Let’s revisit Peter again.  Peter believed that if you use a system, anything is possible. His system when communicating with audiences or people included a 5 step process.  It included planning, research, writing, updating or customizing it for the audience and most importantly, practising it over and over and over again until the delivery was just right. “Many presentations fail because people try too hard to achieve perfection in the content of their speech as opposed to spending time rehearsing the delivery of your message.”  (Guffey, Rhodes, Rogin, n.d., p. 513)

Picture source: http://www.vecteezy.com/Business/3241-Business-Presentation

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I agree with Peter that the delivery of the presentation is more important than the content.  You may know the content really well and be an expert in the subject area, but it is how you communicate it that keeps the audience interested.  If you have a monotone voice, use too many technical words that are not common to the audiences’ language and only read your PowerPoint presentation rather than speaking to them, chances are that the audience will be very bored, restless and not see you as the expert that you are.

Imagine being in a room of 40 people. Some of them are your closest friends while others are there to evaluate your performance and expertise for an upcoming conference. How would you deliver your presentation knowing who is your audience?

Reference:

Guffey, M., Rhodes, K., Rogin, P. (2011). Business Communication: Process and Product. (Canadian 6th ed.)  Toronto, ON: Nelson. Chapter 14.