The Minimum Viable Presentation
Most presentations contain far too much information.
The presenter sets off without a clear and specific destination. So they wander all over the map, covering too much detail, and the presentation comes to an abrupt and unsatisfying end. In other words, it looks something like this:
“A piece of information…another piece of information… and another one…and another one… and another one…. and yet another one… and so on and so on… THE END”.
This leaves the audience overwhelmed, confused, unsure how to respond, or bored.
As a presenter, it’s tempting to cram as much information as possible into the time you have available. But more information does not equate to more value. And this approach runs the risk of not making anything memorable.
The best presentations hit a sweet spot that leaves the audience wanting more- they’ll want to ask questions, follow up, and take action.
Enter the Minimum Viable Presentation, or MVP. An MVP is tightly focused on one point- one piece of value- which it delivers. It does not do anything else. You make your point in the shortest time you can, with the minimum of resources. It is short and sweet.
Here’s a fantastic example of an MVP- a 4.5 minute TEDx talk (TEDx talks can be up to 18 minutes long):
