Imagine having a simple and memorable 4-step roadmap for presentation success. Would you like to get your hands on it? I bet you would!

I was just looking at The 2010 Social Media Marketing Benchmark Report from Marketing Sherpa. (I'm not an affiliate for them or for the report, just in case you were wondering.

But something in their email caught my eye: the acronym of ROAD. And I got to thinking.

You could use similar categories to develop a ROAD Map for your business or sales presentation. These basic buckets work for any type of presentation. Social media. Face-to-face client pitches. Sales presentations.

The four categories spelling ROAD, as outlined by Marketing Sherpa are:

Research

Objectives

Actions

Devices

Here's my spin on the ROAD Map for presenting. I often use the concept of a roadmap to describe why presentation storyboarding is so powerful. A storyboard is essentially a roadmap of your presentation.

There are many ways to look at the big picture, milestones, and details. Working with a storyboard is the fastest way to see where you are going - and how you want to get there.

Let's look at how each of these areas can help you get focused and get results.

R = Research

Focus on your target audience. Find out about their roles, responsibilities, needs and history. As you investigate, be sure to also take note of specific language, issues and problems your audience is facing. When you do this, you can use what you're finding for this audience to get a head start on presenting to similar audiences.

O = Objectives

What is your objective in presenting? Do you want to get your foot in the door? Are you hoping to seal a deal? Do you want to target decision makers or influence influencers?

In every presentation, you'll want to refine your objectives. The clearer you are going into your talk or speech, the better you can focus the outcomes.

Similarly, it's essential to understand why your audience is attending. Are they interested in information gathering? Are they coming with an urgent need? By understanding objectives from both perspectives, you can tailor your presentation to match the situation.

A = Actions

A clear and specific plan of action will help you prepare and give an exceptional presentation. This includes a plan of action about actions. Know what you want your audience to do - before you ever enter the room.

This is a lot like goal setting. If you know where you want to go, and what action you want your audience to take, you can organize your entire presentation to ignite this action.

D = Deadlines

I adapted the "D" from Devices to Deadlines.

Nothing inspires action like a deadline! This is true to get that old procrastination habit out of the way. If you've been stalling on preparing your presentation, set a tighter deadline. You know what I'm talking about.

There's nothing, and I mean nothing, like the creativity that comes at the 11th hour.

The same is true for your clients and prospects. If you create deadlines for action, you will ignite decisive action.

If you are looking for a proven ROAD Map for your presentation, this is an easy way to sketch out the milestones to success.