July 2015

Set Objectives to Make a Focused Marketing Presentation

Posted on July 24, 2015 by Rick E

Do you blast information in your marketing presentation right before finishing with a call-to-action or a thank you slide?

Even with a complete slide, you could leave your audience scratching their heads, meaning your deck lacked focus. Practice focusing on your overall message by clearly defining your goals. There are numerous benefits you can gain from this in terms of enhancing your deck and optimizing your pitch. Here are some of them:

Facilitates Communication

Knowing your objectives tells you what you need to do. It affects both your written content and your design choices. Definite goals help you determine what which details are important enough to keep on your deck, and which should be left for explanation through your speech. This avoids confusion and clutter, and leads more space for you to work on your delivery style.

Goals also let you gauge what your approach to delivering your presentation should be. If you want to simply inform a crowd, maybe a more neutral and straightforward tone will do. However, if your goal is to engage and entertain, more humor and personal stories related to your pitch are needed to create an emotional bond between you and the audience.

Paves the Way for Better Planning

Plan out your deck by specifying what you want to accomplish. This allows for a more streamlined look and design process. Meaningful and specific objectives guide you to make decisions that save time and effort.

In an organization, having a common goal you’re all working towards will create more efficient results. According to Demand Media’s George Root III, teamwork lets you identify effective task delegation to departments most suited to handle them. As an individual, your goal will be the glue that holds the entire structure of your presentation together once you deliver it.

Simplifies Measurement and Evaluation of Results

Spell out your objectives to set a bar for adequately measuring success and failure. An effective set of guiding objectives is measurable, making it easier to determine if your efforts worked. If they failed, they set parameters for improving your future work.

Conclusion

Don’t neglect to determine your objectives early on in your process. It’s a step that doesn’t consume much time and effort, yet offers a lot of benefits down the line.

Setting realistic marketing objectives are a vital part of every marketing presentation. People forget to set objectives because they don’t see the value of it…yet. This is something that’s easy to change, and is hard to forget when you’ve got the hang of it.

If you need a more focused marketing presentation ASAP, our PowerPoint specialists are ready to get you a deck that speaks for your brand and your voice.

References

“How to Sell Convincing Ideas in a Sales Presentation.” SlideGenius, Inc. May 07, 2015. Accessed February 03, 2016.
Root, George. “Importance of Teamwork at Work.” Chron. Accessed July 24, 2015.

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3 Crucial Pointers for Making Effective Sales Presentations

Posted on July 23, 2015 by Rick E

In every sales pitch, offering new products changes how clients see three things: their problem, your company and your pitch. According to Cutting Edge Advertising author, Jim Aitchison, “Disruption” is an advertising method which involves presenting your idea as the solution to dismantle the status quo and replace it with something new.

Clients have objections relating to costs, time and your proposals’ reliability. Break these barriers to change their perceptions. Every business presentation’s goal is to convince clients to take the risk of investing in your idea.

1. Prove That You can Change the Status Quo

Change how your clients see their problem by presenting an opportunity to solve it. Apple iPhone users relied on wall sockets to charge their phones. The Samsung Galaxy S5’s commercial challenged this with its improved power-saving mode and interchangeable batteries. It dismantled the status quo despite directly attacking the iPhone.

Make a strong statement by studying your current industry and competition for any weaknesses you can exploit.

2. Change How Clients See Your Company

With several other companies pitching ideas, show what makes you unique. Offer your best advantage over the competition. Back up your claims with numbers.

Have you made notable profits? Are your solutions more cost-efficient than others? Prove that your idea’s worth investing in. Brand communications expert Carmine Gallo suggests that entrepreneurs show investors that you can compete with major market players. Explain what the numbers mean for them.

3. Change How Clients See Your Pitch

Because clients look for proof that you deliver, make your pitch convincing with past cases of your success. Have you made any notable achievements? Are there other companies that can testify that you deliver your promise?

Your pitch has a higher approval rate if you offer proof, if your promises are consistent with what your company does, and if you show that other clients are satisfied. These address any objections you’ll face.

The Bottom Line

Changing perceptions involves showing proof that you can spark said changes.

In business and sales presentations, point out how to solve the problem and how you plan to do it. Then, convince your clients that your company can consistently deliver. This proves that clients can trust your company to get the most out of their investment.

To learn more about making sales presentation strong enough to convince clients, talk to the right people.

References

“Ad Agency Tricks: Outsell Competitors in Sales Presentations.” SlideGenius, Inc. 2015. Accessed July 23, 2015.
Aitchison, J. Cutting Edge Advertising: How to Create the World’s Best Print for Brands in the 21st Century. Singapore; New York: Prentice Hall, 2004.
Gallo, C. The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010.
Samsung Galaxy S5. Samsung Mobile. Accessed July 23, 2015.

