professional presentation Archives

Sliding the Deck: 3 Uses of a Scrolling Web Pitch

Posted on January 14, 2016January 20, 2020 by Rick E

Technological advancement has become a major game changer in people’s lives. It transformed the way we interact with and perceive our surroundings, affecting the trends’ direction in recent years.

The onset of technology, particularly the Internet, has altered the way businesses do presentations. Gone are the days when a simple pitch is enough to satisfy an audience. Now, companies can reach out to prospects through various mediums.

The creation of a Web site or page has become a requirement for a business to be available to its target market, and even in that area, things are constantly changing. The scrolling Web pitch is an innovation that eliminates separate Web pages and allows any site visitor to scroll through your company’s features and journey seamlessly.

To seal the deal with an investor, use a scrolling Web pitch to warm them up and draw them in before your actual presentation.

Here are three reasons why:

Easy to Edit and Monitor

Do you want to edit text or images on your pitch? The scrolling Web pitch simplifies the process and offers better efficiency. Its design makes the scrolling Web pitch easier to monitor. You don’t have to go to individual pages to keep your content consistent since you can see everything in one place. Uploading your pitch online also gives you some insight on who else is interested in your product or services.

Other than investors, interested parties you might have overlooked can access you anytime, anywhere. Monitoring your page analytics and views lets you know whether your deck effectively attracts people. It’s a way of getting feedback without directly asking for it.

Emotional and Aesthetic Appeal

In his article for Digital Telepathy, UX/UI designer Nathan Weller expounds on the benefits of pageless Web design. Aside from its technical functions, Weller highlights the scrolling Web pitch’s strong visual appeal. Its clean design not only brings together a combination of image and text that makes use of current graphic design trends but also communicates your story. Like an old-fashioned presentation, page-less pitches still depend on narratives to connect with its audience.

Unlike earlier versions of Web sites, your viewers are free to experience this narrative without the hassle of moving from one link to another. People can even interact with the page through various elements you can leave for your site visitors to enjoy.

Among these are simple animations like images that move or buttons that emit sound when someone hovers their mouse over them. The easy navigation it provides make scrolling Web pitches more understandable and palatable. It compresses information and data without compromising quality, saving both you and your client’s time.

Higher Lead Conversion

The end goal of any pitch is to increase sales leads and volume. Scrolling Web pitches achieve that by being attractive avenues for your prospects to interact with your business. The nature of its layout improves your prospect’s perspective on your product and leaves a better, more lasting impression on them.

Another advantage is how shareable your content becomes. Sharing articles, images, and even whole Web sites online is the new word of mouth in the age of the Internet. Because the page-less pitch is available at the click of a link, anyone can view and share it. This increases other people’s awareness of your product and expands your network of customers. With the scrolling Web pitch, the client goes to you.

Conclusion

There are many benefits to using a scrolling Web pitch. It’s easier to edit and is more visually appealing than page-by-page Web sites. It also effortlessly draws attention to your business, increasing lead conversion and expanding your connections.

While the page-less pitch doesn’t act as an exact replacement for an investor presentation, it’s still a good warm up before your actual speech. It may seem difficult to create, but with the help of a presentation guru, you can upload your own scrolling Web pitch in no time.

Contact our SlideGenius experts today for a free quote!

References:

Weller, Nathan B. “8 Reasons Why Pageless Design is the Future of the Web.” Digital Telepathy. June 5, 2013. www.dtelepathy.com/blog/design/8-reasons-why-pageless-design-is-the-future-of-the-web

Featured Image: “Electronic Library” by Emilio Labrador on flickr.com

How Perfectionism Affects Your Professional Presentation

Posted on July 15, 2015 by Rick E

Let’s admit it. We all want to become perfect in every aspect, even in a professional presentation. However, some presenters forget that trying to be completely error-free can negatively affect the entire performance.

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Though aiming for the best helps you become successful, trying for a 100% great outcome can give you a headache. Aside from procrastination or stage fright, perfectionism can also become a source of anxiety. It triggers nervousness, especially when you’re expecting an error-free presentation.

