5.1. CLARIFY YOUR OBJECTIVE

The cardinal sin of presenting is failing to address the presentation's objective or objectives. You would think that this is nearly impossible; after all, the speaker has received a topic that is listed on meeting schedules and agendas. But because so much of the content we're presenting these days is so vast, so complicated, or in such gray areas, presenters often get lost in their own labyrinthine heads. I've seen it before: A presenter ends up spending 45 minutes of an hour-long time slot discussing the science behind a new medical tool when all the audience wants to know is the long-term financial cost. Sure, both topics are connected to the device in question, but only one gives the audience exactly what they need and nothing more.

A good starting point for clarifying your objective is to write a single mission statement for your presentation. Contact a representative from the audience or the organization that's requested the presentation, and read this mission statement to them. Ask them if it is (1) exactly what they want to learn, discuss, and so on, or (2) not exactly what they want to learn, discuss, and so on. You've gone to great lengths to avoid being a career waiter or waitress, but like waiting tables, these presentations are a service, not a product. Your job is to find out what the audience needs and give it to them. And also like waiting tables, the faster and more fun you make it, the better. People will ask to sit in your section again and again.

Now that you've clearly identified exactly what your presentation is supposed to accomplish, write it everywhere: on Post-it notes, on whiteboards, on Word documents, and on anything else associated with the engagement. The next steps—brainstorming and outlining—must serve this mission. You must keep it forefront in your mind at all times or else you will be amazed at how easily a tangled web of case studies, anecdotes, charts, and graphs can form.