their experience of the audience – what type of questions did they ask?  How did they like their data presented

2.     DESIGN (STRUCTURE)

Your structure begins with your end in mind – what is/are YOUR objective(s) given the needs, wants and expectations of your audience?  How much time do you have?  Once you do a match between your audience’s expectations, your expectations and the time limit you have been given, you will know exactly how much you have to put into your material.  

Going with the tried and tested formulas of using the “Opening-Middle-Close” structures and using logical flows for the middle or “body” section, will help your audience stay with you and your train of thought.  

Stick with 3 points – Perhaps you have 3 Key Take-aways or 1, which has three supporting ideas. Elaborate those points with data, evidence and examples.  Make sure you qualify statements made – let people know the relevance or implications of the statement. For example, will it help reduce costs? Or increase the time taken? And by how much? If you are sharing features of a new product – remember your audience is more interested in knowing its benefits and “What’s-in-it-for-them”.

Add an attention grabber – both at the Opening and Close.  And be sure to CLOSE – most presenters forget to do this.  Essentially a “close” is a recap or summary of relevant and critical points – people tend to remember the last thing they hear. And nail that CALL to ACTION at the very end (which is related to that all important objective thought through earlier).

The STRUCTURE is critical for clarity with your message – it helps the audience and you, stay on track and engaged. 

ADEPT™ Tip: If you have Q&A, handle that before delivering the (summary) CLOSE, then hand over control of floor to someone else or end with a Thank you.

3. ENGAGE with STORIES

Presentations, however, need to appeal to the whole brain.  While structure appeals to our “left brain”, stories appeal to our right or creative brain. Stories allow us to derive our own meaning from what has been presented. Think back and review presentations of all those whom you admire – my hunch is that they are all storytellers.

Even if your time for a presentation has been cut – make sure you have some shorter anecdotes to replace longer stories. Stories can deliver many messages in a short space of time, if chosen well, for their relevance to the topic and for the audience at hand. 

ADEPT™ Tip:No time at all to think of or find stories? Give examples! They are in a way mini-stories to help people visualise what you mean and just adds that bit of colour to your presentation

4.     PRACTICE

You know this already – Practice makes perfect.  

Once you have a rough draft in place, stand up and practice it. And I mean think of the first words and sentences you will begin with. How will you transition from point to point? What will you say to emphasise key points? This is even more important than having beautifully designed and animated PowerPoint slides for your presentation  Seriously! 

Here’s a tip – Practice facing a wall and pretend that that is your audience. Say your words out loud and with variety – remember you are having a conversation so let your voice have that variation it would if you speaking to a buddy of yours.  Add gestures where you can.  Record yourself and watch it for feedback – no one else needs to know. Your delivery is the style you need to add to the substance of your well-structured content.

ADEPT™ Tip: Do verbalise your presentations out loud – it helps you really know what words to use to start, make linkages from one part to the next and to close with impact

5.     TIMING

A good presenter does not under-utilise time given nor over-run time allotted to them.  It is just common courtesy. If you have been given 30 minutes to present, I suggest preparing only for 20 with 10 minutes for Q&A.  Your audience will appreciate you for the opportunity to ask.  Know your audience?  Sense a reluctance to ask?  Then prepare a couple of questions that you suggest as questions, your audience may want answers to.  Both scenarios will only build your credibility.  

If you have followed ADEP of ADEPT™, this will be easy to stick to.  

ADEPT™ Tip:  Have someone act as your time-keeper in the back of the room – ask a friend, a colleague you know well or the organiser to assist.

Rise to the occasion with The ADEPT™ strategy.  It can be used for just about any presentation where you need to be seen “selling” (a product or an idea), justifying a decision or even defending your team’s track record.  Use it, for formal, as well as informal situations.  Doing a virtual presentation? Guess what? This works too!

When you have the tools and know-how, scary situations like having to create and deliver presentations in a short time will have you responding to future requests with a confident “Sure!” or even a “YES…I can do that”.  

What tips and techniques do you use when planning for presentations quickly and easily?  And what other questions do you have about presenting?  I am here to be of service.  

Roshini Ganesan has been skilling people in business communications via training and coaching for over 17 years and recognises that when it comes to presentation skills, we are all works in progress. Her current passion? Speaking, presenting and training on virtual platforms!