1. Define the presentation’s purpose
Start your preparation with the question, “What will the audience understand, evaluate, or decide by the end of the presentation?” rather than “What will I say about leadership?” For example, the goal might be for managers to evaluate an approach to setting priorities on a project. If you have multiple goals, choose the primary one and use the others as supporting topics.
Also consider your audience: team managers, the project team, and senior management may focus on different details in the same case. For example, it may be appropriate to emphasize decisions and risks for senior management, and implementation and responsibilities for the team. This is not a mandatory rule for every audience group, but one option you can use to tailor your presentation. If the presentation is part of a business proposal, the proposal flow in our guide to preparing a business collaboration proposal presentation may also be useful.
2. Choose concepts and explain their boundaries
Choose enough concepts to explain the main question. For example, for this presentation, you could use “leadership” to examine behaviors involved in setting a shared direction and influencing people toward it. You could discuss “management” in terms of responsibilities such as planning work and organizing resources. These are working definitions you can use in a presentation; do not present them as comprehensive definitions that sharply distinguish leadership from management in every situation. The same person may take on both types of responsibilities in a given situation.
Montclair State University’s presentation on leadership and management includes comparison topics such as setting an agenda, defining strategy, creating structure, and empowering teams. You can use these topics as possible points for discussion; do not present the comparison as a universal, unchanging list of responsibilities.
For each concept, add an answer to the question, “In what event, and through what behavior, could we recognize this?” Rob Holder’s description of a leadership presentation at George Mason University mentions personal case studies, as well as questions such as the difference between a leader and leadership, the purpose of leadership, and the relationship between power and authority. You can treat these questions and the case-study approach as starting points for your own presentation.
3. Build a case with traceable details
Choose a case and describe the context, the problem encountered, the decision made, the observable behavior, and the known outcome. If you discuss a real person or organization, use information you are authorized to share and can verify. If no outcome data is available, state what has not yet been measured instead of claiming success.
Test your example with these questions: What challenge did the team face? What decision was made? Who communicated the decision, and how? What information tells us the outcome? If the answers are unclear, reconsider whether the example is concrete enough to explain the concept. Do not draw a rule for all teams or situations from a single case.
4. Concrete example: a project delay
The scenario below is entirely hypothetical. It assumes that there are five people on the team and that the decisions described were made; these are not findings from actual research, organizational data, or sources.
- Slide 1 — Decision question: “When a project is delayed, should we reassess the delivery date or the scope first?”
- Slide 2 — Context: A project whose scope has expanded in response to customer feedback cannot be completed by its planned date.
- Slide 3 — Concept: The presentation examines leadership through the behaviors of making the problem visible and setting a priority as a team. It addresses the management dimension through the organization of options, the schedule, and resources. This is a framework chosen to explain the case.
- Slide 4 — Decision and behavior: The hypothetical leader works with the team to distinguish required deliverables from optional improvements and shares the scope change with stakeholders. Distinguish assumptions, observations, and decisions that have been made.
- Slide 5 — Outcome and verification: Hypothetically, the team agrees to deliver the core functions first and consider the remaining requests later. This agreement alone does not show that the project was successful. Explain which indicators—such as schedule, quality, or stakeholder approval—will be monitored.
- Slide 6 — Question for the audience: “Who should be involved in setting priorities in a similar situation?” After hearing responses, state the expected next step.
You can consider this flow alongside the problem-solution focus in Hackathon presentation: problem, demo, and solution flow; however, you should separately explain how the example here relates to the concept of leadership.
5. Review your slide and narration outline
Try writing the title to convey the slide’s main message rather than simply labeling its topic. For example, “The priority change was shared with the team” may show more clearly which behavior the slide focuses on than “Communication.” This is one writing option you can use, not the only correct title format. If a slide contains multiple concepts, consider separating them or explaining how they relate to each other.
Try presenting without reading the slide text from beginning to end. Can the audience follow what question is being addressed, who did what in the example, and what the outcome is based on? George Mason University’s description mentions using personal case studies to address leadership topics in different contexts; you, too, should clearly state the context and limitations of your chosen case.
6. Common problems and final review
If the example is too abstract: Instead of a judgment such as “They showed good leadership,” describe the decision made and the observable behavior.
If the claim about the outcome goes beyond the evidence: Saying “The decision increased team commitment” requires an observation or measurement that supports this outcome. If you have no such basis, describe only the outcome stated in the scenario, such as “The team agreed to go along with this plan,” in the hypothetical example.
If there are too many concepts: Consider removing definitions that do not contribute to the main question. You do not have to connect every concept to the same case; what matters is that the connections you do make are clear.
If you need to tailor the presentation to the audience: Keep the main question and change which details you emphasize. For example, you can highlight decisions and risks, or implementation and responsibilities.
Final checklist:
- Are the presentation’s purpose and the decision expected from the audience clear?
- Are the concepts brief, understandable, and limited to how they are used in this presentation?
- Does the example include context, a decision, and observable behavior?
- Are assumptions distinguished from verified information?
- Are claims about the outcome consistent with the information available?
- Is the next step expected from the audience stated?
- Can the presentation’s main idea be followed without reading the text word for word?
7. Frequently asked questions
How many leadership concepts should I use?
Rather than choosing a fixed number, select the concepts needed to explain the main question. If you cannot explain how a concept relates to the example, consider narrowing the scope of the presentation.
Do I have to use a real case?
No. You can also use a hypothetical case. Clearly identify fictional details and outcomes as hypothetical; do not present them as real data or verified findings.
← Back to blog
