Chapter 16
DEVELOPING A CLEAR STRUCTURE
Chapter overview
Most business presentations benefit from having an absolutely clear structure — a structure that
members of the audience simply cannot get lost in.
Brief outline of the chapter
I. The introduction. Speakers should begin by saying clearly what the topic is, why they’re
talking about it, and what the structure of the presentation is. This section tells students
what slides they need and suggests what to put on each slide (such as the cover slide).
II. The middle part of the presentation. A moving blueprint helps people see the parts of a
presentation.
III. The end. Students should have a prepared finish and be ready to handle a question and
answer session.
IV. Putting it all together. This brief section shows the model and the slides for a presentation
that follows the model.
V. Exercises.
General comments
This chapter is one of the most important in the book. I’ve discovered that students love this
model! It makes preparing their presentation (now and in the future) so easy!
Notes on the exercise
Exercise (giving a presentation using the model structure)
The goal of this exercise is for students to achieve absolute clarity. That’s a significant challenge: