Every presentation must has a clearly defined goal. Sounds too simple and obvious? Are you saying, "Of course I know why I am making the presentation. How can I make a presentation otherwise?" Old readers of the blog might recall a survey I conducted among managers. I had asked what they hated most in a presentation. The results was surprising. The 3rd most disliked thing in a presentation was 'the presenter's lack of clarity on the purpose of the presentation.' While you might think it as obvious, your colleagues are clueless on what you are talking about. The solution: You need to write down your goal on a piece of paper. This clarity on your goal (purpose) will help you frame your message better. What is your goal? A presentation can have multiple goals. As discussed in the last post, a salesman can choose to generate leads (contacts), warm up the leads (share information and make you more interested) or close the sale. Every sales presentation is not meant to...

In my last post , we discovered the 'process flow' which is common to all presentations. (A) You want to achieve something (goal) (B) You cannot achieve it without me (audience) (C) You come and talk to me (message) (D) I do what I feel is right (action) (E) You are happy about what I did (this is the actual outcome, whereas the goal was the desired outcome) I have spent the last so many hours pondering over this process and digging into it more and more. The obvious areas which have been uncovered are as under. (A) You want to achieve something (goal) Every presentation has a goal but the goal might not be so easy to understand. It needs to be clearly defined. Further, you might have multiple goals, in which case you might need to cut down or prioritize. Lastly, you should know 'why' you have such a goal. Is it unrealistic or too easy to achieve? Example: A sales man comes to you to sell an apartment. Every presentation he makes to you need not have the same objective ...

On July 18 I announced the start of a 'special project' on this blog. It is called the 'The Presentation Code.' The purpose is to study all kinds of presentations and arrive at the DNA of a presentation. One code which is common to all presentations. If we get to know this DNA we will know how to champion every presentation. In Search of the Presentation DNA Presentation is nothing but an exchange of information with a purpose. You can be selling or seeking sponsorship or teaching. The basic construct, the basic process should be the same. Here is how I see it today: What happens in every presentation? (A) You want to achieve something (B) You cannot do it without me (C) So you come to me and talk to me (D) I do what I feel is right (E) You achieve or don't achieve what you wanted Let us give these stages codes. (A) You want to achieve something (B) You cannot do it without me (C) So you come to me and talk to me (D) I do what I feel is right (E) You achieve or do...

slideshare is a great resource on any topic under the sun. I stumbled upon two nice presentations which are there on slideshare. The first is by Garr Reynolds . Garr is sharing 3 great lessons from John Medina's book 'Brain Rules'. The second is by Enrique Garcia Cota and I discovered it thanks to Jan Schultink . Both these presentations are very different but you must take a look (especially's Garr's). Brain Rules for Presenters View more presentations from garr How to make Awesome Diagrams for your slides View more presentations from otikik

Over the next few months (or more) I am going to work on a project which I have named 'The Presentation Code' . I strongly believe there has to be a single 'formula' to crack every kind of presentation. Be it a sales presentation or an academic paper presentation or a training presentation, there has to be a set of standard practices. What is important is - the formula should be easy to understand and easy to apply. The outcome of this project - will be a set of simple rules which help you crack your presentation. It will be like a reference document which you refer to before every presentation. A small request - Share your ideas/views as I start upon this journey. All I can promise is, the journey will be exciting and enriching. Let us unravel the code.

I am trying to build a list of various types of presentations. Various occasions when we make a presentation. All of them. Here is the list which comes to my mind. I will keep adding to it as more come to mind. 1. Sales presentation (to sell) 2. Sponsorship presentation (to get sponsors) 3. Investor presentation (to raise funds for business) 4. Marketing budget proposal (to get budgets for marketing activities) 5. Teaching 6. Business review (periodical review) 7. Press conference (to TV channels) 8. Market research 9. Training 10. TED / Ignite / PechaKucha (to inspire/share/entertain) 11. Academic project presentation (in schools and colleges) 12. Research papers (by doctors, professors) 13. Business plan presentation 14. Presentation by management consultants 15. Investor / analyst presentation by top management of listed companies Just this many? There has to be more. What is missing? Add to this by leaving a comment.

You have been invited to talk at the upcoming Ignite or PechaKucha Night in your city. You are now preparing yourself for the big night. Here are important tips which will help you deliver an awesome presentation. I have presented at Ignite and I found the experience very unique. You too will enjoy it provided you go prepared. Ignite & PechaKucha are similar (Ignite has 20 slides auto advancing every 15 seconds whereas PK has 20 slides auto advancing every 20 seconds) hence the way to prepare for both is also similar. Preparing for Ignite / PechaKucha (PK) This presentation is going to be very different from anything you have ever delivered, so prepare yourself mentally. Here is what makes Ignite or PK presentation unique: 1. You only have 5 minutes to talk at Ignite (6 min 40 secs for PK). That is a very small amount of time . 2. The slides advance automatically every 15 seconds . Just 15 seconds! Other than this there is nothing different about Ignite or PK. But these two chang...

Google Plus seems to be the talk of the town. I too have joined G+ and am looking forward to it. However today I am not reviewing G+. I am restricting myself to the scope of my blog; presentations. Suppose you were asked to make a presentation to 'Introduce Google Plus' to the world . How would you do that? If you don't know much about G+, think about Facebook. If you are asked to make a presentation to introduce FB to your friends how would you do that? Think before you read on. Google Plus A new way to socially network. Here are some unique things you can do with G+. Circles - Put people into different circles. Relatives are in a different circle and colleagues in different. So your every status update is not visible to all. Choose which circle should see and which should not. Huddle - A group chat feature where all 4 of you can chat at once and decide which movie to watch today evening. Other than circles and huddle, there are hangouts, instant uploads, sparks, etc. Ne...