GPS for Presentations: A structured approach to planning presentations with a clear message and focused content by Dave Paradi

Author:Dave Paradi [Paradi, Dave]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2017-07-07T04:00:00+00:00

The quality of the conclusion matters more than the quantity of work

Another reason I see spreadsheets on slides is that the presenter thinks that the executives want to see how much effort went into the analysis. The presenter did a lot of work and wants to show it. If they only showed a few numbers on the slide, how would the executives know that the analysis was thorough and well done?

When the executives see the spreadsheet on the screen, they get overwhelmed by all the numbers. They may get confused. They may ask to just “give me the bottom line” or something similar. If they are detail oriented, the executive may ask questions about one inconsequential number that has nothing to do with the real message.

None of these reactions are what the presenter thought they would get. The presenter thought the executives would be so impressed with the volume of work that was done. The problem is that the executives care more about the quality of the conclusion than the quantity of work that was done. The executive role is about making important decisions to move the organization forward towards the goals that have been set. This requires insight from analysis of data and situations.

The executives hire competent professionals to do the analysis. Ones who have the experience and education to understand and analyze the data. If the professional isn’t qualified, they won’t get the job. What the executive is looking for is an insightful conclusion from the analysis. They will judge the professional by the quality of the conclusion. Is it uncovering new insights? Is it giving them information that they haven’t seen before? Is the conclusion going to give them an advantage over the competition in the marketplace?

If the analysis has been done well, it will show in the conclusion. Most executives frankly don’t care how many spreadsheet cells were filled in or how many hours were spent. They hire talented professionals to do the analysis and present insightful conclusions. They don’t want to have to figure out the conclusion from a spreadsheet on a slide.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.