How to Prepare Content for the Business Plan Presentation

 

1. Once you’ve gathered all the information for your part of the presentation, do a freewrite.  The point of a freewrite is to let go and let the “flow” write for you.  When you do it correctly, you get ideas you didn’t think of before.  You might think of metaphors or jokes, or you may have some insights into the material you’ve been working with you didn’t have before. 

2. After having completed the freewrite, you need to organize it.  The key is to find three or four focus points, but rather than think of them as “topics”, think of them as questions to be answered.  This will help you to get out of the habit of information dumping.  You’re not trying to tell the audience everything you know, just enough to answer questions you think the audience will have about the issues you want to present.

3. Write out a second draft as if you’re answering the questions you’ve identified in the previous step.  Think about someone you know and imagine him or her as you’re writing.  If you can think about yourself writing what you would say to her in an imaginary conversation, fine.  If it would be easier to think of your writing him an email answering a question he might have, that’s fine, too.  The main thing is that you have a person in mind and that all you’re trying to do is answer a question, not tell him everything you know.

4. Set a deadline for everyone in your group to have completed step three.  Then have a “content rehearsal.”  This means that everyone reads out the part he or she has written in the order you think you’ll probably go with in your presentation.  This is when you shape the content of the presentation as a group.  You critique one another with the idea of making each part as good as it can be.  Make suggestions for additions or cuts.  If someone in your group is talking about how that’s the way the Japanese do it, so that’s the way we’re going to do it,” this is when you need to nip it in the bud.

5. When the group feels that it has the content of the presentation in pretty good shape, each speaker needs to learn his or her part.  If you have a good text to work with that is focused toward answering questions rather than just dumping information, it will be a lot easier to learn and to develop confidence in your ability to know what you want to say and to deliver it effectively.  Create a storyboard (or use cards, if you must), and make it a practical tool to help keep you on track.  Make adjustments on it as you proceed with your private rehearsals.

6. Ideally you should have two “delivery rehearsals,” the first to work out the major bugs the second to fine-tuning and polishing.  See the Delivery page for tips on how to prepare your delivery.  The first rehearsal is also when you should make sure that you have adequate well-executed visual aids, and each speaker should make his or her presentation using the visual aids for his or her part.  This is first rehearsal is where you figure out where the problems are and you fix them, and fixing them might require doing work after the rehearsal.  When you have your second delivery rehearsal, everything should be in place and at the end of it, you should feel that you’re ready to go.