How Do I Develop a System for Delivering Presentations?

When I was just out of university, I was lucky enough to attend public speaker training while sharing a house with other people on the course. While the course produced different results for different people, what was very interesting was to see how they all worked, and found systems that suited them individually.

The course covered all the various aspects of public speaking, but continually stressed that there is NO ONE BEST WAY!  In other words, you need to find a system that works for you. This will include not only how you prepare, but also how you practice delivering the presentation.



Examples included how people practiced. Some people preferred to work on their own, while others wanted to work together. One of my friends and I started to present to each other, and get feedback. I must admit that Leon was a bit of a natural when it came to public speaking, and didn't need much help there. He could certainly give me more feedback on my bad habits than I could for him!  But the reverse was true when it came to content. I usually looked for really interesting content, whereas he was very factual, and didn't add much in the way of interesting extras. It was almost like his personality was making up for a deficiency in content. Needless to say, we really benefitted from working together.

Two of the other guys chose to work independently. One of them produced fantastic results, and clearly working on his own didn't impede him at all. In fact, we used to joke with him a bit about how much time he spent in front of his mirror, but practicing in front of the mirror obviously worked for him. The second person who worked on his own didn't seem to improve much as the course went on. This was surprising, since this was a course where every Wednesday - for a whole year - we had training and presentations.  So you would have felt that in all that time, he would have improved more than he did. But in truth, he just never found a system that worked for him. Sometimes he seemed to try memorizing the entire speech, while at others he seemed to be using cards with key words and adlibbing around the subjects on the card. He tried so many approaches, he never seemed to stick with any system long enough to see if it would produce results.

So while I learned many things from the course, the most valuable takeaway - for me - was that you need to find a system that works for you.

What Kind Of Things Should I Include In My System?

1. When thinking about the delivery of the presentation, decide how you plan to use your wording

Many people don't plan every word. They work out their frame, their content etc., and then have key points they want to talk about. But if they deliver the same presentation more than once, the actual words used are rarely exactly the same. If you do this, it can make your presentations seem more natural, and casual. And if that's the effect you're going for, then of course you should use that system. But most great orators have tended to stick to carefully prepared wording. In the modern age, when many public speakers have their speeches written for them by speechwriters, the use of a teleprompter or any other similar tools ensures that they use the exact words prepared. In this case, they stay focused, and on topic. And if you want your presentations to have that little bit more gravitas, this could be the way to go.

2. Think about what kinds of tools and props that you will be using

Do you feel more comfortable with some tools than with others? Do you prefer a projector, a whiteboard, or maybe even a flipchart?  And of course, as technology changes and provides more options, do you need to upgrade your skills? You may even be able to work out a system where you can avoid using tools that you're not 100% comfortable with.

3. When preparing your content, do you have a system for doing your research?

Do you tend to do too much research, and then have to cut back on the content you use, or do you do a little, then work on the content, then do a little more research later? Work in the way that suits you, and try to keep it consistent, because that will deliver the best results.

4. The best presentations use some sort of "hook"

Just like fishing, you try hook your audience and keep them hanging on your every word. It might be a metaphor running through your entire speech, where each point builds on the metaphor. You might come up with an acronym to help people remember the points, or use a number of words all starting with the same letter. I attended a speech some years ago, and I can still remember the content, because all the key points were based around words starting with M. In your system, you might try to find ways of how best to create your hook, and maybe record good ideas in a book or journal. You may have heard of Crunchie chocolate bars; they had tv adverts that said "Crunchies go CRRR in your mouth!", and they would put those letters across the screen. It stuck in my mind, and actually found a suitable occasion to use it. I based my talk around words starting with C, and three Rs. I then handed out Crunchies in the presentation to members of the audience who could answer questions I  asked. People were still mentioning that speech to me for a long time afterwards, so I knew it had worked. My system of keeping good ideas had not let me down.  Think of your own: it will pay off!

5. Do you learn from your mistakes?

If a presentation hasn't gone well, do you do a debrief and learn what could be improved on? Many years ago I did a few presentations sitting down around a boardroom table. They never went well, and I decided to never use this method again. Your system must include a way to learn how to improve.



As you can see, there are many areas that you need to work on when preparing your presentations. But if you learn from previous mistakes, eradicate them and develop a system that consistently produces good results, you will find that preparing and delivering presentations becomes an ever easier task, and one that will allow you to actually enjoy delivering them!

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