Dealing with Negative Reactions During Sales Presentations

Posted on July 23, 2015 by Rick E

Even with a prepared sales presentation, a compelling speech, multiple rehearsals, there’ll always be some listeners who won’t agree with you afterwards.

Don’t worry though, receiving negative feedback is unavoidable, and you won’t be able to please everybody. People will always have different opinions from others.

On the other hand, you can minimize the effect by identifying who you’ll be presenting to beforehand. Are they creative directors who focus more on the execution, and design style of your works? Or executives who just want the bare basics, and benefits of what you offer them?

This should be accomplished by knowing their corporate ethics, cultural values, and their social background. Are they the type to prioritize making the customers feel welcome in their shops? Do they prioritize superior products above all? Or are they the type to build solid working relationships between their employees and customers alike?

With that information, you can then tailor your pitch to suit their behavior and give the impression that you share similar company beliefs and working ethics. In this way, you can easily appeal to a common ground and lessen the negative responses from the audience once you start.

Always Be in Control

Tony Dungy stated in his book, Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices & Priorities of a Winning Life, that unwanted circumstances may come unexpected, but you have the ability to respond to it positively or negatively. The choice is yours if you will focus on possible opportunities, or let yourself be swayed by negative situations.

While some presenters battle with stage fright, being afraid of getting interrupted is challenging. How will you react if a listener opposes you? Will you respond negatively or use it to your advantage?

These people may be difficult to handle, and you’ll undoubtedly run into them during a pitch. But the outcome of your presentation will depend on how you respond to them. This is why it’s important to be willing to listen and work with their problems as a professional when facing such unpleasant situations.

While you can prepare for possible disagreements, preparation is not enough in some cases. When that happens, react positively with three ways:

1. Face the Issue

Most people take corrections or oppositions personally because they think it’s themselves who are being attacked. Don’t let this kind of mindset deceive you, after all, even experts get negative feedback from others.

Remember that in any disagreements, the topic is the main object of discussion, and not the person itself. Public speaking coach Eamonn O’Brien advises that when dealing with someone who opposes your argument, you need to focus on the issue being brought up instead of tackling the person.

Instead of thinking about escaping from the situation, learn how to handle it professionally by responding positively. You could ask the person to clarify their point, or elaborate on the question while you let yourself think or return to your notes for reference. Don’t allow any negative comments to dictate your attitude since it won’t solve the issue. It’ll only heighten the tension and make things worse.

If he demands for further evidence to convince him to believe, do so without showing any sarcasm. Show them any facts you can either on-screen, or through discussion. Remember: it’s your topic that they’re critiquing, not you as an individual. Be professional by taking constructive criticism as opportunities to improve your brand.

Let anyone opposed speak their minds, then transform their input into beneficial feedback for you.

2. Listen Attentively

No matter how positive or negative the comments are, listening to your audience lets them notice that you respect not only their concerns, but also their presence. Mentally note down their concerns so you can either address them, or take note of it and promise to get back to them. You’ll give them the impression that you’re valuing their needs by lending them your ears, instead of talking too much about yourself and bombarding them with information.

Taking advantage of this opportunity creates a better way to understand others. If someone disapproves your argument, listen and then ask questions. Are they looking for other examples that can further explain the idea being discussed? Or are they just confused about what your topic entails? Keep track of what they ask you and how they react to your presentation. Giving them the chance to speak out allows them to clarify their points so you can give appropriate feedback.

Doing so increases your credibility as a speaker, proving that you’re willing and ready to understand their side of the story.

3. Show Professionalism

Listening is not enough to prove that you understand the person giving unpleasant comments. The way you respond is crucial, since your audience’s reaction depends on your answer to their concerns or clarifications. In times like this, keep a level head and maintain your pace to help you analyze what needs to be told without offending anyone. By focusing on what issues they raised, and listening to what they ask you, you get information that you can use to respond.

Instead of reacting aggressively and not considering what your audience might feel, you end up solving their problems like a professional.

Remember, your audience is the entire reason why you’re doing a presentation. Your goal is to engage and connect with them to successfully deliver your message and sell your proposal. Show that you care about meeting their needs by looking for things that you both agree with.

The Takeaway

The fact still remains that you want all your audience’s approval. This is why you need to answer in a way that gets the rest of the audience on your side.

Responding positively to opposition proves that you can handle unexpected situations well. If you receive negative feedback after your pitch, acknowledge it but don’t let it bother you too long.

Instead of focusing on the problem, concentrate on how you can properly address it without offending anyone from the crowd. Listen more closely to what they have to say, and find a better way to satisfy your clients’ needs.

Dealing with negative responses positively makes the audience trust you and more likely to do business with you.

