Set a Clear Goal for Every Presentation by Gihan Perera

Many presenters don't make an impact because they haven't determined their own objective for their presentation, let alone what they want their audience to do. Although your presentation is for the benefit of your audience, don't lose sight of what you want to get from it yourself!

Ask yourself these three questions to get clarity on your outcome for the presentation.

1. Who are the key groups in your audience?

Who are the clusters of people - based on their problems and desires? And who are the key individuals who will influence the rest of the group?

It's a rare presentation where everybody in the audience falls into the same group, and comes to the presentation with the same motivation. In fact, every audience member is different, but you can't possibly cater to every possible difference. So identify the key groups in your audience, based on their problems.

2. What is your single best outcome for each of these groups?

In an ideal world, what would the people in each of these groups want as an outcome?

Have they come to your presentation to learn something new (if so, what)? Or do they want to be persuaded of something (again, what specifically)? Or simply to be entertained?

What would you like of them to think / feel / do / say after your presentation?

In an ideal world, what would you want from each of these groups?

These three questions will help you to create a broad description of your outcomes. That gives you a rough diamond. Now we'll polish it by adding three things: Clarity, congruence and commitment.

Clarity

Sharpen your goal:

State it in the positive ("Team members listen with respect" rather than "No more arguments").
Know your evidence of success - in other words, how will you know you've achieved it? (Signed the contract; bought my products; agreed to another meeting).
Be specific about who is involved and when it will happen - give it a deadline.

Congruence

Check that it's appropriate:

Is it consistent with your identity (i.e. it doesn't conflict with who you are as a person)?
Is it aligned with your values, and theirs?
How will your life be different - both in positive and negative ways? Are you willing to accept that?

Commitment

Finally, give it momentum:

Is it the right scale - not too small to matter, or too big to achieve? Either of these could reduce your motivation.
What obstacles could get in the way?
What other resources do you require to achieve it?
What specific steps do you require right now?


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