Sales Presentations Training

I thought it would be beneficial to share with you the presentation I did for the Colorado Chapter of the National Speakers Association. The good and the bad! As you know, I only use Powerpoint sparingly and believe that it should only be used to enhance and clarify your presentations. Well, Saturday turned out to be the day I sparingly used it. There were approximately 100 people in attendance and the rows went straight back-The folks in the first 10-15 rows had a good view of the slides. The next 15 rows did not fare as well. First lesson, (Read on …)

Have you ever shown a PowerPoint slide and have your audience gasp-in an awe struck, marvelous way? You know you’ve won the presentation battle at that point. I recently witnessed this very event at The Colorado Capital Conference that I’ve mentioned before. The firm was TheraTogs, Inc and they were presenting to venture capitalists, seeking additional funds for expansion.

They produce medical gear that helps those with neuromotor issues. They showed a slide of child walking without their product followed by a slide with the child wearing their TheraTog product-the audience and venture capitalists gasped at the marked improvement! That one slide could be the one that brings them in millions of dollars of additional funding.

Do you have that million dollar slide in your sales presentation? This could be an excellent area for you and your team to brainstorm on before your next public speaking engagement. Good luck!

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Steve Mertz
Leave Your Audince in Awe!

Guy Kawasaki was one of my first mentors when I decided to be an entrepreneur. I’ve never met him but have read all his books and followed his career from Apple Computer (AAPL) to Venture Capitalist. To the best of my knowledge he is the original author of the 10/20/30 Rule of Powerpoint.

I think this is excellent advice for giving a sales presentation with PowePoint and would encourage you to read his thoughts. The points are simple and include the following:

1. A PowePoint presentation should have ten slides.
2. The presentation should last no longer than twenty minutes.
3. The presentation should contain font no smaller than thirty point.

Speaking from personal experience, which I outlined here, I would say Guy’s recommendations are great food for thought! Obviously, there is no one way to give a presentation but these are excellent guidelines that I encourage my clients to incorporate into their sales presentations.

He feels that ten is the optimum number of slides you should use because the normal individual cannot comprehend more than 10 concepts in one meeting. Personally, I feel that is a lot of material and would encourage 3 major points and maybe 3 subpoints. Again, let me stress there is no one right way, but 10 points are a lot for your audience to take away. I hope all my friends in the financial services industry are reading this! They are clearly the biggest violators of these suggestions

He concludes by listing the 10 topics that venture capitalists care about:
1. Problem
2. Your Solution
3. Business Model
4. Underlying magic/technology
5. Marketing and sales
6. Competition
7. Team
8. Projections and milestones
9. Status and timeline
10. Summary and call to action

Good thoughts and good suggestions for your next sales presentation!

Steve Mertz
Don’t Kill Em With PowePoint!

Tags: Guy Kawasaki, PowerPoint, Venture Capitalists, Sales Presentations.

Seth Godin, the marketing guru and agent of change, had a recent comment about “the best presentation.” Like me, Seth has been Powerpointed to death at countless presentations. His main thought and conclusion was this: The best presentation might be no presentation. “If you’re going to bother to do something, you ought to do it very well indeed. Otherwise, don’t. Don’t show up. Don’t waste your time (or mine.)”
Well, that obviously it not an option for those of you giving a sales presentation this upcoming Monday morning for a $50 million dollar contract! For those of you who are going to subject your audience to Powerpoint purgatory in your sales presentation-here are some points you may wish to consider:
1. Don’t ever read from your slide-I’ve figured out how to read all by myself. The slide should be an emphasis of a key point. Summarize the point concisely.
2. Throw out 50% of the slides you were going to show in your sales presentation-most of them are fillers or a crutch.
3. Explain your main points in English and always try to humanize your presentation. Rather than tell me I should or the importance of…Tell me a compelling story that makes the point much more eloquently than Powerpoint.
4. Words are so powerful-if I say the word Hawaii, I’ll bet you see the ocean,palm trees, beautiful flowers and plants, right? Your mind did not spell out the word H-a-w-a-i-i. Be sure you use powerful, emotional words in your sales presentation.
5. Write out your entire presentation so you can see if you are using compelling words and hitting key points,and who knows, maybe adding just the right touch of humor!
6. Practice and then practice some more-there is no substitute.
Here is a link to Seth’s article and best wishes on your sales presentation!
Steve Mertz
Leave Your Powepoint At Home