One of the greater mistakes that people make in presentations is talking about “The Problem”.

To give a presentation, you have The Reason. The Reason could be because your boss says so. The Reason is because you have something to say, or you’ve been invited to speak because someone thinks you are good enough (or better).

The first step that inexperienced presenters make is think of what to say. Sounds simple. Most people will immediately think about some problem that they are having and then end up identifying the The Problem. Then they work out the The Answer. Now I can write a presentation. Right ?

Here is where the mistake happens. Most people start talking about The Problem without considering what their audience knows ? You look foolish when you attempt to tell Network Engineers The Problem with Spanning Tree. Or The Problem with Network Management. These problems are well known and well understood.

Don’t talk about the problem, just talk about the The Solution. We get it, we live it everyday. We don’t need to learn what you know about The Problem, all we need is the The Solution.

For marketing people this is doubly true. Just because you discovered what spanning tree was as part of writing the presentation, or  involved with some fancy technology, doesn’t mean you need to assume your reader is ignorant. Write smart.

Considering your audience is rule number 1. If you are presenting The Solution to a group of engineers, then your audience almost certainly knows the The Problem.

We all know the what’s wrong with networking, lets just talk about solutions. People will very quickly work out the problem once you start talking about the solution.

If they can’t, they won’t want your solution anyway.

The EtherealMind View

I’ve had this happen so many times. I experience the problem, I know the problem. Just outlines the solution. In detail.

That’s especially my advice to TechFieldDay presenters.