It’s Not About You: 5 Steps to Audience-Friendly Presentations

: Published: 01 March 2026

By Claire Doole, www.doolecommunications.com

I am not good with numbers. After all I make my living from words. I always need a second opinion about my finances.

I was delighted when a friend invited me along as a “plus one” to a presentation given by her private Swiss bank at a five-star Geneva hotel. We were both looking for reassurance that our life savings would not suddenly disappear.

It started off well with canapés, and champagne. Then the music began and the first of three very slick well-dressed bankers took to the stage.

Expectations were high. However, they quickly plummeted.

For the first hour, they spoke almost entirely about background and history—detail after detail that we simply didn’t need. What my friend and I really wanted to know was straightforward: will there be a financial apocalypse in 2026?

Unfortunately, that question wasn’t answered until the final five-rushed minutes. By then it was too late. People had already left. It was a perfect reminder that if you don’t focus on what matters to your audience from the start, even the most polished presentation can fall flat. They failed to understand the concerns of the audience – our worries about the impending financial cliff that we may be walking off this year.