Show your work: How to present and teach with confidence

Our work is full of presentations. Every day we’re showing plans and schedules to our team, teaching writers how to use the new CMS or style guide, and sharing reports with stakeholders. But most of us have never had any formal training in how to present, and it can be daunting.

In this workshop, we’ll discuss some of the basics of giving presentations—how to state your case, not hyperventilate, and reduce the number of times you say "um"—but we’ll also go way beyond that. What’s the larger goal for each presentation? What kinds of examples will this audience find compelling? How much can they handle learning at once?

Transcript

1. HOW TO PRESENT AND TEACH YOUR 
 CONTENT STRATEGY WITH CONFIDENCE SHOW YOUR WORK
2. I’M EILEEN WELCOME!
4. TODAY WE WILL TALK ABOUT ▸Public speaking ▸Why the meeting ▸How the meeting
5. Competence is not about getting every detail right. It’s about focusing on the right details.
6. ZEN ARCHERY A QUICK STORY
7. https://flic.kr/p/5gZToM
8. Competence is not about getting every detail right. It’s about focusing on the right details.
9. Somewhere, at some point, someone has to do the work.
11. prep prep SHRED SHRED Clean Clean
12. write edit create style guide without style guide with style guide write edit "without user research with user research build test iterate test iterate test iterate build test iterate research
13. Somewhere, at some point, someone has to do the work.
14. THIS IS THE GOOD STUFF the right details work we do up-front
15. PUBLIC SPEAKING BUT FIRST
16. public speaking I will say something dumb and people will know I’m not an expert I’m going to say something wrong and get fired I’m going to get flustered and then they’ll all hate me I won’t know the answer to a question and the client will lose confidence in me
17. I’m going to do something embarrassing, and then I will die.
18. NOT DYING LET’S PRACTICE
19. TOASTMASTERS A PLACE TO KEEP PRACTICING
20. GET THEE TO A POST-IT WRITE DOWN THREE TYPES OF MEETINGS / PRESENTATIONS YOU GIVE Sharing wireframes Review core audiences 
 with client Present a project schedule
21. EVERYONE TOGETHER AT YOUR TABLE SHARE YOUR CARDS, AND CHOOSE ONE THAT WORKS FOR EVERYONE Sharing wireframes Review core audiences 
 with client Present a project schedule
22. WHY THE MEETING FIRST THINGS FIRST
23. the right details work we do up-front THIS IS THE GOOD STUFF
24. GO THROUGH THIS WORKSHEET AND EXPLORE ▸Audience ▸Message ▸Best outcome ▸Format ▸Other outcomes WHY THE MEETING
25. GO THROUGH THIS WORKSHEET AND EXPLORE ▸Audience ▸Message ▸Best outcome ▸Format ▸Other outcomes WHY THE MEETING ▸Who are the decision makers? ▸What do they care about? ▸What do they not care about? ▸Who needs to be kept in the loop? ▸Who is likely to derail?
26. GO THROUGH THIS WORKSHEET AND EXPLORE ▸Audience ▸Message ▸Best outcome ▸Format ▸Other outcomes WHY THE MEETING ▸What do I need to communicate? ▸What context do people need to understand? ▸What data do you feel like people are missing/ignoring? ▸What’s the bigger picture?
27. GO THROUGH THIS WORKSHEET AND EXPLORE ▸Audience ▸Message ▸Best outcome ▸Format ▸Other outcomes WHY THE MEETING ▸ What would make this meeting wildly successful? ▸ What will move the project forward meaningfully? ▸ What will make me look good?
28. GO THROUGH THIS WORKSHEET AND EXPLORE ▸Audience ▸Message ▸Best outcome ▸Format ▸Other outcomes WHY THE MEETING ▸What should I send in advance? ▸Is it the first time they’re seeing this info, or is this a follow-up Q&A? ▸In order to get the outcome I want, is there info to emphasize or gloss over? ▸Will these documents make sense out of this context?
29. GO THROUGH THIS WORKSHEET AND EXPLORE ▸Audience ▸Message ▸Best outcome ▸Format ▸Other outcomes WHY THE MEETING ▸ What are other likely outcomes? ▸ What can I do to mitigate those outcomes? ▸ Are there ways to retake a conversation that’s headed off the rails? ▸ What happens if it all goes to crap?
30. GO THROUGH THIS WORKSHEET AND EXPLORE ▸Audience ▸Message ▸Best outcome ▸Format ▸Other outcomes WHY THE MEETING
31. STORY SHAPES Stories are a really great way to communicate, even if what you’re communicating is boring work stuff. WHY THE MEETING
32. STORY SHAPES WHY THE MEETING
33. HOW THE MEETING LET’S DO THIS THING
34. THIS IS THE GOOD STUFF the right details work we do up-front
35. Competence is not about getting every detail right. It’s about focusing on the right details.