Presentation Preparation Time

Presentation Preparation Time

How long does it take to prepare your presentation?
A survey conducted by Zoomerang and reported by Wallace Immen in the Globe and Mail stated that 36% of executives complained that presenting data in meetings is tedious. Twenty-four per cent said they dread it. That means that 60% of executives would rather not deliver presentations.

The time to prepare was the biggest complaint with 45 per cent needing an hour or more to prepare. And 34 per cent have endured all-nighters to prepare for an important presentation. (Wow – I haven’t done that since university.)

How long should it take to prepare a presentation?

It depends on how new the information is to you, on who you are presenting to and the importance of the presentation.

The rule of thumb is three hours of preparation for every hour of presentation.

But that is only a rule of thumb. If you are an effective presenter, know your topic and know the audience you can succeed with very little preparation.

However consider the example of my client who worked three days on a 12-minute presentation. As a result of that presentation he won a $10M contract. He already knew his topic and the audience. But he was willing to invest his time to fine tune his delivery. Three days of preparation to close a $10M deal sounds like an excellent return on investment.

I think it was worth the three days of preparation.

If executives better appreciate the value of their message and the delivery of that message then they might invest the time, money and effort to become better business presenters.

If you are a good executive presenter you could be ahead of 60% of the pack.

George Torok
Speech Coach for Executives