Ask yourself, “Am I focused on not making a mistake?” or “Am I focused on engaging my audience to get my point across?” Your answer depends on what you prioritize the most.

Let’s see how perfectionism affects your performance.

Perfectionism Heightens Fear

It’s normal to be anxious when you speak in public. However, setting your standards too high might increase your fear of rejection or fear of being judged. This is because it convinces you to be unflinchingly perfect during the pitch.

To ease the pressure, remember that your job is to connect with your audience so that they understand your message.

Three Signs that You’re a Perfectionist

You can’t forget a certain failure.
You can’t respond positively to a negative reaction.
You worry too much about what others think of you.

These habits demoralize you if you let it control you and your performance.

Mistakes can happen even if you’ve carefully planned and prepared your presentation. Whether it’s caused by your PowerPoint slides, your speech, or technical problems, remain positive and focus on conveying your message to avoid getting controlled by this behavior.

Three Thoughts to Overcome Perfectionism

To remove this negative behavior, consider these things:

Your audience is considerate and understanding. If you fail, forget it then move on. Being honest allows them to see that you’re also human, prone to making mistakes.

Your listeners won’t notice unless they see that you do. Even if you point out that you’ve made a mistake, it’s not the end of the world. Proceed with your pitch and concentrate on delivering it.

Relax and be positive. Things will get better once you let go of your worries. It’s all about your audience, so focus on meeting their expectations.

Conclusion

Aiming for total perfection causes problems once you let it control you.

It’s natural to commit mistakes, especially when presenting. What you can do, instead, is to pick yourself up and show your audience that you’re still worth their time, because your main idea is what they care about the most.

Acknowledging your errors shows courage and that there’ll always be room for improvement. Positively respond to it and become a better and successful presenter.

To craft an effective and powerful presentation, SlideGenius experts can help you out!

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References

“Ditching the Urge to Be a ‘Perfect’ Speaker.” Ginger Public Speaking. June 12, 2013. www.gingerpublicspeaking.com/urge-perfect-speaker
Morgan, Nick. “Perfectionism and Public Speaking.” Public Words. October 14, 2014. www.publicwords.com/2014/10/14/perfectionism-and-public-speaking

Why You Need Work With The Naked

Posted on October 10, 2013November 25, 2019 by Rick E

Effective design is about displaying things as naked as they can be.

Effective design is about displaying things as naked as they can be. Let me explain. If two competing stores are selling orange juice, one markets the history of the store, the science behind the juice, the percentage of pulp in the juice, the work from the staff, and types of furniture in the store, and the second store uses only a picture of a juicy, ripe, and delicious-looking orange, would sell more? The second, obviously! Sales are about getting customers to get emotional about your product or service, while the former store may have its own advantages in marketing, the latter is focused solely on showing their product at its very simplest and purest form, an orange. It is almost completely pointless to describe everything about your business or product. People don’t have time for that. They want your message and pitch in the quickest, cleanest, and purest form possible.

Did Steve Jobs walk on stage and describe all the technical characteristics of the IPod? No. He walked up; stood mid stage, and said “It’s 1000 songs in your pocket.” While there is value in the details, it’s the nudity and bareness of a presentation that hold the value. Sell the core essence of whatever your selling, at the end of the day, it is what people remember, and therefore what you should maximize in your professional presentation design.

In aims to practice what I preach, Ill keep this post short. Ill finish with this; I could go on to write a book about simplicity, the art of persuasion, or even rhetoric, but there’s no need, because I’ve displayed the same message in less than 500 words.

Next time you start work on your next sales pitch, PowerPoint presentation, or really just anything, just take a minute and ask yourself, “Am I doing this in the most simple and effective way?” I guarantee it will change everything about your life.

