Presentation Planning Checklist

Contents
• Benefits Of Using A Presentation Planning Checklist

• The Presentation Planning Checklist

• Part I: The Planning Overview Checklist

o · Define your presentation objective

o · What message do you want to convey to your audience?

o · Who’s your audience?

o · Where are you going to present?

o · How long is your presentation going to be?

• Part II: The Content Planning Checklist (The Outline)

o · Research your topic

o · Outline the main points for discussion

o · Plan your introduction

o · Plan your conclusion

• Part III: Slide Design Checklist

o · Are your slides easy on the eyes?

o · Do they help emphasize your key points?

o · Does your design represent your brand well?

o Not up to the slide design task?

• Part IV: Presentation Day Checklist

o · Are you wearing appropriate attire?

o · Is everything working?
 o · Are you ready to deliver your presentation?

• Final Words

This scenario may sound familiar: you’ve got a presentation coming

up, but you don’t even know where to start. You feel overwhelmed,
pressured and perhaps even a bit scared, especially if there’s a lot at
stake. Your reputation – or maybe even your career – could be on the
line. Don’t waste any more time and follow the presentation planning
checklist I’ve prepared in this article. Be on your way to becoming a
better and more confident presenter!
Benefits Of Using A Presentation Planning
Checklist
Count yourself lucky if you’ve gotten away with being disorganized
and unprepared in past presentations. You can’t expect to get lucky all
the time, so it’s great that you’ve taken the initiative to know more
about this particular topic. If you still aren’t sure if you should expend
any more energy in preparing for your upcoming presentation, here
are the key benefits of using a presentation planning checklist.
1. Allows you to focus on what’s important

Having a checklist is handy because it allows you to work on tasks

that have a direct effect on your presentation. You essentially have
‘blinders’ on, so you follow whatever’s in front of you.

Of course, you may still get tempted to procrastinate and do things

that will have a negative effect on your presentation. Now, saying ‘no’
to these temptations will obviously depend on your level of self-
discipline. But having a checklist on-hand will definitely help rein in
those impulses.

At the very least, you’ll be able to estimate the time needed to spend
on checklist tasks. You just need to make sure you don’t
underestimate the difficulty of each item on the list, so you don’t end
up panicking when you run out of time!

A checklist won’t only help you focus on the essentials, it will also
prevent you from trying to reinvent the wheel. You don’t need to
overthink things – just follow the items on the list and you’re good to
go.
2. Helps you get organized

As with most things in life, organization is key to a successful

presentation. There are so many things that need to be considered
when preparing for a presentation. It’s important not to underestimate
any tasks on your list!

For instance, just because you already know the topic doesn’t mean
that you can skip out on preparing for the presentation altogether.
You’re probably thinking you can just fire up PowerPoint, type what
needs to be said on the slides, and call it a day. So many presenters
have made this mistake which further perpetuates the decades-old
phenomenon known as ‘death by PowerPoint.’ You don’t want to be
one of them, right?
From preparing the content to designing the slides and knowing what
to say onstage (and everything in between), a proper checklist will
help you prepare and deliver an outstanding presentation!
3. Track where you’re at

It’s easy to get confused where you are in the preparation stage. You
could be designing your slides one moment, and the next thing you
know you’re getting called away on an important meeting. When you
go back to your slides, you forget what you were supposed to be
doing! Without a checklist, this is a very likely scenario.

With a checklist, you can quickly pick up where you left off. You may
have been interrupted, but you can just review your list and see which
tasks are still pending. Whether you’re halfway or already nearing
completion, a presentation checklist will guide you to the finish line.
The Presentation Planning Checklist
As I’ve mentioned above, presentations aren’t as straightforward as
you might think. There are a lot of work that happen ‘behind the
scenes.’ Hours of preparation and focus are essential to your success
– this is why this checklist comes in 4 parts.
Part I: The Planning Overview Checklist
The moment you find out you need to give a presentation, go through
this checklist. This stage is crucial – forgetting or neglecting to do any
of the checklist items will have a negative snowball effect down the
line. That being said, here are your checklist items for Part I:
· Define your presentation objective

Setting a clear presentation objective is the first thing on this list. By

defining your objective, you’ll be able to come up with the right content
and the right message. But how do you exactly define your objective?
Wouldn’t it be enough to just say “you want to share your message
with your audience?” Sure, you can say that’s your objective, but if
you want to be taken seriously, then it’s best to have a S.M.A.R.T.
objective.
S.M.A.R.T. stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and
Time-bound. With this criteria, you can see that your goal of wanting
to ‘share your message with your audience’ is far too general and
doesn’t fit the criteria.

