Overview

Once you have determined the purpose of your presentation and completed sufficient research on your presentation topic, the next step is to begin developing your presentation. When thinking about your strategy for your presentation, there are various methods you can use.

Here, we will explore the FAST method:

Format
Audience
Style
Tone

Each of these components are critical pieces when developing a presentation. The more familiar you are with them, the higher the likelihood that your presentation will be a success.

Format

The format section of FAST is where you will decide what type of presentation you would like to facilitate.

Think back to the purpose of your presentation. Are you trying to inform your audience? Persuade? Educate? Entertain? Depending on which of these options you choose, this will determine the format of your presentation.

Some key considerations when deciding on the format of your presentation may include:

Number of speakers
Location of listeners
What type of audience you are presenting to
Level of formality of content being presented

Take a moment to review the chart below to get an idea of various types of presentations and when they best are used for different purposes.

Audience

Once you have chosen a presentation format, it will be important to make sure that the message is being appropriately presented to your audience.

There are some key considerations when analyzing your audience:

What expectations will the audience have?
What is the context of your communication?
What does the audience already know about the topic?
What is most relevant to your audience?
How is the audience likely to react to you and your message? Are there any areas for caution? Areas where you should exercise sensitivity?
How will you understand and engage with the diversity of an audience?

Think back to the modules about Intercultural Communication and Collaboration and Design Thinking. It is important to reflect on and evaluate who your audience is, and identify the most appropriate and relevant way to convey information to them. This will ensure you are effectively communicating and engaging your audience throughout the entirety of your presentation.

Industry Insight

"I believe a good presentation always includes the audience. There are so many situations where the audience is just talked at. That isn't engaging or accessible. [...] I recommend improv training because it helps folks think on their feet as well as engage the audience when necessary."

Public Relations Strategist
Honours Bachelor of Social Science, Political Science, University of Ottawa
Graduate Certificate, Corporate Communications and Public Relations, Centennial College

Graphic of a seated audience watching a screen, like at a movie theatre.

Audience Analysis

Remember Lolinda? She is an aspiring HR professional and identified different learning goals using the SDGs in PD3.

Lolinda is preparing a presentation at work. She asked her supervisor for helpful tips for determining the optimal way to present to her audience, and her supervisor recommended the tool below (adapted from Professional Communications).

Lolinda thought about each question, and she made notes to analyze her audience.

Table: Audience Analysis
Category of Analysis	Lolinda's Description / Notes
Analyze Who will receive your message?	My supervisor and the Ontario Communications team that I am working with.
Understand What does your audience already know or understand about your intended message?	My supervisor knows the intended message of my presentation as she supported me on the task, but other members of the team know very little about the topic.
Demographics What is your audience's age, gender, education level, occupation, position?	Members of the audience range in age from 20 to 40; the education level is undergraduate and above. All audience members are familiar with early childhood education generally but are not familiar with my proposal.
Interest What is your audience's level of interest/investment in your message? What will they get out of your presentation?	My presentation is informational. The team needs this information for other projects they are working on; hence, I think all will have high interest in my presentation.
Environment What setting is your audience in, and what is your relationship to this environment? What is their likely attitude to this message? Have you taken into account cultural considerations?	My presentation will take place in one of the company's meeting rooms. As the members of the team are culturally diverse, I have taken cultural differences into consideration when preparing for my presentation, such as providing an agenda using inclusive language, considering any accessibility needs of audience members in advance, and ensuring all content is presented in a universally coherent way.
Need What information does your audience need? How will they use this information?	I have prepared an agenda that contains the general information of my presentation, my rationale for presenting to the team, goals and next steps, and further information and resources for others to consider if they are interested.
Customize How can you optimally adjust your intended message to best suit your audience?	Since the meeting will be hybrid, I have prepared digital and physical copies of the presentation materials for the audience. I will also record the presentation for people who are unable to attend and will send a copy of my slides and materials as well.
Expectations What does your audience expect from you and your message?	I expect the audience will learn information they need about early childhood education for other related projects they are working on.

Reflection

Imagine you are presenting your SI Challenge solution to a panel of experts at IBM. How would you fill in the above chart?

Style

When thinking about the style of your presentation, reflect on the topic of your presentation as well as your own personality and how this will influence which style is optimal for you.

Some key considerations when deciding on a presentation style include:

What type of speaker are you? Formal, informal, conversational, to the point?
What is the setting of your presentation?
How long is your presentation?
What type of impression do you hope to leave with your listeners?

Activity: Presentation Styles

Refer to the presentation styles listed below. Which style resonates with you?

Instructions:

Click on each of the six question marks in the image below.

Tone

Tone is an important component when developing your presentation as this can affect the overall feeling your audience will experience. Consider how you want your audience to feel when they leave your presentation and approach the tone with that in mind.

Activity: Tone of Presentations

Let's explore some key considerations about tone. These will be relevant to presentations, as well as other contexts of communication.

Instructions:

Click on each item below to learn more about it.

Reflection

Imagine you are creating a presentation related to your SI Challenge. What format would work best for your topic? Who is your audience? How would you structure your presentation to ensure information is being received clearly? What tone would best get your points across?

Answering these questions will be especially helpful if you’ve opted into the pitch competition!