If you want to know more about effective presentation, SlideGenius is willing to help you out and address your concerns. Give us a call today!

References

Dungy, Tony/ Whitaker Nathan. Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices, & Priorities of a Winning Life. Tyndale House Pub, 2007.

O’Brien, Eamonn. “Turn Negative Audiences to your Advantage.” The Reluctant Speakers Club. November 24, 2011. Accessed May 13, 2015. www.thereluctantspeakersclub.com/blog/2011/11/deal-with-negative-audiences-or-trolls

PowerPoint Visual Design Tips From Ads: Text & Image Balance

Posted on July 22, 2015 by Rick E

Text-heavy slides are a common PowerPoint deck problem. That’s why you should rely primarily on visuals for your business presentations, keeping text to a bare minimum with simple labels and lists. This gives you more room to talk about your pitch.

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Should text dominate your slide or will an image do on its own?

Deciding the text’s length, the image’s position, and the kind of image to use are also problems shared by presenters and advertising agencies alike. According to renowned author, Jim Aitchison, it’s best to use a single-minded approach: either the visual or the text must dominate the image.

The Postcard-or-Letter Method

The postcard-or-letter method is a choice between using a visually-led execution with a short piece of text, or a mostly text-based advertisement that still uses a visual. Consider the image and text sizes, as well as the elements’ location in your PowerPoint visual design to pull off a similar effect.

1. Image Size vs. Text Size

Simple and minimalist executions like Burger King’s Fiery Fries print ad use a dominant visual with a small piece of text. This works best for postcard-style announcements or for making a point for your business presentations.

For the opposite method, let the text occupy a dominant portion of the frame, as with the XO Beer print ads. When using the letter style, you need an interesting story to tell about your product, or an engaging activity that lets them imagine something interesting.

2. Location, Location, Location

Positioning is a crucial visual factor. To make your point clear, place your images in the middle to make them more prominent.

For comparisons, place two images side-by-side, similar to how Aitchison cites the Kaminomoto hair grower print ads. In other cases, let people see the image in the middle and your text below it, just like the early Volkswagen ads. Make either the text or image more dominant than the other or your slide will distract your audience.

The Point: Show Less to Talk More

Be as minimalistic as possible. Your PowerPoint slides only have room for a dominant visual or piece of text, not all the images or words in the world. Decide whether you need to make a point or compare yourself with the competition. Then, choose which element will get your audience’s interest, and decide where to put it to best get their attention. It’s not about how much content you can cram into your slides, but how you can use what little you have to convince your clients to do business with you.

To help you maximize your visuals and text for your business presentations, try to get in touch with a professional PowerPoint presentation designer today!

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References

“5 TED Talk Secrets for Persuasive PowerPoint Presentations.” SlideGenius, Inc. 2015. Accessed July 22, 2015.
Aitchison, J. Cutting Edge Advertising: How to Create the World’s Best Print for Brands in the 21st Century. Singapore; New York: Prentice Hall, 2004.
XO Beer. Neil French. Accessed July 22, 2015.

Advertising Tactics for Business Presentation Planning

Posted on July 22, 2015 by Rick E

Identifying your client’s expectations is always the first step but is only half of the equation. The other half is meeting and exceeding those expectations using your business presentation.

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Before opening PowerPoint and rehearsing, solve what ad veteran Luke Sullivan cites as two problems shared by most advertising campaigns: the client’s business and how to deliver your pitch.

The Client’s Business Problem

Every client wants something. Common business objectives that you’ll pitch ideas for include:

promoting a new product.
showing investors that your company is worth doing business with.
getting a partner for a joint.

First, find out what your clients’ objectives are, then choose the best way to solve them.

Delivering Your Pitch

The key lies in your strategy. If you were a CEO who needed more business partners to work with you, how would you go about it?

Will you highlight your market performance? Will you show testimonies from satisfied clients you served? Will you showcase the advantages your company has over the competition?

According to renowned author, Jim Aitchison, deciding the best way to achieve these objectives will be your strategy. Fulfilling that strategy needs three tactics used in the advertising industry:

Tactic 1: Filter Your Ideas

Always start with a clean slate. Take your ideas to the drawing board before plugging in your images or words. This gives you room to plan how your idea works. Will you need to back up your claims with numbers? Will you need to highlight your main benefit and support it with the three strongest facts? Should you highlight the problem and what parts of it you can tackle?

Asking yourself even the most absurd and unrelated questions can help you find simple solutions, like a product benefit or a relevant fact about your client that you may have overlooked.

Tactic 2: Put your Benefits Front and Center

Professional presenters know that their audience always looks for their product or service’s benefits. Advertisers know that people won’t buy a product for what it is, but for what it can give them. After figuring out which ideas to utilize, use a combination of visuals and text that prove your point.

