[Sigrid Lentsch]

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Hello community,

Let me share with you my main frustration when presenting: I am very enthusiastic about the topic and convinced it is of high interest for my audience. I feel totally confident with the content of what I´m presenting, because I have really worked on and understood the topic thoroughly. I have pulled the content into a well prepared presentation and really spent some good hours on that to make it as nice as possible. Also I appreciate my management (to whom I am typically presenting) have a lot on their agenda, and their heads are full, so I always make sure I keep my messages short and clear and very much to the (most urgent) point(s). I have deleted any unnecessary details (respectively put them into the appendix) and am happy with the brief and clear flow of my presentation. And I have put all of this into a story, which I believe is very emotional and compelling.

Finally the presentation goes very well, I trust all was understood and taken. But if I look back what´s the output of the meeting, what has happened a few days or weeks later? Nothing really…

What do I do wrong? Doesn´t my management take seriously what I have presented, is that the reason why they basically ignore my messages?

Maybe anyone of you has an explanation for the situation – happy to see your feedback!

Thank you and kind regards,

Sigrid

[Anonymous]

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Hi Sigrid,
I read your posting and can very well understand the situation and how this feels. Clearly it´s difficult to give reliable feedback on the situation, not having experienced it with you together. But let me try…
One weak point of stories and of presentations in general, that I have seen very often over the years, is the finish. So great content and details are shown, also understood by the audience, but at the end of the meeting a clear “Call to Action” is missing. It is key in my opinion that you don´t let your management leave the meeting without having clarity about the next steps: who does what exactly and until when, and who is responsible for making sure action points are worked on and feedback is given?
If I would have to cluster a presentation into 3 “bullet groups” these are:
What is the problem?
What is the impact (of the problem)?
What is the solution (to this problem)?
But bullet point #4 – and this is the last one, it´s a must, and just as important as the other three: With the above said – what do I expect from my audience to do now? What do I need from them? Which commitment? Make sure to be very outspoken at the end, and guarantee your management has a crystal clear understanding on what you expect them to do.

I suggest you check your next presentation for this Call2Action, and if it´s missing – make it a strong one!
So have fun telling your next story 😊
F-Top Coach / Regine

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