I remember when I had to prepare my first presentation, I was very nervous. I tried to start writing, but ideas wouldn't come. Well, they did come, but they appeared tangled, without a specific order and it was very difficult for me to know how to explain.
Perhaps this has happened to you too, the typical fear of seeing a blank page and not knowing how to start, or how you have to say things or even knowing how to narrow down the ideas you have so you don't stray from the main topic.
If this has happened to you, then don't stop reading, because I'm going to give you some tips that will help you face this obstacle and make a quality presentation in the simplest way I've found.
The first thing I do is brainstorm. I let ideas flow freely, without putting restrictions on them, and I write all of them, whether in the form of lists or a cloud, it has to be a way in which you can have a general view of all of them, but also give them individual attention.
Take note of everything you think at that moment, even if it doesn't seem important to you, it can serve you later to reinforce an idea, or you may realize that it's a really relevant matter after defining your main topic.
Make a relationship of concepts, choose the ones you consider necessary and try to form some topics from these. Once you have some proposals it's time to analyze some points that will help you make the final choice.
Audience you are going to address
There are different types of audiences and all have individual characteristics that you need to consider in order to provide them with a presentation that is truly valuable to them and from which they can obtain benefits applicable to their area and their reality.
Consider the time
When I made my first presentations, sometimes it was difficult for me to stick to specific time limits. On some occasions I had to be told that I had little time left and suddenly I felt like I had to cover a lot in little time and that made me feel like I was losing a bit of control.
So, don't lose sight of your times, calculate the duration of each moment of your presentation and stay calm so you don't start to digress into other topics.
Purpose
Think about the reason you have for making that presentation, perhaps it's a training, a sale, a proposal… there are many reasons, so you need to keep your purpose very clear to look for strategies that will help you achieve it.
Resources
All spaces are different, and you can't always give the same presentation in all the places you're going to present, even if the audience is similar. So you have to adapt your presentation to the resources you have and that the space you're going to attend has. This way there will be fewer surprises.
Analyze the proposals you chose and compare them with the needs that present themselves to you in these points, then select the ones that meet the requirements you need and keep the rest so you can take them into account on another occasion.
Make a list with the selected ones and think about the time you can dedicate to each one, also consider what would be the best structure to present them. All your ideas should be connected to each other to give coherence to your entire presentation.
If you think there's an idea that seems relevant, but no matter how hard you try, it doesn't relate well to the rest of your presentation, perhaps the best thing would be to set it aside a bit, and focus on the others. It's not necessary to cover everything that can be said about a topic, what's important is that your audience takes away something valuable and memorable and that a meaningful experience is generated.
With this in mind and now with your path well defined, make a draft to shape the presentation you're making. Establish your main idea and connect all your speech from beginning to end, don't let there be loose ideas and don't make sudden jumps from one idea to a different one because that can cause confusion in those who are listening to you.
Now with all the skeleton finished, it's time to polish it and get it ready. For this, I'm going to give you some recommendations that will make your presentation look like the highest quality and everyone will be able to appreciate it in the best way:
Less is more.
Use the least amount of text possible so that people can devote the necessary attention to reading it and it's not tiring or frustrating for them to deal with twenty lines at once.
Text
Don't use very small font sizes, or fonts that are difficult to read, opt for simplicity, the important thing is that your presentation is readable by all attendees
Graphics.
When possible, replace text with a good quality image or graphic, this way the audience's attention is maintained for longer.
Final considerations.
The style and format of your presentation should be in line with the message you want to convey, don't lose sight of your final purpose and the intention you have with this presentation.
With these steps I assure you that your presentation will turn out excellent. The rest is up to you. Don't forget to practice a lot so you can project security and confidence on stage.