Work Cited:
Http://www.fastcodesign.com/3018872/can-flat-design-change-an-entire-culture-built-on-ornateness

The Future of Cloud Presentation Management

Posted on September 4, 2013November 24, 2019 by Rick E

PowerPoint has about a 95% share of the presentation software market. There are over 500 million PowerPoint users worldwide. More than 30 million presentations are created daily. Over 6 million academic teachers use PowerPoint for classroom instruction.

It safe to say we are living in the times of PowerPoint. This has proven to be an invaluable tool to present new information, science, medicine, problems, and goals. Though, with its great uses, come great problems. Most companies today have an ongoing issue with managing presentations in both large and small scale.

One of the main PowerPoint issues that companies face revolves around management. The common trend is that a company will create or outsource a certain presentation, distribute it to all of its sales teams, and without clearance, each sales team will make edits to the presentation on their own, leaving the company with a handful of variations of the same presentations. This leads to a mixed company message. Mixed messages lead to uncertainty. Uncertainty can lead loss of clients, sales, and even employees. Needless to say this epidemic needs a cure.

Imagine a platform that could directly address the issues with managing presentations on a large and small scale. SlideSuite is a program conceived for the purpose of controlling and managing presentations on a regional and global level.

SlideSuite’s solution

SlideSuite provides a central management system for your presentations allowing for easy edits by any party without deteriorating the slide template and design. SlideSuite was developed by the Presentation Experts at SlideGenius, Inc. in San Diego, California. The program was designed in collaboration presentation designers, who interact with PowerPoint dozens of presentations daily. This led to a very useful and highly effective central management system and design.

It all comes down to impressing your audience. A polished, organic, and professional presentation has the potential to help you close more sales and clients. On the other hand, being a company with mixed presentations all talking about the same thing can do quite the opposite; it is bad for branding and bad for business. SlideSuite is the best solution out there. Once the presentations framework have been created in SlideSuite, editing can take place by anyone without harming the integrity of the slides.

References:

“SlideSuite.” SlideSuite.

“PowerPoint Usage Statistics and Market Share.” PowerPoint Info. February 15, 2012.

It Doesn’t Matter, Any Tequila!

Posted on August 9, 2013April 24, 2020 by Rick E

Sure it’s funny, but think if it wasn’t about tequila, and instead it was about your business. You obviously wouldn’t be laughing.

If you’re looking for a house to live in, would you choose one by saying this to your realtor, “It doesn’t matter, any house?”

How about when finding a spouse? Or what about when your choosing a major in college?

Any semi-rational person would not. Houses, spouses, and careers are all monumental aspects to someone’s life and because of that, people tend to weigh out the pros and cons thoroughly when it comes to any decision.

Much like houses, spouses and careers are huge aspects to someone’s life, the way the world identifies with your company is one of the most crucial aspects to its success. When you are presenting yourself, or more importantly your company, to an audience of buyers, sellers, investors, or whoever, it is imperative to come off as a professional, valuable, and effective entity.

Impressions you give

Most people will judge whether or not they like you, dislike you, find you interesting or boring in a matter of minutes, sometimes even seconds. These minutes are what can lead to earning or losing new clients or sales. Knowing that your presentations have this much significance, a rational person wouldn’t say “It doesn’t matter, any presentation.” In fact, they would focus on making that presentation the best it could possibly be.

This is where you bring in professional presentations designers, like SlideGenius. SlideGenius is headquartered in San Diego, California with over 500 Worldwide Clients. The “Geniuses” (presentation experts) see on average over 200 presentations per month and have years of professional experience creating captivating PowerPoint presentations for a wide variety of clients.

Bringing in Professionals

The Geniuses can update an existing presentation or build one from scratch, leveraging your brand. SlideGenius works with you to ensure that the message you want to get across to your audience is communicated as effectively as possible, while leaving your audience impressed with a polished, professional presentation.

If you do not have a professionally designed PowerPoint Presentation you are undeniably leaving business on the table. Many sales people have reported an increase of up to 25-50% in closed sales simply by providing a highly visual presentation.

When it comes to your business, don’t take just anything. Take the best, and be the best.

