Culture of Presentation Management

Change is hard, especially in a large organization. People are afraid of the unknown. The familiar is our security blanket. Knowing where we will be and what we will be doing tomorrow makes us feel safe. Any effort to change that, especially in our jobs -- our livelihoods -- will be resisted.

Over the years, as we’ve worked with clients to launch their new presentation strategy, we’ve found that there are a few steps you can take to help your team embrace presentation management. Some of them are concrete, like training, and others are more psychological, like how to change someone’s predisposition toward doing things a certain way. In this chapter, we will discuss the approaches you can take to lead your team into a presentation management culture. And it will also help you jump-start your presentation initiative.

Presentation management has two core tenants, and every step you take in your presentation management initiative should ultimately lead to those objectives. Revisit these tenants from time to time to make sure you stay on track.

1. Transform your presentations from one-and-done tactical files to enterprise assets.
2. Balance the long-term enterprise objectives and the individual needs of everyday employees.