This week I started reading Garr Reynolds’ Presentation Zen, the well-known book on presentation design and guidelines. (I’ve borrowed it from our library after waiting for something like 9 months. There were about 10 reservations before mine, so I guess it must be popular.)

On page 61 there’s a nice list of questions one should always ask oneself before preparing a talk. Drilling through that list is definitely a good idea, and I’m writing it down here for further reference.

• How much time do I have?
• What’s the venue like?
• What time of the day?
• Who is the audience?
• What’s their background?
• What do they expect of me?
• Why was I asked to speak?
• What do I want them to do?
• What visual medium is most appropriate for this particular
  situation and audience?
• What is the fundamental purpose of my talk?
• What’s the story here?
• What is my absolutely central point?

Go through these questions the next time you give a talk and you can’t go wrong.