The Financial Controller and CFO's Toolkit, 3rd Edition

Appendix B

Rules for a Bulletproof Presentation

Delivering compelling, bulletproof presentations is a skill you need to acquire for implementing change, so it is best to start learning now. I will assume that you have attended a presentation skills course, which is a prerequisite to bulletproof PowerPoint presentations. The speed of delivery, voice levels, using silence, and getting the audience to participate are all techniques that you need to be familiar with and comfortable using.

To assist you I have prepared a list of 25 rules for a good presentation as shown in Exhibit B.1.

Exhibit B.1 Preparing and Delivering a Compelling Presentation Checklist

Prepare a paper to go with the presentation

1. Always prepare a paper for the audience covering detailed numbers and so forth so that you do not have to show detail in the slides (see rule 2). 2. Understand that the PowerPoint slide is not meant to be a document; if you have more than 35 words per slide, you are creating a report, not a presentation. Each point should be relatively cryptic and be understood only by those who have attended your presentation.

Presentation planning

3. Last-minute slide presentations are a career-limiting activity. You would not hang your dirty washing in front of a hundred people, so why would you want to show your audience sloppy slides? Only say yes to a presentation if you have the time, resources, and enthusiasm to do the job properly. 4. Create time so that you can be in a “thinking ...