As someone who has worked in an (actuarial) consulting firm, I’ve faced the "emergency" situation of making last-minute changes to a presentation. Here’s how you can handle it with the RAPID approach: R - Review your presentation to identify key areas needing adjustment. A - Allocate time wisely, prioritizing the most critical changes. P - Prepare all essential materials to ensure they’re ready and accessible. I - Implement necessary changes efficiently, focusing on essentials. D - Double-check your work to ensure accuracy and coherence.

-Prioritize key points and streamline content for clarity. -Use bullet points for simplicity and ensure each slide has a clear, concise message. -Practice delivering the updated content to ensure smooth flow and timing. -Make sure visuals are relevant and enhance your message. -Lastly, review for any errors and adjust as needed to ensure consistency and professionalism.

If you have one hour to make last-minute changes, focus on "adding a single, powerful story" that ties directly to your main point think something practical from your life experience. For example, if your presentation is on teamwork, include a brief story about how collaboration solved a problem in a real-world scenario. A story captures attention, simplifies complex ideas, and works for any audience. Bonus tip: Replace text-heavy slides with a key image that visually represents your message—like a puzzle piece for teamwork. This keeps it simple, impactful, and relatable, without needing major adjustments.

First thing to do is think about what the key takeaways are for your presentation. If a line or slide does not fit into your key takeaways, remove it. You need a nice punchy presentation that is about your message, not about multiple messages. If you have time, rehearse slides/presentation again with the new slide deck. At least go over it in your mind, this will help with the presentation, but not so much with the jitters.

To make last-minute changes without sacrificing quality, focus on the key points of your presentation. Prioritize edits that will have the most impact, like clarifying your main message, adjusting your slide design for clarity, or refining transitions. Avoid adding new content or complex ideas at this stage; instead, polish what you already have. Practice your delivery a few times to ensure you’re confident and smooth. Lastly, ensure your slides are visually clean and easy to read. By concentrating on essentials, you can improve the presentation’s quality without overwhelming yourself.