Are you overlooking this crucial part of delivering a powerful presentation?

Have you sat through a presentation and found yourself getting lost because the whole thing just felt a bit disorganised?

It is a scenario many of us will be able to relate to.

But why does it happen?

Well, the answer often lies in the way it has been structured.

When a presentation is structured well, the audience can follow what is being said and are more likely to leave inspired, motivated and clear on what they should do next.

But when that structure isn’t there, they get lost as they are bombarded with uncoordinated facts, figures, thoughts and messages. And when that happens, they inevitably switch off.

And that means the opportunity to get your message across has vanished along with their attention.

Getting your thoughts from your head into a structured order can be tricky.

So how can you get the structure of your presentation right?

Here are some structures we discuss during our presentation skills courses:

Logical

This is the most common presentation structure and will be one you will recognise. It is an approach that is sometimes summed up as “Tell ’em what you’re gonna tell ’em, tell ’em, and then tell ’em what you’ve told ’em.”

Essentially, you have an introduction where you explain the issues and challenges you will be exploring and the purpose of the presentation. 

You then move to the main body of the presentation, where you get to your key message and support it with examples and stories.

And finally, you have a conclusion where you reiterate that message and show how you tackled the aim set out at the beginning.

Problem-Solution

This is another popular structure.

You begin by giving an overview of the problem. Then you go into it in more detail, again using stories and examples to bring it to life.

And then you offer the solution, clearly explaining to your audience how it will help them.

This structure ends with a clear call to action for the audience – something relevant to the solution.

Story

You don’t just need to include stories in your presentation – you can also base everything you say on the classic story structure.

And everyone loves a good story – we consume them every day.

With this presentation structure, you begin by briefly introducing the situation to the audience, bringing it to life with some description.

Then you introduce the 'hero' – perhaps your organisation’s new product or service.

And then because every great story has a plot twist, you add a complication that needs to be overcome. For example, your main competitor has just introduced something similar or maybe a cheaper version of your product.

The story ends with you showing how the ‘hero’ – that your audience is now emotionally invested in - overcomes that complication and wins the day.

Demonstration

This was the structure used by Steve Jobs, and it works well when you have a new product to demonstrate.

You begin by talking about what the product does, why it is needed and how it will help people.

Then, if possible, you show it doing what you have just set out.

And you finish by hinting at all the other things it could do, with the aim of leaving the audience wanting more.

There are many other presentation structures you could choose from, but these are the ones audiences are most familiar with.

But before you settle on a structure for your presentation, you need to think about what you want to achieve. Do you want to inform, entertain, persuade or inspire those you are talking to?

And you must consider your audience. If they are new to your topic, for example, they are likely to need more background information than those who are experts in the subject.

But ultimately, whichever option you choose, getting a good structure in place is crucial for you, and to ensure your audience knows where you are going.