Work Cited:
Http://www.ispot.tv/ad/7tlp/hornitos-plata-tequila-any

The Need for Data Visualization in Presentations

Posted on August 5, 2013November 22, 2019 by Rick E

All the numbers, figures, facts and stats that you gathered for your professional presentation are all useless…let me tell you why.

Let me explain through this: “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” My answer to that philosophical question would be “who cares?” If the tree is not in my sight, my space, causing me any problem, or bringing me any benefit, why am I interested?

Much like that tree, and its sound or soundless noise, is of no direct interest to me, neither is your data, at least not yet. At the moment, your data is like that tree, it is a vague and irrelevant issue to the typical audience member. They don’t see, hear, feel, or need the sound or the tree, so to them, it is useless. The only way your complicated bar charts, pie graphs, numbers or percentages (your tree, if you will) will make me care is if they are relevant to me. The first step to relevance is making your data understandable.

What is data visualization?

Data Visualization is the idea of visualizing data away from your computer and in so doing, making sense of your complex issues. Once your audience can make sense of your data, they can begin to see any personal relevance or interest in it. This is where data visualization comes in again.

Data visualization has the power to harness the relationships of meaning, cause and dependency. These three elements are what people use to judge personal relevance and interest on. If your audience understands the true meaning of what your showing, then sees what it can cause, or has caused to them personally, and finally understands that the next move is dependent on them, then you will have effectively made your data useful.

How to visualize your data

Extract the data from your current line graph, bar graph, pie chart, statistics or whatever medium you are displaying your data through. Then take a relevant photograph, or drawing, or design, and incorporate the data in it. For example:

“It’s one thing to see bar charts for average daily water consumption per capita in the United States, Mexico, the United Kingdom, China and Haiti…”

“… it’s another to see those bar charts shown as cups of water filled to different levels.”

The key point to understand with this is that the design is meant to support and complement the data. For example:

data on football fan attendance visualized by having fans hold up helmets to make a bar chart;
data on declining education budgets visualized as a bar chart traced in the dusty rear window of a preschool;
data on increasing dental costs can be visualized in a toothpaste line graph on a dollar bill

Additionally it is essential to focus on the central aspect of the visual. Whether it may be photography, hand drawn art, or a mix of the two, be sure it is good quality. Check the lighting, the picture quality, contrast, etc. Keep the photo free of extraneous elements; they will only confuse the audience. Take you base piece and add some descriptive text and a title in an image-editing program. Pretend it is your original chart or graph.

Science behind visualizations

These visualizations are effective interesting because as humans, we are not yet hardwired to understand and compute the things we see on screens and on paper. We are built to understand the real world, and we are very good at evaluating the things in it, and this lends an immediate grasp of the subject that rectangles on a screen sometimes can’t imitate.

Work Cited:

http://blog.visual.ly/real-life-dataviz/

Pitch Yourself: The Importance of an Interview Presentation

Posted on July 25, 2013November 22, 2019 by Rick E

As we’ve stated before, first impressions are hugely important, especially in the business world. When given the opportunity to give a presentation interview to recruiters or potential employers, always keep in mind that it’s a way to show your capability, personality, and professionalism.

The potential to impress when given the opportunity for an interview presentation cannot be understated. And while you could craft your own presentation and perhaps do an adequate job, this is your chance to knock them off their feet with a professional presentation that will show your interviewers that you’re the real deal.

Many think that SlideGenius and other professional presentation designers are just for corporate clients or entrepreneurs giving investor presentations, but there are an endless amount of scenarios where a presentation specialist can make all the difference.

While we highly recommend recruiting the expertise of a PowerPoint expert to ensure that your competition is no match for the impression you’ll make, there are a few other tips for the interview presentation that you should keep in mind.

Consider Your Audience

This is a good rule of thumb for any presentation, but it’s especially important when making an impression on future employers. Do as much research on who you’re going to be in the room with you before you enter.

-What is their professional background?

-What are their job duties at the company you’re interviewing with? What will be your professional relationship with them?

-What questions can you anticipate being asked by them based on their expertise?

