Page 140 - The McKinsey Mind

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PresentingYour Ideas 115

One last, small thing about exhibits: if you are presenting data,
always document your sources. That way, if someone asks you
where you got your information, you’ll be able to reply. In addi-
tion, if you dig out an old presentation a few years later, you’ll
know where to find the source.
As important as exhibits are, they’re not enough; you still need
a good structure in which to organize them. Otherwise, all you’ll
have is a collection of interesting facts with no overall theme.
Remember, each exhibit is a message, and those messages have to
fit into the logic of your structure, so your audience can under-
stand your idea—which is, after all, the point of the exercise.

EXERCISES
• Search the editorial section of your favorite newspaper for
an editorial that makes a specific recommendation. Write
down the points the author makes and the evidence he uses
to support them (e.g., we need more power plants because
electricity use is rising 20 percent per year). Next, put those
points into a logical structure as if you were going to use
them for a presentation. Does this presentation get the
message across? If not, why not?
• The next time you have to make a presentation, perform a
dress rehearsal and videotape it. If possible, give yourself
time to view the tape before the presentation. Watch the
tape as if you were a member of the intended audience,
knowing only the information that the audience might be
expected to know, including any handouts you intend to
give the audience. From that perspective, does your presen-
tation make sense? Were you convinced? Consider what