Creating effective business presentations/Developing business presentations/Video signpost - Bavister

“	One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.	”
—Arthur Ashe

In this learning pathway, we look at the importance of planning and preparing for business presentations.

These videos introduce us to different aspects of presentation planning and organisation.

Media

Watch the video 'Preparing for a presentation' [3:13 min.].

Preparing for a presentation

The presenter, Steve Bavister, observes that many people start by gathering content information to develop their presentation. However, as he points out, you need to be clear on your purpose(s) first, in order to select and structure information appropriately. Bavister also notes that presentations often involve more than one purpose. Being clear on what you want your audience to do, think, and/or feel after your presentation will help you focus on key points and avoid unnecessary detail.

In this next video, 'The importance of knowing your audience and speaking context' [8:50 min.], Matt Abrahams, a lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, talks about the importance of putting your audience's needs ahead of your own, and explains how understanding your audience's needs, expectations, and concerns will help you develop effective presentation content. He illustrates his point with real world ad campaigns that succeeded or failed based on how well they tailored their message to their audiences. Abrahams also provides practical guidance on how to engage audience interest in your core message right from the start.

Importance of knowing your audience and speaking context

WENote

What advice from these videos do you think will be most useful for you? Why? Do you have any other advice to share with our learners?

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