This is the second post in a series on the mistakes I've made presenting and lessons learned. Today I wanted to share with you "Start At The Beginning". I don't know about you, but when I'm going to present I'm usually pretty excited, I can't wait to share what I've learned. The problem is I would jump right in and start explaining the solution, going into great detail while not realizing that the audience had no idea what I was talking about. I soon discovered that when you present start first by describing the problem, what is it that you are going solve. This does several things.- First, this gives your audience the 30,000 foot (or 10,000 meter) overview of where you are coming from and where you plan to go. They now have context. Remember, you have been living and breathing this topic for a long time, what you think others already know may not be the case. In addition, for larger groups different people will have different backgrounds, many people in the audience will not have the breadth of knowledge that you already have.
- Even more important, explain to the audience why they should care, what is in it for them in the presentation. If you can't explain what they will gain or benefit, then you do not have a valuable presentation and they will quickly (and rightfully) tune you out.
About the Author
Lance Spitzner
Director, SANS Security Awareness
Lance Spitzner has over 20 years of security experience in cyber threat research, security architecture, awareness and training. He helped pioneer the fields of deception and cyber intelligence and founded the Honeynet Project. In addition, Lance has published three security books, consulted in over 25 countries and helped over 350 organizations build programs to manage their human risk. Lance is a frequent presenter, serial tweeter ( @lspitzner ) and works on numerous community security projects. Mr. Spitzner served as an armor officer in the Army's Rapid Deployment Force and earned his MBA from the University of Illinois.