Recently there was a lot of reflection on Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. One of the most poignant historical facts we heard was that Edward Everett’s speech, which preceded Lincoln’s, lasted more than two hours. Lincoln’s was over in minutes, and was followed by silence (initially) as the crowd began to realize that it was in fact over.
Part of what made Lincoln’s speech so iconic, even today, is that it not only perfectly articulated his vision of our nation in the context of that great sacrifice of men, but that it was brief enough to be remembered, even telegraphed across the country and printed, in full, in newspapers. You might be realizing the obvious lessons for presenters in these qualities.
There’s no minimum word count on effectiveness. There is, however, a retention requirement. You will never get anything done in a presentation if the audience can’t remember what you said. If, say, we were to offer you (as a presenter) $10,000 following your presentation if, and only if, a random sampling of audience members could recount to us exactly what your key points were, how careful would you be not to muddy the waters for them? How clear would it be to you, if you were putting your deck together, which information was essential and which was essentially fluff? Yet the reality is that with many presentations, far more than $10,000 is riding on the same criteria. If they can’t remember what you said, how can you possibly expect to get the result you want?
It really goes back to an adage that all of us are sick of having old managers tell us: we’ve got to keep it simple. In every context that we’ve ever seen that advice given, the usual result is defensiveness. The usual defense is, “But this is simple!”. Ok. But is it? What is simplicity? What is necessary? What is the end goal, and of all the ways you could lead a group of disparate audience members there, what is the most reliable path? So often, when we begin with the end in mind, the presentation development process becomes so much easier.
In the end, the best advice is the advice you can apply right now. So keep it simple. Who are you trying to persuade today? What are you trying to change today? If you really thought big money was on the line, what points could you not live without? How could you get them across without confusing the audience? These are the first and last questions you should ask as you put together your presentations. Do this, and the middle parts get really, really easy.
Question: Have you been keeping it simple lately?
