How to prepare a talk – a step by step guide for a successful presentation

How do you prepare a talk? Preparing a talk can be a daunting task, especially if you are new to public speaking or have limited experience in presenting.

However, with proper preparation and planning, you can deliver a successful presentation that engages your audience and leaves a lasting impression. Try these tried and tested steps to preparing your next talk:

Step 1: Define Your Objectives

The first step in preparing your talk is to define your objectives. Ask yourself, what do you want to achieve with your presentation? Do you want to inform, persuade or entertain your audience? Understanding your objectives will help you to create a clear and focused message.

Step 2: Know Your Audience

Knowing your audience is critical to delivering a successful presentation. Understand who your audience is, their background, knowledge level, and interests. This will help you tailor your message to suit their needs and interests.  Remember, your talk should be about your audience, not about you.

Step 3: Research and Gather Information

Once you know your objectives and audience, it’s time to research and gather information. Collect relevant data, statistics, and facts to support your message. Think about stories you can tell and ways to ‘show’ what you want to say rather then ‘tell.’  Think about examples.  Or, if you have a very fact-heavy presentation, explain what those facts mean.  For example, if sales last month were $300,000, tell us if that is good news, bad news or as expected.  

Step 4: Organise Your Content

Organising your content is an essential part of preparing a talk. Use a logical structure to present your information. Consider using the following structure: introduction, main message, 3 key point summary, then talk about each of the three points, recap and a conclusion. Your introduction should grab the attention of your audience, your main points should support your objectives, your recap should summarise your message and your conclusion should tell us what next.

Step 5: Create Visual Aids

Visual aids such as slides or handouts can be useful in supporting your presentation. But you can also waste a huge amount of time playing with PowerPoint.  Instead, only use visuals if they help your audience.  The more senior you are the less you should be using PowerPoint. And always make sure that you prepare your visuals as the last step. Never start with PowerPoint.

Step 6: Practice Your Delivery

Practising your delivery is essential to delivering a successful presentation. Rehearse your talk in front of a mirror, family or colleagues to get feedback on your delivery, body language, and tone of voice.  And most importantly, work out what aspects of your content you can improve.  Never be happy with a first draft. Use a timer to check timing.

Step 7: Prepare for Questions

Preparing for questions is a critical part of preparing a talk. Anticipate potential questions from your audience and prepare your responses in advance. This will help you to appear more confident and knowledgeable during the Q&A session.

If you want help preparing for your next presentation, we’d be delighted to help.  We’ve been helping senior executives prepare presentations for over 15 years.

Contact us for a free consultation on your training needs

About Benjamin Ball Associates

At Benjamin Ball Associates, we help our clients to communicate better. You get presentation coaching for executives.

Over 15+ years the award-winning BBA team has coached thousands of senior executives globally to present powerfully. You get access to a transformational toolbox of presentation skills & techniques to help you become a clear, confident communicator.

We’ll help you create a powerful first impression that hooks and engages your audience immediately, and we’ll transform you to deliver clearly, confidently and with impact.

Speak to Louise on +44 20 7018 0922 or email louise@benjaminball.com to find out more and discuss your upcoming speech or presentation.

Contact us for a free consultation on your training needs