Never Forget Your Core Message
Much is written about your core message when giving a presentation. And this is justified.
When we give a presentation, we are delivering a message to our audience. In that message there will be a main point, or what is more commonly called “your core message”. That main point has to be the focus of your presentation. Unfortunately, when we delivery a 45 minute presentation, that core message can often get lost. We then go off the main topic and never return to it. This is when we forget our core message.
What happens then, is our audience becomes confused and very likely unable to remember the information you wanted them to remember.
So how do we prevent this from happening?
It really all comes down to our planning. Too many times when we begin a presentation we open our presentation software, and then start writing our slides. Planning this way (if you can really call that planning) almost always results in a confused and detached presentation with no core message.
What we should be doing is planning on paper.
Write the main theme, topic or message in the middle of a piece of paper, then branch off subjects and themes you wish to talk about. Below is an example of how this might look:
By writing the main message in the middle of the page, you maintain your focus on the core message when you are planning and so are unlikely to digress off the subject.
It is really that simple. By following this method, you maintain your focus on your core message and your presentation will flow that much easier. This is yet another reason why you should never open your presentation software before you plan on paper.