Working towards the workshop: presentation development

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” – Abraham Lincoln

Initially, preparing for the workshop presentation (I have sold 2/3 of the tickets!) focused on the plethora of previous work, public reports and frameworks relating to responsible investing. I should, on paper, be able to prepare and run a three hour briefing on investing for good.

However, my experience is proving to be as much a hindrance as a benefit. I am finding that my experience makes me want to explain my insights and tools in too much detail. I want to point out every contingency on every slide. I want to pre-answer a whole range of questions that a subject matter expert would ask.

But my participants are not subject matter experts. They are bright and high achieving but they are looking to develop a greater understanding of an area that they are not as close to as I am. My job is provide sufficient information to enable them to link investing for good into their own experiences and challenges.

So the real work in developing the briefing is to refine the messages back to being simple and powerful.  This HBR article provides some tips for refining the visual message. I know I can to fill a page (or more) with information and opinions but it takes time for me to refine it down to a core concept.

This is time well spent. Like sharpening an axe…