Step 1: Decide on the Goal

The first step in creating the outline is to decide on the goal of your presentation. What is it that you want the audience to know, do, understand, agree to, approve, etc. at the end of the presentation? Make sure your goal is specific and achievable in the timeframe and situation you have been given.

Step 2: Analyze the audience

Next, analyze your audience to determine what the starting point is. What do they already know about your topic? What are they expecting to hear? What concerns or objections do they have? How much do they trust you? Look at all aspects of the audience to determine where you need to start with your message.

Step 3: Plan your content

Once you have the goal and audience analysis done, you can then start to plan your content. I suggest you think about three levels in your outline. The highest level consists of the topics you want to cover, usually three to five topics are all you can cover in most presentations. Break each topic down into the points you need to make for that topic. Then decide on what supporting information you will use to back up or prove each point.

One great way to organize all of this content is to use sticky notes on a whiteboard. It allows you to see the entire presentation and make sure that you don't have any gaps in what you need to move the audience from where they are now to where you want them to be at the end of the presentation.Here's what that would look like: