If you have a huge presentation to deliver after you land and you didn't have enough time at the office, the time on the plane can be very productive. Here are a few tips to make the most of your time on the plane.
First of all, you have to edit like a film director. If you consider that filmmakers cut from 8 to 10 hours of footage to get the final 2 hour edit you see at the cinema, you learn to get the gist of the message. You need to ask yourself why am I showing this? to determine what is relevant enough to be on the presentation and what isn't. If it's not important enough, leave it out so you don't distance the audience from the main content and you can keep their attention.
Don't waste time on the graphics, fonts, fly-ins, fades and frippery. Choose a template, sans serif font (easier on the eye), blue-ish background and something like a 24-point minimum font size. Search for suitable images and that's it. Always keep in mind that all the graphics have to be seen easily as some of your audience might have some kind of vision impairment.
If you can rehearse your presentation out loud paying attention to where the pauses, highlights and key stories are, you will be more confident when you get there. If you can practice at the lounge in business class, that would be helpful, but if you are traveling with a colleague, ask them to listen to your presentation, discuss, defend it and justify it. Get feedback and review.
Watch your presentation back from the audience's perspective. Consider all members of the audience - key players, influencers, sceptics, hangers-on. Then stop thinking as a presenter and watch it back from each audience member's perspective. Asses if there is something compelling for each member of your audience, and balance out your presentation differently so that everyone is included and engaged.
Warm up your voice by humming and don't drink water or fizzy drinks because it constrict vocal chords and causes hiccups. Choose room temperature water, tea or black coffee and give the booze a miss.