Last year I was fortunate enough to be part of Capgemini’s Future Leaders Programme available to top performing talent across the business. It was a fantastic course where we learnt so much. The highlight for me was definitely the “presenting with presence” course.

I was archiving some documents on my laptop and came across one of the short presentation decks I made during this course, relating to the 5P’s of presenting. I am writing the information here in this blog for 2 reasons:

1. So that I can always easily refer back to it
2. So that I can share the information with others

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Preparation

Preparation is an important aspect of any presentation. Adequate preparation enables you as a presented to feel comfortable about the message that you are delivering. It’s highly likely that the other 4P’s that we will come on to talk about will not be achievable without this P.

A great way to do this is to story board your presentation, ultimately planning out your key points and being aware that its not the words that are the important part. Having a strong understanding of the key points of the steps in the “story” will bring the words to mind in the presentation itself.

I chose this image to represent this P. It is a sightseeing route plan of some of the key tourist sites in London. Presenting is very much like this, you wouldn’t turn up in London with no idea what route you might follow… would you?!

Purpose

When presenting, it’s important to know what your goal is. What point are you trying to make? What story are you trying to tell? It’s good practice to set the expectations of your audience at the start of your session. It will help the audience to zone in to your story and follow the journey that you are taking them on.

I chose this image to represent this P. It represents very clear steps in getting to the desired place

Presence

In order for your audience to feel engaged, they must feel like you as a presenter are also engaged. This P is not so much about being the “spotlight”, but about being at one with the audience and acknowledging that it is the whole part of the presentation that matters.

The more you give to understand your audience throughout the presentation, the more you will gain when relating back to your purpose.

I chose this image to represent this P. It depicts that it is not all about the presenter. You might happen to be the “front ant” but remembering that you are bringing the others along on the journey with you.

Passion

Many of us will have been to a presentation before where it simply feels a little bit flat. Perhaps where the presenter just doesn’t appear to be overly enthusiastic about their topic. It’s important that your enthusiasm about a topic or an idea shines through.

I chose this image to represent this P. It acknowledges that that you might not be all the way there but are on the path to achieving it.. perhaps with the help of your audience.

Personality

Humans are complex beings. We are all individual and unique. You can make a presentation really come alive by scattering in all of the things that make you up as a person. Finding ways and the appropriate times to showcase all of your personality will engage the audience to a greater level.

I chose this image to represent this P. It depicts that our personalities are not just one thing, but a jigsaw puzzle that perfectly matches up to our whole self.