Here’s a quick and effective method for preparing a presentation when you're under the gun and can't spend a lot of time brainstorming.  Ask yourself the following 5 questions: 

1.  Who is your audience?  You need to know the demographics, the size of the audience, the time of day, but also what they’re thinking about.  What are they afraid of?  What are they hoping for?  To cut through the audience’s mental clutter and engage them, you have to know what’s going to get in the way.

2.  What do you want that audience to do differently as a result of the speech?  Speeches are best constructed in reverse.  Start with the end point – where do you want them as you wrap up?  Ask them to do something small that is symbolic of that, or a first step toward that.  Build the speech backward from that point.

3.  What’s the problem the audience has for which your information is the solution?  Before you can start talking about your expertise, your passion, the stuff you know, you have to set it up in the audience’s terms.  Let’s say you’re an expert on sleep deprivation, and you’re talking to an audience of orchestral musicians.  Then start by talking about their impossible schedules – how constant international travel takes an insidious toll on the health, creativity, even performance skills.  You’ll get their attention.  Then, tell them how proper sleep patterns will cure all those ills.

4.  What’s a brief story, anecdote, statistic, factoid, or question that sums up this problem?  Start with that story or line.  It should take about 1-2 minutes.  Did I ever tell you the story of the tympanist who fell asleep during the 1812 Overture?  The point is to frame the topic in a way that’s more interesting than an agenda slide.  It whets the appetite of the audience, tells it what’s in store for it, and doesn’t give the game away.

5.  What’s the elevator pitch for this talk?  I’ve written about elevator pitches before.  They’re the one-sentence reason why a prospective audience member should attend.  Once you’ve written or prepared the speech, figure out the elevator pitch.  Then go back through your speech and throw out everything that doesn’t relate to it.  You’ll have a tight, well-crafted presentation that works well with your particular audience.  You’re ready to go.