When you think of internal presentations, you probably have a mental picture of Steve Jobs or Tim Cook striding around a huge stage, accompanied by sophisticated electronics and handled by expert corporate communicators. And Russell Working’s “7 crucial factors in preparing for that internal speech” certainly speaks to that scenario.
This post presents three—in my opinion—of his top tips, but I think it’s good to remember that these tips apply to the conference room preso you make to a subset of your coworkers. As Mr. Working says, “Preparation is key not only for important speeches to ballparks full of associates, but also for smaller audiences.”
So what do you do to make sure things go well?
Rehearse
Yes, even if you have only two days to prepare. Rehearse in the shower. Rehearse to your cat. Practice in front of your significant other. The point is: Stand up and go through your presentation end to end. Not once but several times. More if you can.
Now, if you’re dealing with a senior executive who seems inclined to finesse the work of preparing … “How to light a fire under your bigwig? Show her the venue, says Justina Chen, a consultant and former executive communicator at Microsoft.” Just seeing the space may create a motivating sense of reality.
Research
Research your audience. Internal audience research is as crucial as external. If the boss—or you—fails to rally the troops through lack of preparation, well, that’s not a good thing.
Among other things, internal speech-givers need to know who’s going to be in the audience, what’s important to them, their challenges, and what the speaker can offer them. Maybe the most important point to make here—and this is my thought—is not to make assumptions even if you think you know your audience well.
Know what you want
That is, know what you want to achieve with your presentation. Essentially, you’re taking an audience on a journey, so you need to know what you want members to feel, think, and do. Of course, you want to answer “What’s in it for me?” in a meaningful way. I think this applies even if you’re rolling out the latest marketing campaign to 25 of your closest colleagues.
There are so many things to consider when you’re giving, or preparing someone to give, an internal presentation. Mr. Working reminds us that nothing is really internal any more. A careless or callous comment, sloppily delivered remarks, or a speech that ignores external context can easily end up on YouTube. And wouldn’t it be a shame if the presenter hadn’t seen that coming?
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