Last Minute Help For Your Presentation

How to Prep a Presentation When You’re Out of Time

Sometimes your clients are in a hurry. Sometimes you have almost no time to prepare for an AEC shortlist interview, sales pitch, or high-stakes presentation. When you’re lucky, you get days or weeks to strategize, rehearse, design stories, strengthen team synergy, build clear messaging, and refine your business development narrative. But often, you’re walking into a room where the team is practicing their orals presentation at the last minute—and they need fast, effective support.

Use a “Three-Thing Room” When Time Is Tight

When you’re coaching in a rush—whether you’re a marketing director, BD leader, facilitator, or presentation coach—the worst thing you can do is overcomplicate the moment. Your team already has a lot on their minds. They’re juggling slides, timing, stories, handoffs, and nerves. Your job is to elevate, not rebuild.

So you walk in and review the run-through with a single question:
“What are the three lowest-hanging-fruit improvements that will make this team instantly better?”

Examples of “biggest, clearest, easiest fixes” include:

• Synergy and tag-teaming: Are presenters talking as a team, or as disconnected individuals?
• Story clarity: Do their sections have defined openings and closings, or do ideas trail off?
• Presence and delivery: Does one simple shift—pace, tone, posture—instantly improve the room?

You’re not redesigning the pursuit strategy. You’re elevating the live performance they already built.

What *Not* to Do: Don’t Bombard Them With Content Changes

Last-minute coaching often fails because helpers overwhelm the presenters with content edits:

“Cut this.” “Add that.” “Don’t say that.” “You should elaborate here.” “Your wording is wrong.”

In high-pressure AEC interview preparation, too much information shuts people down. They can’t retain twenty corrections while trying to remember their slides, story, transitions, and timing. Technical edits at this stage create cognitive overload and reduce confidence—two things that kill presence in a shortlist interview.

So the rule is simple: No content surgery. Only performance elevation.

The Most Important Step: Build Them Up

The best thing you can do for a last-minute presentation team is give them honest confidence. Not flattery—truth. There is always something great about what they are doing. Spotlight it. Name it. Feed it back.

Because here’s the reality:
A confident team with a slightly imperfect presentation will outperform a nervous team with a perfect script.

Confidence drives presence. Presence drives connection. Connection wins work.

So before they go home for whatever sleep they’ll get, remind them:

“You’ve got something strong here. Trust it. Bring your presence, not perfection. You’re ready.”

In Summary

• Look for three big fixes—the lowest-hanging fruit that improves synergy, clarity, or delivery.
• Avoid content overload—no last-minute script rewrites.
• Build belief, not stress—confidence is the ultimate differentiator in any AEC interview or client presentation.

Whether it’s an AEC shortlist interview, a business development pitch, or a high-stakes project interview, these steps help your team show up with confident presence when time is tight.

Get some rest—tomorrow’s a big day.