Every presentation goes through three phases before it is ready for delivery:
- Research– That’s where we research the content
- Structure– Create our point of view (PoV) and structure in our head/ paper/ mind maps/ other tools
- Package– Put it together in MS Powerpoint / Prezi/ other presentation tools. That’s also where we review and improve it further
(not necessarily in that order, there is usually back and forth.)
The problem I have seen is that it’s easy to be lured into getting stuck in Phase 1, ‘researching’ – Google, talking to colleagues, VOX, BOX, crowd-sourcing, Google, Books, Google, emails and more Google… ! There are so many sources and so much material available after all!
To make matters worse, one tends to digress into other seemingly more enticing topics. We end up not even looking at a lot of that downloaded research!
BEWARE – This is “the infinite research trap!”
Nothing wrong with researching, in fact it is an important part of a good presentation. However, one has to be conscious that time to deliver is limited. The temptation to research more eats into the time that should have gone into Phase 2 (Structure) and Phase 3 (Package). These two phases are equally important for your overall success.
If you have 10 days to complete your presentation, this trap can lead you to a point where:
- You spend over 9 days researching and
- Still having a feeling that there is lot left to download until
- An uncomfortable feeling tells you something like, ”Shit! How will I present tomorrow!”
With only few hours left, you will try to put something together, anything that can get you through this time. “I will do better planning next time” syndrome. You find anything even remotely close to what you needed and convert it into the organization template. You may add some random pictures to get by.
This creates a shoddy presentation which is nowhere close to even your own expectation.
If this sounds familiar, then congratulations, you are a victim of the research trap!
The good news, though, is that you can prevent yourself from getting into this trap with nothing more than a little discipline.
Apply the 30:40:30 RULE:
- Spend no more than 30% time in research!
- Spend no less than 40% time for putting together your viewpoint (pov) and structure. This is most important and most ignored step.
- Spend no less than 30% time in packaging – putting it on PPT, self/ peer reviews, changes, improvement. Use this time for include more examples/ graphics/ Speaker notes which creates a powerful presentation.
If you have 10 days to deliver a presentation, spend ~3 days on researching, ~4 days on structure and ~3 days on its packaging.
This approach requires discipline but ensures timeliness and quality. I try to follow this rule and whenever I am able to, it serves me very well. This simple discipline can not only save you from embarrassment but it creates world class presentations.
Do try this and share your experiences. What other techniques work for you while creating presentations? Looking forward to hear from you.
By the way, this comes as a learning from my ex-employer where we did Quick Consulting. It was a mandate to follow this rule. Had to be, when the expected turnaround time for presentation submissions was 1 day!
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