For God’s Sake, Groom Yourself!

There are so many well-qualified candidates that lose job opportunities because of careless grooming, despite how easy this aspect of the interview is. Unless you’re a sixteen-year-old kid applying for the Burger King down the street, poor grooming and appearance in an interview is inexcusable.

Renowned thief of the Declaration of Independence and actor Nicholas Cage — Despite his prowess as an actor, Nicholas Cage is one of the many examples of unscrupulous grooming and unprofessional attire.

If you’re unsure about your ability to present a pristine front, outfit yourself in your interview attire and ask a friend to critique you as brutally honest as they can.

Prove your Leadership and Communication Skills

Recruiters request a presentation interview to test your potential to represent a company in a confident, assured way, and to present yourself in the process. In doing this, you’re expected to do more than merely expound upon your experience and qualifications, you’re expected to do it in in a way that inspires confidence in who you’re interviewing with, and to show that you can be a positive face for the company.

Crafting Your Company Narrative: The Power of The Core Four

Posted on July 22, 2013April 21, 2024 by Rick E

The business world moves lightning fast in our internet-driven environment, which often makes it a struggle to keep anyone’s attention for too long. When pitching your company’s story, you may only have minutes to entice potential clients.

The challenge here is to draw them in with an original, effective idea and a compelling story that will stand out, but at the same time, the presentation needs to be concise enough to keep the interest of potential clients.

SlideGenius uses what we’ve dubbed the “Core Four” method, where you can tell potential clients all they need to know about a company in just four easy-to-understand slides.

As you can see, we’ve divided the four slides up very deliberately, and the Core Four slides: Who We Are, The Problem, the Solution, and The Result, can be customized and tailored to any company. Here’s how to create your Core Four to display your guaranteed success.

Who We Are

Use this to explain your company in the simplest terms possible. Simplicity is the key here. The late Apple mastermind Steve Jobs was a favorite of the Twitter-headline method, which was apparent in the presentation of each of his products. The basic idea behind this is that if you can’t compress your business or product idea into a tweet (140 characters) then it’s too complex to be presented effectively. This is apparent in some of his product descriptions, such as introducing the MacBook Air in 2008 simply as “The world’s thinnest notebook.” Or the iCloud last year as, “The iCloud stores your content and wirelessly pushes it to all your devices.”

Jobs sought to make each product or idea as simplistic and easily digestible as possible, which is an excellent strategy when presenting your business.

The Problem

This slide is vital for identifying why your business is necessary. Identify the need for your service or product and the troubles one encounters without it. If this slide isn’t strong and convincing, your business may be perceived as an unneeded luxury.

The Solution

Now that you’ve identified the problem, in SlideGenius’s case, this is that most businesses and corporations do not have the time, personnel, and expertise to create dynamic, impactful presentations, it’s time to define how your company will solve this.

This seems like a no brainer: “Duh, they’ll make great PowerPoints.” But it’s much more than this. You must explain how you will go about doing this. This may involve outlining your process, detailing your expertise, or even showcasing your professional staff. Get creative. You’ve shown there’s a problem, now you need to prove that you’re the solution.

The Result

Talk about past successes with clients. Show them tangible results–something that gives them confidence. SlideGenius simply showed the vast list of corporate clients who have successfully outsourced for a professional presentation. The impressive list of recognizable company logos should assure potential clients of SlideGenius’s reliability.

3 Tips for an Effective Investor Presentation

Posted on July 18, 2013November 22, 2019 by Rick E

There’s nothing to it, just walk in the room full of potential investors—don’t worry about your appearance, you’re probably fine just wearing a t-shirt—and say, “My idea is great. Trust me, just fork over the dough.” That’s always worked for us.

Okay, maybe there’s a little more to it than that.

Obviously a huge amount of time and effort is required for the formation of your business model, building resources, and the plethora of other milestones before one gets in a room full of angel investors. We won’t spend time on that vital aspect of the process, instead, we’ve got a few often overlooked tips for when you’re in the room with the investors.

