Conclusion

If I had to summarize my key points in a single presentation slide—well, I wouldn’t. I’d make five slides, each containing one strong point:

1. If you plan for your audience and give everyone a job, they’ll contribute their expertise, not their opinion.
2. If you show the end result, not your progress or process, your audience will understand what you are showing them and won’t get distracted by process details.
3. If you present a person doing a thing and tell a compelling story, your audience will give feedback on the story, not the features.
4. If you set up a clear feedback process and teach your clients how to give great feedback, they will give you relevant and useful feedback.
5. If you make clear decisions about the feedback and communicate those decisions back to the client, they’ll trust that you are listening to them.

With practice, these principles will become second nature. Not only will you feel a lot better about your presentation, but your team will collectively make a much better product.