7 Questions You Must Ask Before Your Presentation

Your nervousness before the presentation and the audience engagement throughout the presentation are the secondary things, but how you plan your presentation, is the foremost concern that you have to take care of. There are a few steps that you must follow to organise and create a fool-proof presentation. Asking yourself the following questions is one of the most important steps of building a presentation:

1. What are the Objectives of the Presentation?: The most significant question which is also the foundation of your presentation, is, “What is the aim of your presentation, and why are you creating it?” Every presentation has specific objectives that must be fulfilled by the end of it. So you must be clear about the concerning goals, and how you are going to obtain them, preceding the creation of your presentation.

2. Who is the Targeted Audience?: The audience is the most valuable part of the presentation. You must know whom you are going to address, and what are their interests. Alongside these things, you should also be aware of the points that matter the most to your audience, like what they stand for, and What do they value? What is their worldview, and what are they expecting from you?

3. How relevant is your topic to them?: A presentation is only fit for the crowd that is present to learn and finds more relevance to your topic. Nobody is interested in a presentation, that is not serving them in any way. They must feel connected to the presentation, and it must provide them with enough information. So, ask yourself whether your presentation topic is serving its purpose or will it waste your as well as the time of your listeners?

4. How can you hold your listeners’ interest?: Now, considering the point number three, you will be able to figure out that if the topic is relevant to the audience, they will continue listening to you for a longer time. But, will they stick till the end? So, another important question that arises here is ‘how can you engage your audience for a long time’ and most probably till the end of the presentation. Thus you need to ask yourself this question and take proper measures to achieve 100 per cent engagement of your audience.

5. What is your story for this audience?: For the audience engagement, you require to have a story to tell, as stories that deliver the right message and are relevant to the topic, are most welcomed by the audience. When you relate the presentation with a real-life example, the people get involved in it and tend to listen to you with more interest. So, what is your story?

6. Should I use visual elements?: So, will the presentation be entirely verbal or you are going to add some visuals to it as well? Every presentation is different and needs a different type of preparations. If you are addressing only a few people in a small conference hall, you may go solo and handle it all alone with your speech. But, if you are going to interact with a bigger crowd, taking help of some visual aids can help you connect with each and every one of them. So, before getting started with the preparation of your presentation, you must decide whether you want to use the visual elements into it or not.

7. What should I do if something goes wrong?: It is quite rare that everything we do goes according to the plan. There can be a technical problem, or you might get nervous, or any other smaller or bigger situation can occur during the presentation. So, you must have a plan B to avoid such an occurrence and to prevent your presentation from failing. You must know what you can to do bypass such events to come across while you are giving your presentation.

You can avoid any type of stress and nervousness if you are fully prepared. Asking yourself the above questions can be the most significant step in the success of your presentation and make you more confident about yourself as well as your presentation. So take your time and ask yourself those questions to make your way towards a winning presentation session with your audience.