How sticky notes can help you build a better presentation
Having just finished back-to-school shopping, there’s one item I thought you might want to pick up for yourself.
In fact, I think every presenter should have these on hand:
Sticky notes.
Yep, you read that right.
Because believe it or not, those little pieces of paper can help solve three of the most common presentation pitfalls I see:
Too much information
Irrelevant information
Simply too long
There are lots of ways to tackle these problems — and I’ve shared many of them before.But some of the best solutions happen during presentation planning, even before you draft your first slide.
This strategy works especially well when you have a lot of information to sift through, you’re struggling to find a structure, or you’re simply not sure where to start:
Instead of starting with your slides, reach for a stack of sticky notes.
I’ve been doing this for years.
When I first started Soapbox, I had years’ worth of ideas, exercises, stories, techniques and lessons about presenting — and somehow needed to turn all of that into my flagship presentation skills programme.
So I covered a wall in sticky notes.
One idea per note.
At first, I wasn’t trying to put anything in order.
I was simply getting everything out of my head and somewhere I could see it.
Then I started moving them around...
These belonged together.
Those were really saying the same thing.
There was a gap here.
That one didn’t belong at all.
Slowly, the structure started to emerge.
Those little pieces of paper eventually helped me organise much of the content that became the foundation of my PLAN / DESIGN / PREPARE / DELIVER framework.
Fast-forward seven or eight years...
Earlier this year, I developed a hands-on follow-up to my flagship two-day programme, designed to give past participants another opportunity to practise, refine and stretch their presentation skills.
Once again, I had a LOT of ideas and wasn't quite sure where to start.
I recognised that feeling.So I went straight back to the beginning...
And out came the sticky notes.
I used the same process all over again — getting the ideas out, moving them around, grouping them, cutting them and eventually shaping them into the Presentation Mastery Lab.
I ran the Lab for the first time this spring — and it worked so well that I’m now offering it as a standalone one-day workshop, too.
Those sticky notes still have some magic in them!
How to use them
Get it out
Write down everything you might want to include — one idea per sticky note. Don’t edit or worry about order yet.
Group it
Move the notes around. What belongs together? What's repeated? Where are the natural themes — or the gaps?
Cut and prioritise
Now ask the important questions: What actually helps you achieve the purpose of your presentation? What does your audience need? What's interesting — but ultimately irrelevant?
Only then should you start thinking about slides.
Not just for presentation planning
I use this technique whenever I have a lot of information that needs to become something coherent — workshops, talks, training manuals... and now I'm using it for my quarterly planning!
Fall gets hectic — and the to-do list can seem never-ending. So last week, I wrote it all out, then grouped, sorted and prioritised.
Worked like a charm!
So the next time you have a presentation to build, give it a try:
Don’t start with the slides.
Start with the sticky notes.
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