Isn’t this quote true? All of us want to deliver an excellent presentation. But how many of us want to put in the time to prepare to deliver an excellent presentation?

Brian Tracy says, “Practice doesn’t make perfect; it makes permanent.” The amount of preparation you put into your presentation is directly proportional to its success.

This article outlines the steps you should take to prepare to deliver an excellent presentation:

Prepare and Rehearse

The first thing you might think to do is to prepare your content. This turns out to be the second thing to do. You may have an idea of your content. However, what you don’t know is your audience. Your audience determines your content, its level, and how you should deliver it.

So, the first thing to do is identify the attributes of your audience – their depth of knowledge of your topic, their age, their academic major, what job they do, their “pain points” around your topic, etc.

Without this knowledge, you are like being in a rowboat at sea with no paddle.

Now, this article is not about knowing your audience. That would be another whole article. So, let’s assume you know your audience. Then, how should you prepare your content and rehearse your presentation?

An excellent place to start is developing your main points, then your sub-points (otherwise known as your presentation’s body), and then your presentation’s opening and closing.

To create your main and sub-points, use the Cards on the Wall method outlined in the third main section of my previous article, “How to Reduce Your Speaking Preparation Stress.”

If you are a visual person, you can also use Mind Mapping, as I discuss in my article, “Prepare And Reap Your Speaking Opportunities,” to construct your presentation.

Assuming you have the opening, body (main points, sub-points), and closing of your presentation, it is time to start rehearsing it multiple times. The order of practice is below:

You should do multiple rehearsals in each of these.

If you can audio or video record your presentation, you could evaluate yourself and improve faster.

We had a saying in the Air Force: “We train the way we fight and fight the way we train.”

Translation for presentations: “I practice the way I will deliver my presentation, and the way I deliver my presentation is the way I practiced it.”

So, preparing and rehearsing are great ways to improve your presentation. However, these are not sufficient.

Another way is to seek feedback from others and refine your presentation content and delivery accordingly.

Seek Feedback and Refine

Ken Blanchard, author of the book The One Minute Manager, says, “Feedback is the breakfast of champions.” You want to be a champion, right?

However, most people don’t like receiving feedback from their spouses, children, or presentation evaluators. However, feedback from others puts you on the fast track to an excellent presentation. Why is this so?

Although evaluating yourself through audio and video recordings “gives you a leg up” in improving your presentation delivery, you are still evaluating yourself. You only have an evaluation from your perspective.

When others evaluate your presentation, you benefit from a practice audience with different perspectives; some will mirror feedback you will receive from your “real” audience.

Once you have this feedback from your practice audience, decide whether it is valid. Then, refine your presentation content and delivery for valid feedback.

If you do this, you will make changes your “real” audience wants you to make. The only difference is you already made these improvements to your presentation before you even delivered it to your “real” audience.

Do you see the value of feedback? As Earl Nightingale used to say, feedback is like mining in a pure vein of gold. Mine this feedback gold and use it to improve your presentation.

So, preparing and rehearsing your presentation, seeking feedback from others, and refining your content and delivery are great ways to improve your presentation. However, these are still not sufficient.

The final way in this article to improve your presentation is to simulate your presentation environment as closely as possible.

Simulate the Presentation Environment

What do I mean by simulating the presentation environment as closely as possible?

Some of the attributes of the presentation environment you should simulate are room acoustics, lighting, and layout.

Also, familiarize yourself with the technical equipment you will use as the microphone (lapel mike?, remote mike?, mike with wire?), how your slides will be projected, and your slide deck.

Practice managing distractions or interruptions such as technical issues, a heckler (your laptop blanking out), and losing your place in your presentation. You’ll be glad you did.

Have a Plan B and, if necessary, a Plan C. You need to know immediately what to do if something in your presentation doesn’t go according to plan.

Simulating your presentation environment also has the beneficial effect of reducing your fear of delivering this one presentation.

So, preparing and rehearsing your presentation, seeking feedback from others, refining your content and delivery, and simulating your presentation environment as closely as possible are great ways to improve your presentation.

Little preparation – little presentation success.

Some preparation – some presentation success.

Ample preparation – ample presentation success!

Call to Action

• Know your audience before you prepare your presentation. Rehearse your presentation sitting down, standing up, in front of a mirror, and in front of a practice audience

• Seek feedback from others and then make the appropriate content and delivery changes in your presentation.

• Simulate your speaking environment as closely as possible, including room acoustics, lighting, and layout. Also, familiarize yourself with the technical equipment

Frank DiBartolomeo is a retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and award-winning speaker, presentation and interview skills coach, and Professional Member of the National Speakers Association. He was awarded Toastmasters International’s highest individual award, Distinguished Toastmaster because of his outstanding work in public speaking and leadership.

Frank formed DiBartolomeo Consulting International (DCI), LLC (www.speakleadandsucceed.com) in 2007. The mission of DCI is to help technical professionals to inspire, motivate, and influence their colleagues and other technical professionals by improving their presentation skills, communication, and personal presence. Reach Frank at frank@speakleadandsucceed.com and (703) 509-4424.

Don’t miss Frank DiBartolomeo’s latest book!

“Speak Well and Prosper: Tips, Tools, and Techniques for Better Presentations”

Available now at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com