Tip 25 – Make presentations more effective with PMS

This tip is from Cliff Ravenscraft of podcastanswerman.com who got it from a public speaking course he attended.

I always try to follow this general approach when I plan Webinar Quick Tips.

A lack of structure in presentations usually makes them less successful than they could be. The presenter can flail around with no direction or focus which makes it difficult for the audience to follow.

If the audience can’t follow the presentation they don’t receive the message – this risks ruining the purpose of the webinar

So, if we focus not only on the the purpose of the presentation, the message we are trying to get across but also on how to structure the presentation to make it as effective as possible, we will set ourselves up for success.

Cliff’s tip is based on an easy to remember acronym – P.M.S.

The structure suggested is very simple and works best when the presentation focusses on just one problem.

Problem

The presenter outlines what the problem is in simple terms.

Moment

Next, the presentation sets out the moment when it became clear there was a problem.

Solution

Finally, the solution is described.

This simple formula is used by many public speakers to make their presentations more effective.

If it sounds like this simple approach is not appropriate for all the subject matter you deal with or all your Webinar purposes, see if you can adapt it or at least try to come up with an equally simple structure which will work.

Overall…

…keep a structure in mind to add discipline to planning a presentation so it always has clearly-defined sections. That way, you’ll have much more chance of your audience remembering your key message.

Try it out and see how it goes – I found it very helpful when planning all kinds of different presentations – maybe it will help you too.

Creative Commons image credit: Sean MacEntee  | Copyright music credit (used by permission): Mike Murphy