No matter how long you have been in your industry, no matter how much you know, it is still wise to plan out your presentation.
Don’t get too caught up in the fact that you seem to be ‘pretty good’ at speaking off the top of your head. If you are having a one-on-one question and answer session with a cleint, you have no choice. If you’ve been asked to give a 20 minute presentation to the Kiwanis, you need to prepare.
Experts agree that for every 10 minutes of presentation time, you should spend ninety minutes preparing. So, your 20 minute presentation will take you almost half a day. That does not include time to make any audio visual items you might want to include, either. You need to develop an outline, create whatever notes you want to use, and rehears your presentation.
In future blogs, we’ll discuss what sort of things should go into your preparation. For now, just allow time to do it.
