A Presentation Goal toward Your Hope
Remember. You are on a journey. You are pursuing your hope. Your presentation is a step on the path toward that hope. You know that your words move things. Now, let’s talk more specifically about the presentation and the need for a presentation goal.
A Speech without a Presentation Goal
Imagine walking into a small room, sitting down, and listening as a presenter rambles on and on. He uses business buzzwords in an attempt to sound relevant. Still, you can tell you are not the only audience member who is frustrated. This is not going well.
It goes on and on like this, and you begin to wonder.
What does he want?
Why does it matter?
What specific responses are suggested?
What you are looking for is a presentation goal.
Three Questions to Define the Presentation Goal
Your questions are leading toward a presentation goal.
1 – What does he want? What is he proposing? What change is needed? What is the speaker’s desired outcome?
One contributor to audience frustration is a failure to get to the point. The speaker is rambling at the very beginning. That does not bode well for the rest of the presentation. You can easily imagine people sighing as they wonder why this time is being wasted.
2 – Why does it matter? What is the mission of the organization and how can his material help reach it? When you can acknowledge the mission of the organization (the reason the organization exists) and articulate how your proposal supports that mission, you are guiding the audience to see how your goal is a part of a larger organizational identity.
3 – What specific responses are suggested? What action does he want from the audience? If the audience buys into the change that supports the mission, they still need some direction. How does the presenter propose that we make this change?
Presentation Goal Examples
The content of future posts will help you craft and deliver an effective presentation—one that has a clear goal. But first, you need to be able to define it! So, a good question is, “What is the desired outcome of your presentation?”
Approval for a project?
An increased budget?
A raise?
A promotion?
Customer purchase of a product or service?
Something else?
What do you want? That is question number one.
Presentation Goal Considerations
When you know what you want, then you can move on to other questions.
How does the presentation goal support the mission of the organization? That is question number two.
What specific actions are requested? What steps are involved? That is question number three.
Remember. The goal is your desired outcome. It should relevant to the mission, and be well defined by the step(s) involved. Then it will provide answers to all three questions.
If you would like to learn even more, purchase Big Presentations in Small Rooms.
Do you have an upcoming presentation? If so, what is the presentation goal?
