Within minutes of stumbling on his From Where I Sit blog, I knew I'd met a man who was after my heart. I just returned from a 3-week vacation to New Zealand, so his post on Unplugging from the Matrix really hit home. It was tough for me to be disconnected, but immensely valuable.
But our relationship really began when I read The Seven Levels of Preparation. He hooked me in the first paragraph when he wrote:
"Hi. My name is Mike, and I’m a prepaholic.” If there was a support group for people who over-prepare, I would be a charter member.
As many of you know, I believe preparation is essential for success and that lack of preparation is the root cause of most sales failure.
But, until I read Michael Hyatt's blog I never consciously paid attention to all the different types of prep work involved in getting ready for a big presentation:
1. Prepare the Presentation
2. Prepare the Setting
3. Prepare the Audience
4. Prepare Yourself
5. Prepare the Collateral
6. Prepare the Questions
7. Prepare the Next Time
He's right on when he says, "Most people focus exclusively on the first level." If you want your presentations to be more effective, check out this informative article.
great article...i would prioritize the 7 steps a little different...for me, preparing the audience would be first as that totally drives the presentation...preparing the collateral would be next as most people zone in and out of a presentation and only walk away with five minutes or so of what was said...
Posted by: Mary | 03/28/2007 at 03:56 PM
Prepare Prepare Prepare. Yes, the first rule remains the best, and I agree with Mary, it is dependent on the AUDIENCE. More importantly, is it going to be live or memorex / webex / nextmeeting etc.
Prepare the presentation for how it is going to be viewed, and by whom!
Posted by: Bob VL | 04/05/2007 at 12:19 PM