Are you faced with another PowerPoint presentation in the office? Not sure how to organize or structure your presentation? It could be that you are not yet clear about the main purpose that your presentation will serve.
Before committing ourselves to paper or PowerPoint we should ask ourselves the question, "what purpose does this serve?" There are six main purposes for any presentation -- and typically we will find room to use at least 2 of them at a time.
- Entertain. It might not be the purpose that comes to mind when we think about the quarterly divisional audit presentation. But looking to achieve something with our presentation requires more stimulation than the auditors coffee will achieve on its own. Our presentation must possess a dynamism of its own -- a sense of happening and activity -- that encourages our audience to listen, understand and participate.
- Motivate. As speakers we have the opportunity to encourage others to achieve. With our presentation we can instigate a new approach, a new commitment or just a revised enthusiasm to get something done. We can use a motivational purpose to great effect.
- Inspire. Being an inspiration to others is not only for the annual sales conference. It's something that we can aim for in many other presentations. Via spoken words we can animate other people with new thoughts, ideas and concepts. We can energize the tired or those facing new competitive challenges at work.
- Inform. We often enthuse about a presentation in which we acquire new learning. We acknowledge that the presentation can be a learning medium -- that it can inform us. Presentations are ideal opportunities to inform others of progress, new developments, announcements, new products or market opportunities. Their appeal does diminish, however, when the presentation content is poorly managed. Litanies of lists, stacks of statistics and abundant bullets will defeat any audience. We must be careful when we inform. Our role is to convey meaning and clarify both facts and data. Our audience looks to us, the presenter, for meaning and interpretation of the facts.
- Persuade. As presenters we are often tasked with persuading others to take action -- actions that they might otherwise not take. We might want to convince the Board of a new product's potential; persuade an investor to take a stake in a new opportunity or convince others of the need for a course of action. Our presentation can certainly take a persuasive purpose. But be alert to the need to argue the case for action.
- Advocate. Beyond a court of law most presenter advocates are identified with their catchy titles: 'Change Evangelist,' 'Technology Futurist' or 'Product Champion.' In their presentations they advocate their cause -- change, technology, or product for example. They plead its case and aim to change opinions. It is not an entirely impartial stance. It's certainly partisan, albeit for concepts, products or services that have no voice. But advocating a cause or a course of action can be a very simple and powerful purpose in a presentation -- noting the clear imperative to justify the need for action with reason, logic or empathy.
The six main purposes of a presentation are not mutually exclusive. Any presentation could conceivably employ any combination of purpose. We might choose a single purpose or, more typically, 2 or 3 main purposes for our presentation. Some speakers will even employ all of them at different points of their presentation...effectively pacing their speech structure. But, whether it's a single purpose or more, we must have purpose.
When we define our purpose clearly we kick-start the planning process. We structure our presentation clearly. We prepare coherent outlines and we make the right points for our audience. When we get the right purpose for our presentation everything else follows.