Many of us believe that it is a great strategy to ask a coach to review a draft of our presentation. It can make our presentation that much more impactful and on target. However, an issue we need to consider is maintaining control over the presentation draft.

Anyone who has made an IMPAX presentation recognizes that the visual look of an IMPAX presentation is not on its own compelling. Instead, it can look like a rather simplistic collection of points. We know that it's not the bullets, but the accompanying story, that makes it compelling. It's important for us to make sure that the draft doesn't get out and get circulated prior to our presentation, so as to under whelm the participants.

This is increasingly difficult, as we all work to manage our time and expenses more diligently than ever. Often, we may find ourselves doing draft reviews over the phone or via the Internet. Even in this situation, however, we have to be careful not to provide our coach with a draft of the presentation. Instead, we should do an interactive web meeting where we are paging through the presentation itself. Or we should just do a verbal review on the telephone. This can be nearly as effective and just as safe.

Remember, when asked by our client (even a great coach) for a draft of the presentation, respond in the standard way, "I'd love to share it with you and I will, as soon as I am ready to deliver it.  For now, I know I have to make this better, and I appreciate your input helping me do that."