P.R.E.P. for a presentation

Before you can organize your thoughts, you need to assess what your listener needs and then find out how experienced he or she is with the subject matter. When you know that, you can figure out how much of your presentation needs to focus on general education — bringing the other person up to speed, as they say.
After you have taken care of these preliminary matters, you are ready to organize your thoughts. You can organize your thoughts in many ways, but the important thing is to do it. Here are my favorite three ways to organize a presentation.
The first way to get organized is by using the P.R.E.P technique. Use the approach: point, reason, example, point. It works because it’s so logical; you won’t leave anyone in the dust. Here’s an example:

• My point is: Exercise is energizing.The reason is: It gets your heart rate up.
• My example is: After at least 20 to 30 minutes of increased heart rate, you are more energized when you come out of the gym than when you went in.
• So, my point is: Exercise is energizing.

The P.R.E.P. approach can definitely help you organize your material. Now, read the paragraphs about P.R.E.P. again. Note how I explained this concept using the P.R.E.P. approach. Mark the appropriate sentences with the letters P.R.E.P. for each of the corresponding ideas. This formula works with any presentation, from a five-minute informal chat, to a thirty-minute formal speech using many examples. The P.R.E.P. approach is a great way to get organized and be clear.

What Being Clear Means

In many ways, clear communication is the other side of effective listening. Just as you cannot listen too well, there is no such thing as being too clear. You can be too blunt, too fast, and too slow. You can’t be too clear. Being clear does not mean that you reveal your position at the earliest opportunity or that you lay out your limits as an opening salvo. Being clear simply means that when you speak, write, or otherwise communicate, your listener understands your intended message. Sounds simple enough. Why aren’t more people successful at it?
If you have any doubt about what being clear means, watch Patton, the wonderful biopic starring George C. Scott as Gen. George Patton. The opening scene is an unforgettable example of clarity. He is exhorting the troops to battle. In fact, he is whipping them up with an unforgettable call to duty. It’s not just the words — as clear as they are. Scott reinforces his words with his tone, his stance, and the huge American flag behind him. Everything in the scene is consistent with his message. It couldn’t be clearer. Although General Patton’s personality often got in his way, he was never accused of not being clear. The reason more people are not good communicators is that most people communicate from this point of view: What do I want to tell my listener? How am I going to appear? What are they going to think of me? Not effective. Your point of view must be from the listener’s side of the communication. Ask yourself these questions: What does my listener need to know? What information does my listener need to make a decision? What is my listener’s knowledge of the subject? First, you must be clear with yourself about what information you’re trying to get across. Then you must know who the listener is, what filters are in place, and how to get through those filters so you can be understood.

Pre-buyer’s remorse

If you experience buyer’s remorse before you even buy, stop everything. Ask yourself why you have reservations. What is the reason you don’t want to buy this boat? Is it that you’ll never use it? Or that you may move soon? Or perhaps because it’s not as big as your neighbor’s boat? Sometimes, you can resolve these reservations; other times, you can’t. Don’t go forward with a deal if your inner voice tells you not to.
Try to develop your ability to listen to your inner voice. It is the most important voice you can possibly hear. No one knows you better than you do. People who learn to hear their inner voice — unfiltered by reason or rationale — are always happier with their decisions (and thus less likely to experience buyer’s remorse) than those who are not able to do so.