So this course is about helping you not just become better at presentation skills and learn the basics to become proficient as a beginner, but it's to save you time to. One of the biggest problems most people have when they're getting ready to give a presentation is they don't know where to start. And they want to do something and they want to be a hard worker. So they start gathering information, more facts, more data, more slides, going around the office circuit, talking to more colleagues going to Wikipedia, gathering more and more and more and more data timeout. This is not where you want to start in the preparation of your presentation. Not the way to go.

You need to step back for a minute. Forget all the slides, charts, graphs, PDFs, books, research and ask yourself one question. What is it you want the audience to do after you've given your presentation Is it approve of budget? Is it hire you because your presentation is a job interview? Is it to become a client? Is it to sign a contract?

Is it to endorse a new idea? Is it to vote for you? Typically when you're giving a presentation, and it's not just a social thing, it's because you want your audience to do something. So that's the starting point, you need to be able to write this down in one sentence. And that's your homework assignment. Now, I want you to write that in the discussion section of this course in one sentence, what your audience should do after hearing and what do you want them to do.

Now if you don't have a presentation, coming up tomorrow, just think of something that you could present on in the next couple of months, even if you have to make it up. But let's make this real. This experience needs to be real, if you're going to get the most out of this presentation skills course.