Stepping Into the Unknown

So you’re comfortable with the basics of presenting and training, and you are ready to integrate something new into your presentation. Most people face a dilemma at this point.

Your existing presentation or routine is probably cozy and safe. It gets the job done, but deep down, you know that you can push your audience or class even more. Of course, changing things up poses a great risk. Most people would rather have a safe, by-the-book presentation than risk failure for something greater.

Here’s a tip to ease you into the world of risk-taking: try an incremental approach. Add new content in bits and pieces until you have made the changes that you had envisioned.

For example, if your presentation has three segments, start by only changing out one of them (or change even less, depending on your risk profile). In the best case scenario, your presentation gets that much better. At worst, you limit collateral damage.

Some amount of failure is inevitable. Expect it, manage it, and most importantly learn from it. By updating your presentation piece by piece, you can mitigate some of the pain from this process.

A version of this article was originally published on LinkedIn.