Course: How to Create Compelling Presentation Content

Mastering Presentation Content: a Practical Course Outline for Busy Teams

Target audience and level
- Emerging leaders and HR managers working across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, those newly responsible for pitching ideas, running team briefings and representing their teams in stakeholder forums. Mid level professionals who present occasionally but want to be trusted to lead high stakes sessions. (Small cohort: 10 to 16 participants.)

Preferred duration and format
- Hybrid programme: half day face to face workshop (4 hours) followed by a 90 minute virtual masterclass four weeks later and a 20 minute one to one coaching check in for each participant (scheduled over two weeks). This mix balances hands on practice with reinforcement and real world application.

Delivery mode
- Hybrid: an in room, highly interactive morning workshop in major city hubs (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane) plus live virtual follow up. All materials supplied digitally and optimised for mobile viewing.

Pricing and logistical constraints (practical constraints)
- Suggested baseline commercial model: $495 inc GST per person for cohorts of 10 to 16 (includes workshop facilitation, virtual follow up masterclass, participant workbook, pre/post surveys and a 20 minute coaching micro session).
- Minimum headcount of 10 for face to face delivery; travel surcharge applies beyond metropolitan locations.
- Platform: Zoom for the virtual masterclass; materials hosted on a simple LMS or cloud folder accessible for 90 days.
- Rooms: boardroom style with AV, projector and whiteboard; breakout spaces or the ability to run tabletop exercises.
- Materials: editable slide templates, one page cheat sheets, evaluation rubrics, example data visualisations.

High level rationale and learning outcomes
Rationale: People remember stories, not slides. But stories fail without clear evidence, and visuals that distract will sink credibility. This course is deliberately pragmatic, designed to lift immediate capability in crafting persuasive presentations that land with influence and lead to action.

Learners will:
1. Identify and map audience needs and expectations rapidly, reducing wasted content by at least 40% in their first reworked deck.
2. Construct a clear, persuasive narrative that aligns evidence to decision points.
3. Design clean, purposeful slides that support spoken delivery and improve recall.
4. Convert complex data into accessible insights using a handful of repeatable visual patterns.
5. Deliver memorable moments and calls to action, with measured improvements in confidence and audience engagement.

Module breakdown (sequence, content and timing)

Pre work (one week prior; 20 to 30 minutes)
- Short diagnostic: 6 quick questions for each participant about presentation frequency, biggest pain points, most recent presentation (upload of a sample slide deck optional).
- Baseline confidence and capability survey (Likert scale) for pre/post measurement.
- One short micro lesson (5 to 7 minute video): "The 90 second narrative test", participants submit a one sentence thesis and three supporting bullets for review.

Workshop: Face to face half day (4 hours total)

Welcome and orientation (15 minutes)
- Rapid round: each participant states their presentation goal for the session. Facilitator frames learning outcomes and explains assessment measures.

Module A: Audience Intelligence (40 minutes)
- Objective: sharpen audience analysis so content is relevant and respectful of counterviews.
- Activities: persona mapping exercise (three common personas per audience: decision maker, influencer, sceptic), rapid Q&A anticipation grid.
- Deliverable: each participant produces an "audience one pager": demographics, motivators, objections, preferred format and success criteria.

Module B: Thesis and Narrative Architecture (50 minutes)
- Objective: craft a single, defensible thesis and a three act narrative that supports it.
- Content: thesis testing; framing problems as opportunity; including counter arguments to build credibility.
- Activities: peer critique in triads; live edit of participant thesis statements.
- Tool: "Problem, Insight, Action" storyboard template.

Tea break (10 minutes)

Module C: Data to Insight (45 minutes)
- Objective: select and present the 3 to 5 data points that truly matter.
- Content: relevance vs volume; choosing metrics that predict decisions; how to contextualise numbers without drowning the audience.
- Activities: hands on visualisation lab, participants turn one complex table from their own work into a clear chart or two.
- Deliverable: one slide that tells a single data story (title, visual, two lines of context).

Module D: Slide Design and Visual Storytelling (45 minutes)
- Objective: practical rules for slide clarity and memorability.
- Content: hierarchy of visuals, use of whitespace, typography basics, image selection, consistency, when to use animation (sparingly).
- Activities: before/after critique of example slides; quick build template exercise with facilitator demonstration.
- Opinionated guidance: aim for fewer than eight words per slide headline; one idea per visual. (Some will disagree, and that's perfectly fine.)

Module E: Memory Hooks and Delivery Cues (30 minutes)
- Objective: create memorable moments and practise transitions.
- Content: emotional anchors, surprise, strategic pauses, rhetorical questions and one tight closing call to action.
- Activity: 3 minute micro presentations in pairs, immediate feedback using a 5 point rubric (thesis clarity, data use, visual support, engagement, CTA).

