Listening to a sales presentation, in all honesty, can be boring. There isn’t enough caffeine in the world to make most presentations even tolerable. No one, and I mean NO ONE, wants to sit through an hour-long presentation on ANYTHING. Before you think about your next presentation, you’ve got to clear your mind, and find your inner strength to plan it. Here we go:
If you have a slide show presentation, the best thing to do with your slides is to ditch them entirely. Try to work with concepts that are simple and self-contained enough that you can communicate what your audience needs to know by briefly talking about the subject with as minimal words on slides as possible.
Add some creativity/love to your presentation. No one ever perked up when another black and white slide came up, but if you’re working with electric orange and lime green, they just might notice. Color lightens the mood.
Also, throw some humor in there! Don’t be afraid to be funny in the content of the slides. For example, if you were trying to illustrate the idea that your company shouldn’t let its reach exceed its grasp, you might find an image of a little boy trying to open his mouth wide enough to eat an entire ice cream cone at once. In my expert, first-semester ,college freshman opinion, a relatable self-depreciating sense of humor can go a LONG WAY.
Finally, present activities to loosen everyone up, engage them, and get them interacting with each other. This can relieve some tension and allow them to focus on your sales presentation more. Think of creative ice breakers or activities to get the blood flowing!
Next time you have a sales presentation, remember these tips and maybe, just maybe, your audience won’t need that extra coffee to stay awake.
~ Zach B.
BoweryJE22
This is a great post! I totally agree with everything you said especially the part about engaging the audience. I don’t enjoy presentations that are strictly reading off a power point without any engagement of everyone else. It’s always nice to hear what other people have to say, which is why it’s great to ask questions.
Your observation on sales presentations could not be more spot on. I’ve had to sit through some pretty painful presentations. One note I would make on incorporating creativity into presentations is understanding who you’re presenting to. For example, this summer I would present weekly to general partners in a private equity firm. They always requested a printout of the PP presentation and preferred it to be as simple as possible. I totally agree though, that if at all possible, incorporate as much creativity as possible.