Out with the Old, In with the New

The start of a new year brings about excitement for fresh ideas and new opportunities. Salespeople are eager for promising new prospects, innovative marketing plans are embarked upon, and optimism for success is high among managers. But when it comes to presenting, all too often presenters simply recycle their existing presentations for yet another year.

The reason why so much enthusiasm is concentrated during this time of year is because we feel a sense of renewal, to do things differently, and ideally, do them better. Your presentation plays an important role in achieving your business goals – whether it’s winning sales pitches, obtaining investor funding, or gaining buy-in from management. Don’t just dust off the old corporate presentation and change the date on the cover to make it your “new” presentation. Instead, evaluate your presentation — from content to design to delivery – in order to optimize its effectiveness and enhance its relevancy.

Content: Like you and your company, your prospects and clients are also kicking off the New Year adjusting to change and testing new approaches. These changes may be a result of a shift in their internal processes or they may be due to external factors that have created a different competitive landscape and new problems to overcome. Your content should address their most current needs and obstacles, reinforcing that your product or service is the solution that they need, and you and your company are the experts and the right choice.

Design: Does your presentation look like everyone else’s – stock template, boring slides, loaded with text? This year make your presentation help you stand out from the crowd and impress your audience. As with all of your company’s collateral, your presentation should be properly branded and adhere to its established look. Your presentation should look professional and enhance your image as a presenter and subject matter expert. Also, use visuals to your advantage. Consider replacing some text with graphics. Can something be understood more easily with an image or a diagram?

Delivery: When presenting last year, did you find that you often had to follow up with your audience to clarify your value proposition or explain your product again? Video record yourself giving the presentation so that you can study how you present. Play it back to yourself and study how you come across and where the message becomes confusing. Re-work your delivery so that your story flows better and conveys your key points in a clear and concise way. Most likely, you will need to adjust the content of your slides as well. Perhaps confusion isn’t the problem, but instead your presentation is boring. If you can’t keep your audience engaged, then they won’t absorb your information or remember it afterwards. Incorporate humor, enticing visuals or videos, and ways to interact with the audience – like asking questions and using relevant props – that will make them pay attention.

When it comes to presentations, most businesses seem to go into auto-pilot, mechanically relying on the same old company deck to present to new prospects and clients. But that old presentation may not be the right solution for your new presentation. So out with the old, and bring in the new!