A good example of a SMART objective would be something like this:

To deliver a highly persuasive sales presentation on your latest
tech product that will increase sales by 50% within the next 90
days.
• Is the goal specific? Yes, it is.
 • Is it measurable? Yes, it is, provided you have a system place

tracking the conversions from your presentation participants.

• Is the goal attainable? Yes, it certainly is!

• Is it realistic? Yes, a 50% sales increase is possible.

• Is it time-bound? Yes, the goal is to increase sales within 90 days.

Write down different variations of your goals until you come up with
one that will fit the SMART goal criteria.
· What message do you want to convey to your
audience?

Presentations are all about getting the message across to a group of

people. But what exactly is your message? Even if you’ve been tasked
to do a presentation on a specific topic, you need to think of a way –
or an angle – that will capture people’s interest.

If your presentation is going to be on something most people already

know, then you don’t want to share the same, boring information. It’s
just going to be redundant. Think outside the box and ask yourself if
you yourself would be happy to listen to your message.
If you’re doing a sales presentation, then don’t just focus on
the specifications of your product. Your message should resonate with
your audience, so it’s best to focus on the benefits. It should answer
the question, “How will your product benefit them?” Then craft your
presentation message around this question.
· Who’s your audience?
Delivering the right message to the right audience is one of the keys
to a successful presentation. Whether or not you’re presenting to a
known or unknown group of people, it’s still a good idea to do some
research beforehand. For corporate or in-house presentations, you
most likely already know your audience, so your job is going to be a
bit easier.

For unknown audiences, like in the case of most sales or marketing

presentations, knowing a bit more about your prospects is imperative.
You don’t want to pitch your products or services to people who will
gain nothing from it. Make your presentation all about your audience,
not about yourself. Cater to their needs and their wants. And you’ll find
them more than willing to follow your presentation’s call to action!

Find out what your target audience’s knowledge level of your topic is.
Are they totally clueless or do they know a bit about your products or
industry? What are their motivations and their interests? What about
their personal or professional background? Once you get to know
more about your listeners, you’ll be able to craft a presentation
message that will resonate with them.
· Where are you going to present?

Knowing where you’re going to present will help you design your
slides. For instance, you’ll design your presentation slides differently if
you were speaking in front of a small group in a café versus a large
crowd in an auditorium. You’ll also design it differently if you’re making
a slideshow for a kiosk at a conference, or if you’re doing a webinar
presentation.
If you’re presenting in a large auditorium, then you need to make sure
your content is going to be legible even at the very back of the room. If
you’re presenting in a small group, say 10-12 people, then medium-
sized fonts may be acceptable. For kiosk slideshows, you may need to
add some music, and have it run in a loop. For webinars, you may
need to insert some space to write a few important notes during the
presentation.

So, you see, a one-size fits-all approach doesn’t work in

presentations. Always find out where you’re going to present, so you
can design your slides accordingly.
· How long is your presentation going to be?

You’ll most likely have to prepare a lot more slides if you need to give
a 2-hour presentation than if you only have 10 short minutes. With a
generous time slot, you can go into detail, and maybe even dedicate a
single slide for each point. However, for a relatively shorter time slot,
you may only have enough time to go through the general points.

On average though, a single slide usually translates to one or two

minutes. So, for a 10-minute presentation, you may need to prepare 5-
10 slides. It’s important to make sure, however, that you don’t cram far
too much information on each slide.

Timing is important in presentations. Always take the time to practice

your speech while going through the slides. Ensure everything is
finished within the allotted time.
Part II: The Content Planning Checklist (The
Outline)
Now that you’ve ticked all items in the planning overview checklist, it’s
time to go into the next part. Below are the items you should include in
your checklist:
· Research your topic

Whether you already know your presentation topic or not, it’s still
useful to do some actual research on the topic. You want to make
sure all relevant points are covered. Missing a single point may spell
the difference between convincing people to take action or ignoring
your call to action altogether.

If you don’t know anything about your topic, then it becomes even
more important that you know everything there is to know about it. If
you don’t, then you can potentially end up embarrassing yourself in
front of your audience!

Think about it: how can you present confidently if you know you
haven’t done your homework at all? As a presenter, you want to come
across as someone who knows what they’re talking about.

People expect you to know the topic and educate them on it. They’re
not there to watch you mumble and fidget nervously on stage. Stage
fright is not unheard of in rookie presenters. But you’d be amplifying
your nervousness if you don’t do your research!
· Outline the main points for discussion

In Part I of the checklist, you’ve learned how long your presentation is

going to be. This will help you figure out how many points you should
include in your discussion. For short presentations, you may only have
enough time to go over the main points. But if you have enough time,
then you can do a more in-depth discussion.

By now, you should also already know your audience’s level of

knowledge about your topic. If they have no idea about your topic,
then you may need to give a basic overview. If presenting to a panel
of experts, you can probably skip the basics and head straight to your
main points.

