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Writing Presentations That Please Everybody

Submitted by Mitch Seigel on Tues, 03/8/2016

It is hard enough to write a presentation to please and be accepted by one individual. It’s ten times harder when there is a group that will be evaluating your work. In addition to different personalities, there are now more generations and diversity in the work force than at any time in history.
How do you please everybody? To start you must target a chameleon-somebody right in the middle of the personality profiles, somebody in the middle of the generations and an average presentation based on diversity in your target client’s work force. All this is easier said than done, but not at all impossible.

It takes good observation and asking a lot of questions to learn your audience. Once you know which way the pendulum swings, that is how you target your presentation. Remember, depending on the personality style, age group and ethnicity of your client, you may want less or more written words, less or more current language, and other specific changes based on the nuances of the group.

Keep in mind that if you are meeting with one person and you design the presentation solely for that person, he or she may pass the presentation on to other team members, who also may be different than them. It’s always good to know if there will be a pass along route for your presentation or if the original person you are presenting to will be the sole person observing your efforts.

At the end of the day, try to have underlying tones of professionalism in your work, and keep slightly to the conservative side of the middle. Again, it’s the observation you take and the questions you ask that will help you position your company in a good light.

What are your challenges when it comes to writing presentations that please everybody? I look forward to hearing your comments. Until next time…