Wrap and assessment briefing (5 minutes)
- Explain follow up masterclass, one to one coaching, and final submission expectations for post workshop measurement.

Post workshop reinforcement: Virtual masterclass (90 minutes, four weeks later)
- Purpose: review real world application, troubleshoot, and upskill on advanced topics.
- Structure:
- 10 minutes: group check in and data from pre/post surveys.
- 30 minutes: participant case studies (2 to 3 volunteers present a revised slide/deck segment; live coaching).
- 25 minutes: focused module on persuasive visuals for executives, value driven slide templates, executive one pagers.
- 20 minutes: Q&A and practical next steps.
- Deliverable: refined 6 slide executive brief submitted for scoring.

One to one micro coaching (20 minutes per participant, within two weeks of masterclass)
- Focus: personalised feedback on a participant's next upcoming professional presentation or the 6 slide executive brief.

Assessment and measurement (how we measure impact)
- Pre/post confidence and capability survey (quantitative change expected in self reported confidence and use of storytelling techniques).
- Practical assessment: rubric scoring of participant's submitted 6 slide executive brief (assessors: facilitator plus an independent reviewer where feasible).
- Behavioural measure: manager observation checklist at four weeks (manager rates observable changes in clarity, conciseness and persuasion).
- Longer term KPI suggestion: measure decision velocity, time from presentation to decision in three comparable cases pre/post programme.
- Target metrics: 20 to 30% uplift in presentation confidence scores and a measurable reduction in slide count and average speak time per slide among participants. (Benchmarks and targets jointly agreed with client.)

Core learning materials and resources
- Participant workbook: templates (audience one pager, thesis tester, Problem, Insight, Action storyboard, data visualisation guide).
- Slide template pack: 6 executive slide formats, visual patterns for charts, icons and imagery guidance.
- Quick reference sheets: "30 second interventions" (phrases to regain attention), "what to do when tech fails".
- Optional prebuilt examples for industries: finance, health, retail, government (customised per client).

Facilitation notes and adult learning approach
- Style: hands on, peer feedback emphasised, short bursts of instruction followed by practice.
- Group size recommendation: optimal 10 to 12 for interaction; cap 16 to preserve quality.
- Facilitator profile: experienced practitioner with executive presentation and facilitation background; ability to critique and coach in real time.
- Accessibility: provide slides and workbook in accessible PDF; captioning for virtual sessions.

Adaptations and scaling options
- For frontline staff: simplify assessment to confidence and practical behaviours; replace one to one coaching with small group coaching clinics.
- For senior executives: compress content into an executive 90 minute clinic focused on the 6 slide brief and tough question handling; include a peer advisory circle.
- For large Organisations: train the trainer model across regions, with central quality assurance and quarterly calibration sessions.

Optional extras (value adds)
- Video capture and playback for micro presentations during the workshop for self review.
- Bespoke deck audits: facilitator reviews two decks per participant and provides annotated feedback.
- Follow up micro learning drip emails (3 emails over three weeks with short tips and examples).

Practical pitfalls and tough truths (a few opinions you might disagree with)
- More slides does not equal better. Fewer, sharper slides with clear decisions are what move stakeholders.
- Charts without context are evidence theatres, they often confuse rather than convince.
- Clean design matters more than having a fancy template. If a slide looks flash but the narrative is weak, the flash is a liability.
- You will still need to rehearse. No template replaces muscle memory.

Implementation timeline (example)
- Week 0: Confirm cohort, participant pre work and diagnostics issued.
- Week 1: Deliver half day face to face workshop.
- Weeks 2 to 3: Participants apply learning; draft 6 slide briefs.
- Week 4: Virtual masterclass; participants submit final briefs.
- Weeks 5 to 6: One to one coaching sessions completed; post programme surveys collected.
- Month 3: Manager observation check and impact review.

Success stories and organisational outcomes (what clients often report)
- Clearer executive briefings, shorter meetings, faster decisions.
- Improved confidence among emerging leaders when presenting to senior stakeholders.
- Reduction in unnecessary slides; better meeting discipline across teams.

Quality assurance and continuous improvement
- We score participant briefs against the rubric and compile a short report for HR/L&D with anonymised examples and aggregate scores.
- Facilitator debrief: after every cohort we update materials and share a 90 day improvement plan for participants.
- Optional: run a follow up rapid pulse survey at three months to capture sustained behaviour change.

Final notes
This outline is deliberately practical and performance focussed. It accepts that leaders are time poor and that the objective isn't to teach design theory but to produce usable, repeatable behaviour: fewer cluttered slides, clearer narratives, and data that leads to decisions. We'll work with your HR or L&D team to tailor examples and KPIs so the training ties directly to Business outcomes. If you want, we can convert this into a 6 week blended programme or a 90 minute standalone executive clinic, depending on where the capability gaps are.

Structuring your content effectively makes all the difference to how your message lands with stakeholders.