As with so many things in life, the secret to a successful business presentation lies in careful planning. A week or so before any presentation, make sure you’ve established the basics using the checklist below.

Check these details with your colleagues and clients, and the venue if possible, so you can be thoroughly prepared. Of course, no plans are fool-proof, so you should also think through what you would do if something goes awry during your delivery.
 
When presenting virtually, anticipate how you’d pivot if you or attendees have technical difficulties. Could you switch to another communication channel? If it were audio only, how would you navigate this? At what point would you postpone the meeting? Do you know your material well enough to talk the audience through everything without any visual support?
 
PREPARING YOUR DELIVERY
As a rule of thumb, you should spend two to three times as long preparing your delivery as it will take to deliver it. It’s quite helpful to rehearse what you are going to say out loud, either to yourself or, ideally, to someone else. This will help you identify any sections where your argument doesn’t flow naturally, or that you need to refine and practise more, before you can deliver it with confidence. It’s OK to write a script if this helps you clarify what you need to say, but never try to memorize it or read it word-for-word in front of your audience. If you do, the presentation will sound stilted and won’t engage the listeners. When you’re confident in your delivery, time how long it takes so that you can trim down the content if necessary. When deciding what to remove, a useful mantra is, 'If in doubt, leave it out!’ Keep making changes until you are confident with everything you’re going to say, or the audience will sense your lack of conviction and this will diminish your credibility.