A 5-point presentation checklist

Pose the problem, offer the solution, call the audience to action—and make sure you back up your presentation in the cloud, and your attire in the car. Stuff happens.

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Anyone who has delivered a presentation knows preparation is the key to success. Practice is invaluable, but preparation requires more than rehearsing your delivery in the mirror.

Here is a short checklist to make sure you are prepared for any presentation:

1. Sell pain relief.

Most people are living with some type of pain: stress, exhaustion, or worry. When preparing the content of your presentation, make sure your message emphasizes how your idea or product makes life easier, safer, or more comfortable. Pain relief will captivate an audience more than fancy bells and whistles that do not solve an existing problem.

2. Give a call to action.

End your presentation with a clear call to action. Hopefully, your presentation clearly communicates how your idea or product provides pain relief, so the final step in presentation success is to inform your audience on ways to take advantage of your solution. If the audience knows that your product exists, but they do not know how to buy it, you might have some new fans, but your sales will not prove it.

3. Don’t forget design.

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