5 Days to an Amazing Presentation – Day 1

By Bruno Souza | event

Oct 18

Presenting at events can be a HUGE career boost for you.

To help you with that, this is the first post in a series, that will walk you through preparing and submitting talks to events.

This training can be used to submit papers to any event, but as I write this, we have a special opportunity to submit talks to The Developers Conference, that has a Call For Papers (CFP) open.

First lesson we discuss What is a Presentation.
Second lesson focus on Defining the Presentation Title.
Third lesson we create your Presentation Content.
Fourth lesson is all about Abstracts.
Fifth and final lesson we Polish things up and Submit.

Let’s dive in on Day 1!

What is a Presentation

First thing we need is to look at what a presentation is.

Many people considers that a presentation is the CONTENT that we will talk.

Although the CONTENT is important, it is a small piece of the show.

It is normal to value the CONTENT a lot, because it is what you will present on the day of your talk.

But, although our CONTENT is important, the CONTENT is there to solve a real or perceived PROBLEM that the audience has.

So, another really important part of our presentation is, in fact, the PROBLEM we solve.

Now, the PROBLEM itself does not stand on its own.

Depending on WHO has the PROBLEM, things change.

Let’s imagine your CONTENT solves a common PROBLEM, like saving money.

If the WHO you are talking with is a group of teenagers saving their allowance to buy a new phone, that’s one type of problem.

If the WHO are parents saving money to buy the family house, that’s another problem.

If the WHO are financial managers of small companies, or maybe CFOs of major corporations, those are other completely different PROBLEMS.

The solutions change.
The tools are different.

Interesting enough…
The only thing that stays the same is…
Your CONTENT!

Because your CONTENT is YOUR experiences on saving money!

(Of course you should adapt and choose the best stories, tools, and advice for each audience!)

So, there is a WHO that has a PROBLEM, and our CONTENT solves that PROBLEM!
That’s great!

Not so simple…

Our content, no matter how awesome, can’t solve problems…

It is the ACTION that our audience takes that can solve their problems.

Only when people take ACTION that some form of TRANSFORMATION can happen.

What our presentations can do is to inspire, guide, show possibilities, clarify the issues, point to solutions.

Our CONTENT inspires WHO to take ACTION on their PROBLEMS.

If we, the speakers, the experts in the topic, don’t know and can’t clarify what ACTION should be taken, how can our audiences know and take any ACTION?

Our presentation has to make clear what ACTION needs to be taken.

So…

Our CONTENT is the bridge
between the PROBLEM and the ACTION
that the WHO can take to cause a TRANSFORMATION
in their lives or their situation.

A presentation should have all those elements, to be able to help people transform their mindsets and their realities.

The success of your presentation is not measured on how well you presented or how great your content is.

The success of your presentation is measured by the ACTIONS people take AFTER watching your presentation.

Exercise

Spend a few minutes listing:

– 5 PROBLEMS you have faced in your life, projects or career that could help people.

– 5 WHOs that could benefit from each of those problems.

– For each, write what would be the TRANSFORMATION they, their companies or their families would get out if they solved that PROBLEM.

– What is the most important ACTION they can take after watching your talk?

Now, choose the best ones and write the following statement:

My talk will help [WHO]
to solve this [PROBLEM]
by doing [ACTION]
so they can get or become [TRANSFORMATION]

Example:

My talk will help [Software Developers]
to [present a great talk at the event]
by [submitting an abstract in the TDC CFP]
so they can become [recognized as experts in their fields].

Notice an important thing… There is no “CONTENT” on the above statement… We will deal with CONTENT later in this series.

And… While you are at it… How about you take a small action, and create your account on the TDC event, to get ready to submit your abstracts later this week?

Create an account at the TDC CFP site.

Tomorrow, on the second lesson, we will work on the title of your presentation.

Do you want to receive this training in your email? Join us and receive a free book!

See you soon!
Bruno.
the “presentation is more than content”-man

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About the Author

Since 1995 Bruno helps professional software developers to grow their career to senior level and beyond, so they work on cool projects with great people!