No matter how many points you include in your discussion, always

remember that it should provide value to your audience. Are they
learning anything from your presentation? Are your discussion points
going to help you achieve your SMART objective?
Lastly, it’s also important to organize your ideas and provide a logical
structure for your presentation. It’s easy for people to get confused if
you jump from one point to another, seemingly unrelated point. You
can use good old-fashioned bullet points to write your outline and
check if the ideas flow smoothly. Alternatively, you can also use a
mind-mapping tool like MindMup to visualize your ideas.
· Plan your introduction
Some may say planning the intro after working on the main body is
counterproductive. I personally beg to disagree. The introduction is
meant to preface what’s to come in the main body of the presentation.
It will therefore be easier to craft an intro once the main talking points
are identified.

So, how do you go about planning the introduction?

First, you need to figure out your hook. A hook basically grabs your
audience’s attention, like, well, a fish hook.

Hook your audience with a powerful introduction (Image

source)

It could be a quote, a story, a rhetorical or hypothetical question, a

funny reference to a movie or current event, a personal reference, etc.
Whatever your hook may be, it has to be appropriate and something
that your audience can relate to.
For example, if you know your audience loves a specific show on
Netflix, then you can probably use the show’s tagline as an intro.
Think of something that will be relevant to both your topic and your
audience, and I guarantee people will love you!

So, by now, you’ll have your audience’s attention. The next thing you
need to include in your introduction is to give them a quick summary of
what they’re going to learn in your presentation.
This is why it’s better to plan the intro after you’ve prepared the main
body – you don’t need to overthink the details. You just need to go
back to your main body outline and take your intro summary there!

Lastly, don’t forget mention in your introduction why they should pay
attention to your presentation. Tell them what’s in it for them and how
they’ll benefit. This way, they’ll continue to listen and give you the time
of day.
· Plan your conclusion

Your conclusion shouldn’t just consist of saying ‘thank you’ and

‘goodbye.’ It’s your last chance to make an impression on your
audience (if you haven’t already!), so use your few remaining minutes
wisely.

An effective conclusion should tie in nicely with your introduction. Give

a quick recap of what they’ve just learned and what they should do
next. And just like the hook in the introduction, your conclusion should
also be something that they won’t easily forget.

Don’t forget to emphasize your call to action, too. It will push your
listeners to take action right away – not tomorrow or the day after.
Every day that goes by, the lower the probability people will still take
action. So, have a system in place where you can follow up and
remind people that they’ve yet to take action.

Depending on the nature of your presentation, you can conclude with

a parting quote, a suggested solution to the problem, an advice, a
question, or a challenge. Whatever your preference is, make sure it
will help you achieve your SMART goal.
Part III: Slide Design Checklist
So, you’re done writing your presentation outline. Now here comes the
fun part in our presentation planning checklist – designing your slides.
Whether you’re a designer by nature or not, you should design your
slides according to the checklist below.
· Are your slides easy on the eyes?
An example slide that’s easy on the eyes

There are many factors that come into play for a slide to be
considered ‘easy’ on the eyes. Here are some of the top factors that
can contribute to your visual aid’s attractiveness:
Plenty of white space

Nobody wants to read slides that are packed to the brim with content.
People wouldn’t even know where to begin to look! Busy-looking
slides are a thing of the past. Use white space to subtly direct people’s
eyes to where you want them to look. Not only does white space
improve readability, it also lends an air of sophistication to your slides!
Less text
Don’t copy and paste your entire speech into your slides. It just
screams incompetence. Plus, it will lead to the undesirable effect of
people reading your slides. This is not something you want them to
do. Why? Because they’ll stop listening to you. The thing is you want
people to listen to your speech. They’re not going to do that if your
speech is readily available for them to read.

Having a lot of text on the slides will also tempt you into reading the
slides yourself. Don’t you just hate presenters who do that? It’s
actually quite a bit insulting when presenters read their slides. It
makes people feel like they don’t know how to read! Unless you’re
speaking to a room full of people who don’t actually know how to read,
then there’s really no reason for you to put your entire speech on your
slides and read off them!
More graphics

The right graphics can do wonders for your presentation. Graphics

can include photos, graphs, diagrams, icons, maps, and other visual
elements. Instead of using a couple of sentences to describe
something, a single graphic can do the job. As the saying goes, a
picture paints a thousand words.

