Recently we had a project presentation competition. The engineers compiled their kaizen activities and delivered their results in a 15-minute presentation.
One thing presenters often forget is that the presentation is never about them. It is about the audience (what’s in it for me?). As presenters, you want to share an idea for a reason, often to convince them about something.
In this particular competition, the presenters are sharing their kaizen activities in order to convince the judges that they did a great job improving something, with great efforts, and significant impact.
Unfortunately, most of the presenters fall into the trap of explaining everything.
No doubt, they all went through all the hard work through their projects, and sharing everything seems only natural.
Going back to the sole purpose of this particular presentation which are:
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- their tremendous efforts
- significant improvement
presenters should stick to main points that would stress these 2 things. Other ideas, while important to explain their activities, will not mean so much to the audience.
The first thing presenters should do when preparing for their presentation is,
start with paper and pen, not with slides!
Beginning a presentation by making the slides will make you lose the direction and focus, ultimately explaining everything BUT the most important thing.
Beginning a presentation by planning on paper, you will be able to define the important ideas, and grow your story around them. Planning your presentation on paper will organize your information and presentation, and you’ll have a better idea on how to create your script.
The next time you’re preparing for a presentation, start with paper and pen.
Afzan Mentor 
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