Setting your presentation goal

As a new manager, you're in charge of setting goals and objectives for your team. As with any project, in your presentation you need to set a goal that is clear, achievable, and measurable. The success of any presentation is measured by whether the audience hears, receives, and acts on that message.

What do you want the audience to do?

How many times have you left a presentation or a speech wondering, "What was the point of that? Why did I sit through it?" It happens all the time because presenters fail to clearly set a goal.

To illustrate the importance of defining the presentation purpose, let's consider the following hypothetical situation: imagine you work for a cell phone manufacturer that has a new product coming out. You will be speaking about the product. You could talk about features, price, development, innovation, partnerships, and so on, but if you try to cover everything, the audience will be overwhelmed or bored and nothing will stick.

How do you narrow your focus? You must decide what you want the audience to do.

Should they:

• Understand the features on the new phone?

• Be excited about the features on the new phone?

• Buy the new phone?

• Tell people about the new phone?

• Know where the company is in the development process of the phone?

Each possible purpose is slightly different, requiring different information, different stories, and different tones.

Brainstorming your goal

Reflecting on the "cell phone launch" example from the previous section, think about your own presentation and answer this question:

What do you want the audience to do when you finish speaking?

Jot down whatever comes immediately to mind. Now let's examine your answer.

Is it clear?

The purpose must be easy to understand and something you can articulate in a simple sentence. For example, I want the audience to ___________________________________.

Is it achievable?

The goal must be something you can accomplish with this audience and the time you've been given. Aim for a strategically-selected, tangible outcome.

Is it measurable?

Most organizations are results-oriented, and managers that consistently demonstrate success are highly valued. For that reason, your goal should be specific enough to allow you to determine whether it was achieved. It's more difficult to measure feelings and impressions than actions. So, "I want the audience to tell three people about the product" is better than "I want the audience to be excited about the product." Not only does a measurable goal enable you to track your effectiveness and communicate it to your bosses, a measurable goal also ensures you will give the audience actionable directives.

Refining your purpose

Rethink and rephrase your goal until you can answer yes to all of the preceding questions. Then, give the purpose two final tests: does it align with your boss's expectations? Is it clear enough to give your audience actionable direction?

If your goal aligns with expectations, provides actionable direction to your team, and is clear, achievable, and measurable, plug it into the Presentation Planning Worksheet and move on to considering presentation parameters.