Does it *Deserve* to be Presented?

Most presentations are a waste of time, because they're forgettable. So how do we make sure yours aren't?

Seth Godin argues that all presentations worth doing have one purpose: to make change happen.

I agree.

Change could take the form of expanding your influence, raising investment, landing a sale, approval of a budget... the list is endless.

But for change to happen, people need to feel it's in their interests to take action.

You can never guarantee that change is going to happen as a result of your presentation. You can't guarantee that your pitch is going to bring you investment, or that your marketing plan will get approved.

But what you can do is design every part of the experience around your audience's needs and interests. This will give you the best chance of success.

At the very least, they will notice, appreciate it, and remember.

If you can't do this, you may as well deliver your message some other way- perhaps via email, a handout, voice message, PDF, or carrier pigeon.

These "value delivery mechanisms''  are all good in their own way, but they serve different purposes.

A presentation is special and different because:

A) you bring people together in the same time and the same place for a unified purpose

B) It is collaborative and interactive (to some extent at least) and

C) it should feel special- at the very least, everyone is walking out with more than what they walked in with.

It is worth considering whether we actually need to make a presentation at all, or if it could/should be done some other way.

via GIPHY

Again, the journey metaphor applies here: is it worth taking your loved ones on a trip if you're not sure they're going to appreciate it?

Not everything deserves to take the form of a presentation. A presentation is a special event. So make it special.

Your audiences will thank you if you consider this carefully. They'll resent you if you don't.

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