I have spent the past several days traveling and presenting sales programs to a large group of customers in Northern California.  Along with myself, I have been traveling with two other presenters.  As I have observed these presenters, I have realized that, while there are many elements to an effective presentation, there are three that stood out to me this week.

1.  Know your audience.  I have learned that if I hold four presentations in different parts of the same state, each audience will have their own set of challenges they are trying to face.  It is vitally important to spend some time stepping back from the content being presented and to understand who that content is being received by.  What is the economy like in their area?  What is the demographics (Hispanic, women, young, old)?  Are those people tech savvy?  Sometimes we make assumptions about who we are presenting to rather than base our perception in reality.  Spend some time talking with people from the area.  Perhaps read a local paper.  Find out what companies are based in the area.  The internet is a wealth of information and 10 minutes can bring a lot of context to the presentation.

2.  Know your message.  This goes without saying, but I have seen many people be asked a question regarding their presentation, only to have to come back with a “I don’t know…let me find out.”  While this is the proper answer if you truly don’t know, what is more important is to make sure that this answer is never needed.

3.  Ask for a commitment.  Most presentations are given for a purpose.  To sell a product, to commit to additional training, to get referrals.  Whatever the purpose, there is nothing more frustration than watching a presenter give a great presentation only to walk away without closing the sale.  The last presentation I observed went well right up to the end.  The customer actually had to look at the presenter and ask him to close the sale!  He was ready to commit, but our presenter seemed to hesitate for whatever reason.

So, as you prepare for your next presentation…take some time.  Take time to figure out exactly who will be listening to your message.  Take time to figure out what you are going to say and how you are going to say it.  Know your content forward and backward and make sure that you actually believe that what you are presenting on has value to those listening.  An finally, make sure that before you shut down your presentation, you have  a plan to ask for a commitment from your listener.  Assume that what you have is of value, whether that is a product, training, or anything else…then ask your listener to join with you.