The preparation iceberg: why most of a good talk is unseen

By Alastair Greener, presenter of Present Yourself in a Minute · Updated 5 November 2026

Most of a good talk is the work nobody sees: knowing the audience, shaping the message, building the structure and timing it aloud. Do that before the slides.

What sits below the waterline

Above the surface is what the audience sees: you, your voice, your slides and the minutes you take. Below it sits everything that makes those minutes work.

• Who is listening, and what they need from you.
• The one message the talk must leave behind.
• The structure, from the opening to the call to action.
• The stories that carry the message, and the figures that support them.
• The timing, checked aloud.
• The room, the microphone and the screen, checked before the audience arrives.

Alastair Greener uses an iceberg to show this in his keynote, "How To Get Your Voice Heard". The point is the proportion. The visible part is a small fraction of the work.

Work the hidden layer in order

1. Ask who is listening and what they need. Start with what is in it for them, the WIIFM question. Why should anyone watch explains how to answer it.
2. Write the one message. Test it as a stick of seaside rock: if you break the talk anywhere, the same message should show. The stick of rock test shows how.
3. Build the structure. A hook, the message, a recap and a call to action. The hook, message, recap and call to action structure sets it out.
4. Find the stories, then the data. Stories carry the message. Data supports the stories.
5. Only then make the slides. Slides should support the message, not be the message.
6. Run it aloud and time it. Do this at least three times, standing up, with the slides on.

A worked example

Suppose a presenter has twelve minutes at a local business network breakfast. Below the waterline, the work might look like this, as an illustration:

• An hour asking two members what they struggle with in hiring.
• A few hours writing a single message and cutting the talk to fit.
• Three run-throughs, each timed, with the slides on.
• A check of the room, the microphone and the clicker before the doors open.

The audience sees twelve minutes that seem easy. The presenter knows which two minutes they could drop if the schedule slips.

Common mistakes

• Starting with the slides, then writing the talk to fit them.
• Rehearsing only the opening, so the middle and close are never tested.
• Timing the talk in your head and assuming the result.
• Writing for yourself rather than for the people in the room.
• Skipping the technical run, so the first slide fails in front of the audience.

If your preparation is for an interview as well as a talk, our media training studio page explains how a rehearsal day is set up. For the delivery side, read how to get your voice heard.

Related guides

• Get your voice heard: prepare, WIIFM, structure, body language, voice
• The stick of rock test: one message all the way through
• Calls to action people act on: what should they do, think or feel?
• All guides and tools

The picture at the top of this page is an illustration, not a photograph of a client or a real job.