Graphics are also easier on the eyes. Icons, in particular, help save
space on your slides. The right picture can also speak to people’s
emotions and drive them to take action. For example, if you’re trying to
raise funds for charity, you can use heartstring-tugging images of the
fund’s recipients.
Using the right colors
Picking the right colors is important because it affects how your
audience perceives your presentation. Even if you’re stuck using a
corporate color palette, it’s still important to know how to use those
colors and create the desired visual effect.
Keep in mind there are millions of colors to choose from. But it doesn’t
mean you need to use all of them. Keeping it simple is always a good
idea, unless of course, you’ve got Picasso-level design skills!
Consider the typography

In a nutshell, typography is choosing visually-attractive fonts for your

presentation. This means no Comic Sans, Arial, or Times New
Roman. Even Calibri, the default PowerPoint font, should be avoided
because this font has been (over) used in countless presentations!

The fonts you use may seem inconsequential, but it does have an
effect on how people perceive you and your message. A handwritten
font like Bradley Hand or Papyrus looks childish and would be a big
no-no in a business presentation.
Now, the thing with using new fonts in presentations is that it may not
be available on other computers. So, if you’ll be using another device
to run your presentation file, then it’s a good idea to embed the
fonts beforehand.
· Do they help emphasize your key points?

A beautiful-looking presentation means nothing if your slides don’t

help emphasize your message’s key points. It’s like talking to
someone really attractive, but isn’t very smart.

Your slides are literally your presentation’s visual aid. They need to be
designed in such a way that people will pay attention to – and
remember – what’s on the slide. It can be a single word or a single
graphic, if it effectively emphasizes your point, then that’s great.
One technique you can use to emphasize your key points is to use
some animation. You can apply an entrance effect, an emphasis
effect, or an exit effect on a few choice elements. Just make sure you
don’t overdo it as too much animation can make people feel queasy.
· Does your design represent your brand well?

You’re not limited to adding your logo at the bottom of your slides. You
should also use your brand colors throughout your presentation. If you
don’t have a brand palette yet, pick out the colors from your website or
social media pages. Use a color picker tool if you need to.

Your presentation slides should convey the kind of image you want to
convey to your audience. Whether you want to be perceived as a fun
or serious brand, make sure your slides support your branding efforts.

Branding fosters a sense of familiarity and trust. When used correctly,

it can do wonders for your business.
Not up to the slide design task?

Designing slides is hard work, especially if you don’t have much

experience to begin with. Here are a couple of pro tips you may want
to consider:
Pro Tip #1: Use PowerPoint templates

Templates are a presenter’s best friend. They can save you countless
hours in designing slides. There are a lot of items included in a
presentation planning checklist – slide design is just one part of it.
If you don’t want to waste time designing slides from scratch, then
consider using PowerPoint templates. You can choose from hundreds
of professionally-designed, free PowerPoint templates on
the 24Slides.com Template Hub.
Here’s a sample template you can download for free:
Pro Tip #2: Hire a presentation design company
While templates can indeed save you time, they can only do so much.
At the end of the day, you still need to edit the templates and make
sure your brand is represented well enough. This is where hiring a
professional presentation design company like 24Slides come in
handy. Our fix up service starts at only $9 per slide – this already
includes bringing your slides in line with your corporate template
and/or branding requirements!
Part IV: Presentation Day Checklist
With slide design out of the way, you can now focus on preparing for
the actual presentation. Here are the tasks included in this checklist:
· Are you wearing appropriate attire?
Dressing professionally is a must when giving a presentation. You
may think people are there to listen to your message, not critique your
attire. But whether you like it or not, people will judge your looks.

So, have your outfit prepared well in advance. Wear something

comfortable and appropriate; if speaking at a conference, you may
want to ask organizers if they have a dress code. Whatever your outfit
may be, make sure it’s clean and ironed out, if necessary.
· Is everything working?

Even if there’s a technical team assisting you with your presentation,

it’s still a good idea to make sure everything is working. You don’t
want to run into technical difficulties when its presentation time!

Can you open the presentation file? Does it look exactly like you’ve
designed it to look? Is the sound system working? What about the
projector?

Always go through everything and pretend you’re speaking in front of

a live audience. This way you can spot if anything’s amiss which can
potentially mess up your presentation.
· Are you ready to deliver your presentation?

By this time, you should already have practiced your speech a few
times. You don’t need to memorize your speech, but you should know
the flow. What comes next after point 1? After point 2? And so on. Use
your slides to help you remember your speech.
In addition to preparing your speech, you should also practice your
movements. Body language is an important aspect of presentations.
You can be saying one thing, and your body may say another.

If you want people to believe you are sincere about your message,
then your body language better be saying the same thing. Don’t be
afraid to make eye contact with your audience, use hand gestures to
emphasize key points, and most importantly, be relaxed.
Final Words
Your success depends on how well you follow this presentation
planning checklist. I know there are a lot of things to consider, so
please feel free to bookmark this page and come back to it every time
you prepare for a presentation.
You might also find this interesting: How to write a speech: using
words wisely in a presentation