Ed. note: In Part One and Part Two Gayle covered all the important foundational challenges in putting together your material for leading a conference or training session. Now for the real work of putting the presentation together--and step-by-step Gayle will help you do that successfully.

Composing your presentation

Putting material together effectively is by far the most challenging part of any presentation. Therefore, never commit to leading a conference about something you don’t really know or care about. You will likely not pay the price in preparation on such a topic. As a result, both you and your audience will get short-changed.

The skill of presentation allows a great deal of freedom for the creative process. You will eventually develop your own particular blueprint for putting together your conferences. Include at least these basic steps.

• Identify your specific goal. What exactly do you want those attending your conference to gain from the experience? To be most effective, make sure that everything involved in your presentation is compatible with your goal.

• Gather facts. Start with what you know firsthand. Add information from current media. Get input from as many reliable references as possible; keep detailed notes regarding your sources. Never overlook the obvious. The information you think everyone already knows may be precisely what many need to hear for the first time or as a reminder.

• Develop ideas on how to present your facts. Anecdotes, illustrations, or even appropriate jokes will give impact to a point you want to make. Whenever possible, demonstrate. Showing how is always better than just telling how. [Read more...]