Ask Yourself These Questions to Master Your Next Presentation

By Jenna Lange

I recently read an INC. article titled, “The 25 Most Popular TED Talks Contain this `1 Word Over and Over.”? that references a technique that I coach executives routinely to level up their presentations and pitches.

When you are preparing for a large presentation, the first question you should ask yourself is, “How can I keep this audience connected to me and my content?” Then you’ll likely go down the path of thinking about the audience and their wants, needs, style, and more.

However, sometimes you won’t know what your audience wants or needs—but you can imagine. When that is the case, share that with them!

That internal dialogue, “Why are they here, what do they want to hear, why is this point relevant…” is really valuable, both for you and your audience. In fact, when I am coaching leaders, I work hard to help them identify those rhetorical questions and use them in their talk track.

Ask questions such as, “What is the point here? Why do you care about this? In thinking about this room, I bet many of you are asking…” This technique buys you some time to think about what you are going to say next, and also perks up the audience into paying more attention to what you are going to say RIGHT AFTER the question.

Have you used this technique in a speech or presentation? Let us know how it went!