13 ways to enrich your presentations

As a sales trainer, I'm often shocked at the incompetence of presentations I see my clients make in front of prospects. While I've never believed that the "presentation" is where the sale is made, I'm beginning to change my tune a little bit. While the sale isn't officially "made" there, the stage can be set for further discussion. Recently, I was asked by a client to sit through one of their prospect presentations and critique it. From that I came up with 13 suggestions/tips that I share with you today. Remember, I'm not coming from the place of "impressing people" with your presentation. I come from the angle of "can this presentation lead to further, more meaningful discussioin the sales process?" Which is why I feel everyone should include these points in there presentations, so they can be the best possible.Don't boreNo reading the Powerpoint. Involve people. Be clear. Tell stories. If you need to remind yourself of story, put an initial of the story on the actual slide. If you put out a profound statement, ask the audience what they think of that. Get involvement.Numeric chunking"There are three things that are relevant here...one is... two is...three is..." keeps people knowing where they are on the list. Even if you have 10 points that's OK although we prefer 3-5.Graphics (or pictures) are more memorable than wordsGo to images.Google.com and see if there are any images that fit your presentation. Or, if you have a few dollars to invest, go to any of the royalty-free websites and purchase some from them. Apply the "so what" test to each slide/major point. Don't assume the prospect is able to connect the dots (but at the same time, don't patronize).Acknowledge any relevant issuesFor example, "I'm trying to put this together, I realized that we have a lot of points we'd like to communicate. I also realize we have only 30 minutes. So my effort today will be to hit on the major points"-and include the rest on the handout. The more transparent you can be with this, the better. Tell them some of your thinking that went into building the PowerPoint.Testimonial ArchitectureUse testimonials or case studies in your presentation. But you must use the correct architecture:a) what problem did they seek us out to solve?b) what did we do to solve it?c) what is life like now for them?No platitudes, claims or opinionsDeal in facts.If you're the largest in the state, then give the numbers. But never ever say, "We're the best." That's an opinion and it discounts everything else you say. If you're going to make a claim (we reduce costs), then back it up with facts or case studies.Tell the audience what the flow of the presentation will look like"First, I'm going to do this...then do that...then at the end, I'll do this." If you are going to ask them for a decision or an action step at the end, tell them that upfront so you don't blow them away with it at the end.Put this all in context (make it relevant)Ask or state the problems you believe you solve for the constituents. You bring more value to the planet when you are a problem-solver. Start with this in the first 10 minutes.What are the BIG IDEAS of this?I find that usually people try to blend big ideas with little ideas and come up with something that no one remembers. Come up with no more than 3-5 BIG IDEAS that you MUST get across in the presentation. I like the 3 Ideas that make you unique. Lesson: Don't bury the lead.Opening StoryIs there an opening story that depicts the real essence of your firm? Perhaps how you got started-or a significant event in your cycle-or a letter you recently received from an ecstatic client-or a comment on a survey that captures the essence of your company mission and meaning? Stories sell.Some bullets are big enough to deserve their own pagesRarely is it the other way around. We usually line list things in bullet format. They can't all be the same importance-yet in the list, they appear that way.If one bullet is more important, bold face it, highlight it or change font size and color. If one is REALLY important it gets it's own page.There's always a story behind the storyA pain behind the pain. There is a known pain that customers come to you to solve-but once they start working with you, there are other problems they didn't even know they had that you fixed. Those are the big ones. You need to list those pains and the pains behind the pains. You can even call it that. Every presentation should be passed through this 13-point filter. Good luck.

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