Presentation

I just finished a project, along with my project team that was exceptionally received by our client. It was so well received the client signed up for an extension of the project that will double the project fees. The team did a fantastic job performing the requisite research, identifying issues and documenting the results. However, the first draft of the project report was not well presented. This was a critical juncture in our project, if we gave this report to the client we would be rolling the dice but if we delay the report issuance date and cleaned it up a bit we may foster the idea with the client that we can get things done on schedule. As the project manager, I made the call and delayed the project deliverable date a few days. My project team did an exceptional job but that work would have been perceived, in my opinion, as sub par if we presented it wrong. I have seen too many people work really really hard only to fail because the presentation of the work was not well received. The presentation of the work is just as important as the quality of the work performed! I am always amazed how many people overlook this simple concept. You can be a rocket scientist, the best in the world, but if you show up to the interview not looking the part, you will not get hired. This holds true with everything you do whether it's the presentation of spreadsheet to your manager or a presentation of the results of an audit to an Audit Committee or to the Senior Executive Team. It's your ability to present the results of the work you performed that leaves a positive impression with your audience whether your immediate supervisor, manager, partner or client organization. If you present well, you will be perceived well within any organization, its simply human nature. There are several types of presentations in which you should start refining now; The presentation of your personal appearance The presentation of your communication skills (verbal & written) The presentation of you business acumen The presentation of your ability to think critically and "on your feet" The presentation of your work papers, reports and technical memos When you think presentation, I am certain that you were not thinking of all the bullet points above, and I am perhaps forgetting some, but everything that you do is for presentation purposes. It's your ability to present that will be the foundation for the development of your leadership skills. People tend to follow those who are strong enough to present well. Thus, don't half ass the presentation, if it doesn't look good, read well, feel right, etc. It is better to delay than to present something that will be perceived to be sub par. Moral of the story, invest time and money early in and through out your career to develop your presentation skills. As you may know, as part of the Partnership application, you need to do a presentation in front of the election committee. By the time that you are ready to present in front of the election committee, you should have done hundreds of presentations, written hundreds of reports and memos and presented hundreds of work papers -- so you should have plenty of time to practice and perfect your presentation skills.