Know Your Audience

Walking into an angel investor presentation blind will not only diminish from your presentation, it’s a huge risk. Know the people you’ll be presenting to: their educational background, what fields they’ve worked in, what businesses they’ve been a part of. Identify the ones that you feel your pitch will resonate closely with and cater your presentation to them.

The Q&A session that will follow your presentation will play a key part in gaining the trust of potential investors. Anticipating what questions you may be asked will go a long way in putting their collective mind at ease. Predicting what questions you’ll be asked ties back to knowing your audience. Rehearse your responses to potential questions just as you would your actual presentation.

Be confident, Assertive, and Passionate

These are important qualities when giving any presentation, but especially in an investor presentation, where the sell is often difficult. Presenting an assured front is imperative to show that you truly believe your pitch.

But you need to go further than just showing the likely success of your business model, you need to be passionate about your idea, about your product. Don’t forget that your investors are investing in the financial viability of your idea, not the idea itself; still, don’t underestimate the selling power of visibly caring about what you’re doing. It can go a long way in building confidence in potential investors.

Be particularly assertive with those you’ve researched and identified as likely to resonate with your idea. They deserve extra attention because of the higher probability of investing.

Prove that your idea is unique

It’s vital to identify a specific problem and your proposed solution to it (i.e. your business idea.) And remember to show, not tell. Rather than saying, “this is a unique idea and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity;” it’s much more impactful to present concrete examples and evidence showing why that’s true.

Explain why your business model will succeed where others have failed, what makes your management team distinguished and capable, and tell a compelling story. Focus on the who, what, and why.

Investor presentations may seem daunting, but if you’ve put in the adequate time and effort (and followed these tips on crafting a professional presentation) then showing the merits of your pitch should be a walk in the park.

The Art of Non-Verbal Comedy: Decoding Stand-Up Comedians’ Body Language

Posted on July 17, 2013April 21, 2024 by Rick E

Despite often appearing to be the least serious people on the planet, stand-up comedians have a lot to teach us about the visual aspect of presenting. Stand-up comedy blends performance art and public speaking, and these comedians must work tirelessly to perfect their presentation skills in order to not make a fool of themselves on stage.

These comedians incorporate drastic body language, visual aids and creative nonverbal communication to get their “message” across. Here are a few impressive examples that can teach anyone giving a professional presentation a lot about how to wow an audience.

Here is an excellent display of nonverbal communication by one of the most vibrant comedians around at the very start of his career. His entire joke, which lasts more than three minutes, consists of just a couple sentences wrapped up by a three-word punchline. If you take a look at our previous post discussing how to use body language to improve your presenting skills, you’ll see that the majority of how we communicate is nonverbal. Though it may seem ludicrous, Jim Carrey uses his body language as a powerful communication tool, and relies almost exclusively on it during his performance.

Creating a unique persona for yourself is a highly effective way to make a lasting impression on people you encounter. While in the business world, especially when giving a professional presentation, a positive, confident persona will most likely be the best strategy, comedian Zach Galifianakis has mastered the art of creating a whole persona–an easily recognizable character–in so subtle a way that he can seemingly stand there, say practically nothing, and have people rolling on the ground laughing.

Syncing your talking points with your presentation tool (your PowerPoint presentation) is vital in order to get your message across clearly and concisely. Dimitri Martin is a master of visual comedy, and here he is showing something very similar to a slide-by-slide presentation. Pay careful attention to Martin’s timing and momentum, especially the way he builds anticipation for the point he’s about to make.

When giving a professional presentation, we always recommend having a professionally designed PowerPoint in your arsenal. Simply showing up to the presentation with a PowerPoint presentation (no matter how good it is) will be quite enough. Knowing how to blend your talking points, body movements and your visual accompaniment is the key to a seamless presentation.

When crafting your presentation to compliment your PowerPoint–or the other way around–it’s important to practice and coordinate carefully. Think about timing, simplicity, and highlighting your key points so that they’ll make an impact on your audience.

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