If you sometimes feel you are jumping from one topic to another during your presentations, or you find yourself using the same transition, such as “the next slide shows…” you may be missing out on an important opportunity to create better flow as well as better retention of your content. Let’s look at some ways to create flow.
First, check to see that you have a Targeted Message; this is the message or theme that ties all your content together. This will make it easy to create connections between different segments of your presentation. As an example, let’s say your message is: “With our new products and powerful sales force, we are well positioned for growth and profitability next quarter.”
Now, define the major segments of content. For example, you might want to speak about the current situation, challenges, and strategies. Once you have your segments worked out, you are ready to create some transitions.
To transition to a segment or major chunk of content, use simple transitions such as the ones below. Let’s say we are transitioning to “current situation.”
“Let’s start by reviewing our current situation…)”
“Let me share some thoughts on our current situation…”
“What is our current situation?”
You may follow with several slides about current numbers, initiatives, or issues, anything pertinent to the current situation. You may share a story, give examples, or show maps or photos of products. When you have completed your comments on the current situation, summarize it. You don’t need to repeat all the points you made, but rather, use a summary statement. Using our same example, try something like one of these:
“So that gives you a quick overview of our current situation.”
“So now you know where we stand at present.”
You can also link to your next segment, by tying the current situation to challenges.
“Now that we are up to speed on the current situation, let’s discuss some of the challenges we are facing.”
“That’s where we are currently, but as you know we are facing a few challenges.”
Once you have discussed challenges, you would repeat the same process, that is, summing it up and moving toward the next segment.
In this way, the transitions show people where they are in the presentation, mark forward movement through the content, and remind them at each stage how it all ties together.
At the end of the presentation, remember to use another transition that brings you full circle to your Targeted Message, which is what you want to end with. Some speakers go over each segment again, but if you have been using strong transitions all along, you should be able to provide a quick transition to the Targeted Message. Here are a few options:
“So as you can see, with our new products and our amazing people, we are sure to see growth and profitability next quarter.”
“You have heard where we stand today, the challenges we face, and because we have the most incredible people on our team, we can be confident that we will see growth and profitability next quarter.”
“Based on our marketing plan, our new products, and our powerful sales force, let’s go out and create our best quarter ever.”
As you move from segment to segment in your presentation, use simple but effective transitions like these to create flow and cohesion for your best-ever presentations. Smooth!