So you have a big presentation to give to impress your boss or to new prospects and you want to make a huge impact. Well, there a lot of strategies out there for delivering a great presentation but you might as well forget them all if you fail to set out your objectives clearly first.

The reason for this is simple; if you don’t have a clear idea of exactly what you want your presentation to achieve then, despite your best efforts, at the end of your presentation your audience won’t have a clear idea of your objectives either.  Without a set of clear objectives you might make a few points effectively but you are leaving a lot to chance. A presentation not created with a strong focus will often leave only a vague impression of the real message you wish to convey.

Begin with the end in mind. If you take time to set your objectives out then you have begun to build a blueprint for the content and structure of your presentation. If you have a clear set of objectives they will inform all your decisions about what to say, when to say it and what to emphasise the most.

So what should your objectives include? Start with the ultimate end in mind, whether it’s a sale, increased web traffic, a chance of promotion, getting a job or even an abstract concept like building credibility. Having this objective in mind then leads to the next level of objectives such as, the key messages that you want to convey, what direct action you want the audience to take at the end or how many new clients you want to sign up.

Once you have these goals in mind then every word, every slide and every image should be evaluated against its ability to help you achieve the goal. Does that long introduction about the company history really help? Does that animation make the message clearer or is it a distraction to your purpose?

Use these goals to inform the narrative structure for your whole presentation as well as the order and emphasis for each point that you wish to make.

Having the end in mind gives you a clear and strong focus on exactly what it is that you need to do to achieve your goals.