Choosing your main points - Video Tutorials & Practice Problems

Have you ever been sitting in a presentation following along nicely? When all of a sudden it feels like it takes a totally unexpected turn, you find yourself wondering where are we going with this? This happens when the presenter hasn't thoroughly planned out the main points of their presentation. Instead, they've decided to just wing it because they're already experts at their topic area. They may start with a catchy introduction and mention the focus of the presentation. But it goes downhill from there being an expert at your topic area does not automatically translate into being great at presenting that expertise. These are entirely different skill sets. This is why it's so important to map out the main points of your presentation. After this lesson, you'll be able to take the themes from your content brainstorm and turn them into the most compelling, main points to support your juicy core message. Sometimes your main points create a series of steps in a process. For example, if the juicy core message of your presentation is learning this awesome new software program is a simple three-part process. Then your main points will be designed around that goal. Something like number one, set yourself up for success. Before you dive into the software. Number two, follow the steps in the demonstration. Video. Number three, let the experts support you as you roll out the system to your. Or sometimes your main points should lay out a problem. What's not working and then offer a solution. So if your goal for the presentation is to convince the executive team to invest in a new hiring process, your main points might be something like number one. Our current hiring process is costing us our best talent. Number two, the small fixes we've tried are making things worse. Number three, implementing the magical hiring process will help us attract and keep the best talent. Other times you'll have three different parts that help describe the larger main idea message. Like if you were doing a presentation on the structure of a story, and you talked about the beginning, middle and end, these could be main points of that presentation. There are too many examples to describe them all here, but there are a couple of things that are always true about your main points. They always directly relate to the core message of your presentation. So when you start identifying your main points, make sure they clearly refer back to the core message you've created. Then your main points, give you a very clear map for fleshing out the rest of your presentation. So check to make sure that they have a good narrative flow and that they work together to support that main core message. You don't want random outliers, confusing your message. And using these checkpoints as you craft, the main points will help ensure you create a cohesive presentation. Okay, now go ahead and grab your presentation, outline template, and try mapping out the main points for your presentation.