A number of years back I was asked by a friend to fill in for her as the monthly speaker at a local business association meeting. I was and still am committed to the idea that to become better at speaking you must speak. And not to your dog or to yourself in front of a mirror. You have to go through the preparation and the experience of presenting to a group. So I accepted.

I was unsure of who this group was. What were they expecting and how could I dazzle them with my subject matter brilliance? I struggled with this as I prepared my notes and my slides. Even though I had carefully researched this group the answers weren’t coming to me as easily as with other groups. I was filled with doubt as to whether accepting this assignment was a good idea or not.

The night before my presentation I reframed my internal talk to something like this: What can I offer that will be most helpful to them?

When I reoriented my thoughts to their point of view and their unique needs everything fell into place. It helped me be more genuine as a presenter and the audience could certainly sense it. They responded very enthusiastically.

It sounds obvious, but we often forget that when you are searching for how to connect with your audience you may need to stop trying to impress them with you — put yourself in their shoes and see what you have that is most beneficial to them.

There are good reasons to blank out the screen during your presentation. You may be at a transition point and want to verbally begin a new section. You may be finished with the discussion of the previous image or message and don’t want it to linger inappropriately while you continue on. Or you may want to give the audience a visual pause and redirect their attention back to you.

I often build blank screens into my presentations to warn me that a transition is coming up so that I won’t prematurely disclose the next slide before I have orally set it up. There is no harm to be done — I can click right through it if it becomes unnecessary.

Create an actual blank slide or use the commands in PowerPoint or Keynote (press “B” for a black screen or “W” for a white screen) to temporarily pause the visuals in real time and give a blank screen. Many remote controls have a button that will accomplish this also.

It is another way of keeping the control of the timing and the display of the projected images so that you and your brilliance will be the proper focus of the presentation.

Too much information? In general, the reason any of us are standing in front of the room for any kind of presentation is that we know what we are talking about. We are experts. We know the material and we have the ability to go deep into our content. And therein lies a problem — especially when it come to visual presentations — we just have too much information and we feel we must deliver it all to our audience.

“A little bit is good. Maybe a few more slides about this…”

“I can tell them about this too…”

“I’ll just show them a quick slide about this — they might like that…”

The problem is not that we have to prove we are experts or that our audience may be very interested. The problem is that an audience can only absorb so much in a live presentation. They can only get so much from your slides and they can only retain so much from your words.

That is why the best presentations focus on a central concept. What one idea is it that you want your audience to walk away with? What do you hope they will remember a week or two after your speech? Build your presentation on that. Make everything, every slide, lead to that destination.

Even though you may feel it would be fascinating to tell them about that non-critical insight you might have, doing so will not move your audience toward your goal — the message that you want them to walk away with.

Don’t tell them everything. Give them the big idea and stay away from too much information.

Below are the remaining of the 12 basic questions you should ask yourself as you prepare for your next presentation. View the first six here.

7. Is there a change of pace? Presentations longer than even a few minutes may need to mix things up to keep the audience engaged. A few ways you can do this:

• Transition into a new perspective — “let’s take a look at this from a different point of view…”
• Change the look and feel of your slides
• Tell a story to illustrate a point or introduce a new section
• Play an audio or video (keep these tightly edited)
• Ask a question
• Have an audience interaction

8. Is there a wrap-up and a call to action? You have stated your case in simple but convincing terms — now wrap it up. Bring everything full circle and summarize your major points. Trim the details back to their simplest form and tell your audience what is critical for them to walk away with. Then, give them action points — tell them what they should do with this valuable material you have just given them. If you have done your job well, they are fired-up and ready to go. Give your listeners a channel for this enthusiasm.

9. Have you rehearsed enough? Seasoned speakers know that their confidence, humor, stage presence and ability to connect with their audience increase greatly with practice. Don’t short yourself this precious step. Use video and audio recording, use trusted friends, get a coach and keep rehearsing. It will help you smooth out the rough spots and enhance the brilliant spots.

10. Have you checked the room and checked the technology? Whenever possible get in your presentation area before the audience does. Stand where you will be speaking from, note where the monitors are, where you can stand and not obscure the screen or stand in the projector beam. Make sure the actual technology you will use is working and ready to go. Is everything cued up? You should be able to step to the front of the room and start without fussing with a computer or clicker.

11. Did your prepare mentally and physically before you went on? You may need to isolate yourself for a while just before your speech and clear mental distractions. Or you may need to do something physical to get your energy level revved up. Mick Jagger reportedly hits a treadmill backstage for 30 minutes just before he hits the stage.

12. Did you get to know your audience ahead of time? This is a powerful technique: whenever possible mingle with your audience as they enter the room. It warms you up and it warms them up. Introduce yourself, tell them how excited you are to be there. Ask them about your subject — you may get some last minute details you can use. Then when you begin you will have friends in the audience instead of a roomful of disinterested strangers.

Use these 12 questions to build and fine-tune your speech and to prepare yourself for your delivery. You will be richly rewarded with a first-rate presentation that both connects with and motivates your audience.