You’ll find if you look back that there are always a couple of killer messages that everyone just ‘gets’, and these should feature strongly in your short version.
In 90% of cases, this will not be a formal presentation with visual aides: your body language, attitude and tone of voice will make all the difference. Remember how little they will remember about the pure content? More than ever in the Three-Minute Presentation, your passion for your subject will have an influence on the audience response.
If for some reason it is in a formal setting, use images instead of lots of words. Single words or one short phrase on a slide can also be powerful, and the design of the slides should be as minimalist as possible.
In three minutes, the amount of information displayed should naturally be limited. A maximum of three slides should be your guideline as that will focus your mind.
Here is
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a suggested formula;
Tell what you are going to explain in one sentence.
Break it down into three main points.
Tell about the first – using a maximum of three sub-points.
Do the same for the second.
Do the same for point three.
Finish with; “to summarise, the three main issues are...”
Finally, close on a very clear call to action; “Therefore I propose we invest X thousand in...”, “based on this, our target market share should be X%, and we should invest in these three activities to reach it.”
Write your content on Post-its, decide the three messages and their sub-points, and construct the bones of your Three Minute Presentation. Now you’re ready to practice.