How to create an effective business presentation

In this post you will discover how to create an effective business presentation or, better, you will see the points necessary to create a successful one.

We’ll see together how to make your presentation or Pitch more effective, how to be more persuasive, more interesting.

Ready? Let’s start.

You are here because you are interested in creating a presentation for your company. Right?
That’s good. Then let’s let others think that all you need to get your interlocutor’s attention is a great idea/product.

Keep reading, because now we get down to practical stuff.
And remember that to be effective, a few rules are not enough; you need training and preparation.

There is a very interesting experiment that can help you test the simplicity of your business idea and prove the effectiveness of your Pitch. It’s called Elevator pitch.
But we’ll see what it is later…
Now let’s go in order.
Let’s look at the 5 fundamental points to create an effective presentation:

First point.
Be a showman!
You have a few minutes to hit, you can’t afford to do a dull, boring monologue.
You have to be interested. Your tone must be full of enthusiasm.
You have to be a bit like an actor on stage, proud and confident; get excited and excite your client.
It’s not enough to say, “We put passion into it.” Transmit it through your tone of voice, believing firmly in what you are expressing.
If you don’t believe in your company, why should your client believe in it?

Second point.
Choose your words carefully.
You will probably speak in front of specialized or (hopefully) competent people.
Then choose a suitable language, depending on the audience. On average, try to be technical, but not too heavy. Use specific terms when necessary.

Third point.
Get a current overview of the market without your product/service.
Use the first part of the presentation to talk about how you use competitors’ products to solve people’s needs. Give strength to the fact that their way, their service is the old way of doing things. When you break away and present your product you will emphasize the distance between that business model and yours.

Fourth point.
The presentation.
That’s it.
The presentation…

I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe, flaming combat Power Point presentations, unlikely usb ports and I’ve seen hipster layouts flash in the darkness of Mac and PC desktops.
And all those files will be lost in time, like tears in the rain…

Seriously.
The worst thing you can do is put all the content that would fit in a book. Or, if you really want to kill your business presentation, write the text that you’ll have to read during your performance. Nothing could be more wrong!
The only time you should look at your presentation is when you go from one slide to another, or when you refer to a photo, or watch a video with your client.
During your monologue look into the eyes of the people in front of you. Period.
Back to slide content: use videos, infographics, images and a few keywords.

And one thing… one thing only. Don’t put the picture of your shed seen from above, below or seen from Mars. If size matters in your work, put a group photo of who you work with. Let them know there’s a lot of you and you’re a united team.

Fifth point.
Go big or go home.
All the points above count relatively. If you don’t have a quality product or service, you can also have a superstar as an ambassador, but no one will want to buy your products/services.
So make sure that your product/service solves a real need of people.

Let us, therefore, summarise the main points:
Be credible. The tone, the cadence, the look, are fundamental to hit and not to bore.
Choose your words carefully. Don’t leave the future of your company to chance.
Get an overview of the current market without your product. Exalt the difficulties and the need that is there before your idea.
Less is better. Write a few texts. Use lots of images, graphics, and infographics.
Present a team, not a shed.

Now I’ll show you an exercise that has helped thousands of owners and salespeople improve their presentation and especially improvisation.
This exercise aims to help you summarizing the benefits you offer because it doesn’t matter who you are, but how you can solve your client’s problem. And to make your presentation more effective, you need to make it short and let your client talk and interact, so that you understand what lever to use to offer your product or service.

Do you remember that we first talked about Elevator Pitch?
That’s good. Now I’ll explain what it is and how it works.

It’s a technique to learn to be concise, to explain your company in a few minutes.
Try it with a friend, a colleague, or even alone. Get in the elevator and in the time of an ascent or descent try to explain your idea.
Make various tests with different trips – longer, shorter – so you learn to adapt the words to the time you have available.

If you want to know how to create added value for your brand, differentiating yourself from your competitors, click here and contact us.