One early Volkswagen print ad showed a lunar landing craft with the tagline “It’s ugly but it gets you there,” highlighting their cars’ practicality. It never showed the product. It showed a benefit.

Tactic 3: Use Incontestable Facts

Use irrefutable facts to kill your competition. Sullivan recommends that if you have a fact that highlights your product’s durability or effectiveness, use it, especially if your competitors can’t argue or disprove it.

If you can say that your services cost 30% less than leading providers, if you have a way to increase your client’s market share within the first three months, and if you have the numbers to back up your claims, you can easily establish your credibility with the audience.

It can be something as simple as the tagline that gave Avis Rent A Car its reputation (“The line at our counter is shorter.”) which implied that they served customers faster.

The Bottom Line: Fulfill the Need in Style

Speech tone, body language, facial expressions, even the images you use in your PowerPoint deck are tools to sell your product. These can change and improve over time, but your client’s basic needs will never change. They‘ll always look for cheaper raw materials, more efficient outsourced production, more cost-efficient electronics, etc.

Every business seeks a specific product that offers the benefits they need. This should form the substance behind every single sales presentation technique you use, and every slide design that you make. It all boils down to how effectively you use these tools to fulfill that need.

To help with your business presentation strategy and get the most out of your PowerPoint deck, take a few minutes to ask a professional partner for help.

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References

“A Presentation Expert’s Guide to Knowing the Audience.” SlideGenius, Inc. 2015. Accessed July 22, 2015.
Aitchison, J. (2004). Cutting Edge Advertising: How to Create the World’s Best Print for Brands in the 21st Century. Singapore ; New York: Prentice Hall.
Gallo, C. (2010). The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Great VW Ads. Accessed July 22, 2015.
Sullivan, L. (2008). Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Ads (3rd Ed.). Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons.

How to Improve Your Business Voice for Presentations

Posted on July 21, 2015 by Rick E

How well does your voice sound during a business presentation?

If you’re not satisfied with how you pitch your message, neither are your listeners. In fact, a recent research conducted by Quantified Impressions, a communications analytics company, showed that the sound of a person’s voice strongly influences how they’re seen.

The corporate world accentuates a hustle and bustle of daily conversations, from business meetings to project planning, client negotiations and the like. This is why a strong and confident voice helps portray a professional image. Non-verbal cues such as body language, gesture, and posture only reinforce what you say.

If you’ve been opting for effective and persuasive presentations, start with your voice.

Why Your Vocal Image is Important

People are hard-wired critics. Right after you’ve entered the room, your audience makes snap judgments on your speech credibility. The impression that listeners create based on your speaking voice is often referred to as the vocal image.

Your speaking voice says a lot about you. It’s a signature that creates assumptions about your age, intelligence, background and emotional state. Since it gives your viewers a peek of what you offer, this builds their interest in your presentation.

The Wall Street Journals’ Sue Shellenbarger cites Quantified Communications’ study to emphasize that the sound of a speaker’s voice matters twice as much as the message’s content. Voice is accounted for 23% of listener’s evaluation, while the message’s content only amounted to 11%.

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Tips to Boost Your Vocal Image

There’s nothing more embarrassing than standing in front of a crowd that isn’t paying attention to you. Persuade your audience like a pro by boosting your vocal image with a little know-how and practice. According to presentation trainer David Woodford, there are four crucial points to consider for vocal clarity:

Watch Your Pitch

How you articulate your voice plays a big role in capturing your audience’s interest. A good combination of high and low vocal pitches jazzes up your presentation.

Your pitch goes up when you feel excited but then drops when something serious comes up. Varying your pitch emphasizes your main ideas. Avoid speaking in a monotone voice so as not to bore your listeners.

Manage Your Pacing

Practice speaking at the right speed to maintain your audience’s interest. Speaking too quickly or too slowly makes it harder for them to follow your talk.

Control Your Vocal Power

Keep the attention going by controlling the power of your voice to break the dull discussion. Whether you’re whispering or shouting at the top of your lungs, your vocal volume increases focus and emphasis.

Anticipate Pauses

Necessary pauses let your audience hold their thoughts. People tend to be swamped with a lot of information, making them want to escape. Anticipating pauses in your discussion allows points to sink in.

Related Speech Practices

Record Your Voice

Practice with a tape recorder so you can listen to your own voice. This is the ideal way to evaluate how your voice sounds, including factors like your tone, pitch, accent, and word choices.

Ask a Friend or Co-Worker About Your Bad Habits

If you’re unsure about evaluating yourself, try asking a friend about your bad habits. Having someone to critique your voice quality makes it easier to identify your total vocal image’s pros and cons.

Increase Your Fluid Intake

Good water intake keeps your vocal cords healthy. Drink enough water every day to keep yourself from frequently clearing your throat.