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August 2002

In this month's free e-news from Wilder Presentations, I'd like to discuss two ideas for presenters and one for designers. Use the monthly challenge at the end to test your skills.

FOR PRESENTERS:

STEP 8: MANAGE QUESTIONS

CONCLUDE AGAIN AFTER THE QUESTIONS

Over the next few months we will talk about how to manage questions. Next month I'll give you some ideas on how to deal with difficult questions and with people who start the questioning process before you finish your first slide. But right now, let me give you some advice you rarely hear.

You must conclude a second time after you have answered all the questions and the meeting is about to end. Don't let your presentation end on the last question asked or the last comment made. Why? Who knows what that question will be or who will make the last comment. Stay in control - your presentation should not fall victim to the last person to talk.

What do you do? Conclude again and set the tone for the end of the meeting. State once more what will happen as a result of your presentation. If positive, you resummarize the recommendations agreed upon by the audience and say once more how much you are looking forward to working with that client. Always conclude in a manner that sets a positive, upbeat atmosphere. You can talk without a visual or show a second conclusion slide. This is your last curtain call, so make it memorable.

FOR PRESENTERS:

DO YOU HAVE BOTH THE STEAK AND THE SIZZLE?

Selling Power magazine at www.sellingpower.com has an audiotape service listed at the bottom of their home page. Salespeople who subscribe receive one audiotape a month on a particular topic. Lisa Ferrari, the Executive Producer of this tape series, interviewed me for a tape that explores the difference between the steak and the sizzle in a presentation.

Here's a preview of the tape. You need the sizzle, which includes your enthusiastic voice, interesting slides, and change of pace during the talk. To get that sizzle, you need to practice out loud so you sound persuasive and confident with your materials. You need the steak, which is your successful product, excellent services, and money-back guarantee. The issue for many companies today is to convince the audience that you do have a "steak" behind your sizzle.

What is the steak? Show a demo, the real product, or pictures of your products and manufacturing facility. Present customer testimonials. Be sure you clearly differentiate yourself from the competition by conveying your company's message. Turn those boring 18-point-font text data presentations into a sales tool that shows both the steak and a little sizzle (a flash diagram, a short customer video clip, several interesting backgrounds).

Go back and look at your slides. Be certain that you have included some sizzle. More importantly, make sure that the steak is obvious to your audience.

PS: A funny aside. I haven't eaten meat in over 20 years, but I still think this is a good analogy. Imagine saying, "make sure you have the chicken as well as the sizzle." Or even worse, "the carrot as well as the bubbles." (Some people boil carrots.) It is so easy to smell the sizzle during the summer months when steaks are grilling away on the barbecue!

FOR DESIGNERS:

WHERE'S THE MESSAGE?

I have received three calls in the last three days from people saying things like:

"I don't think our company comes across as fantastic as it is with the slides we are using."

"I see all the numbers we show, but somehow they don't seem to be illustrating how we are way above the competition."

"We have a state-of-the-art product, and we need to depict that somehow in our product slides."

As you design your slides, think about the four key messages you want to get across to your audience. Here are some guidelines.

*Your key messages should be on a slide, all at once and in one place. For example, have a slide that lists your company's four key strengths; then organize the presentation around those strengths. Or let's say your technical people are presenting. Their first slide might list the four key strengths of the technical group and why they make your product superior to others on the marketplace.

*The key messages should be on more than one slide.

*The slides should be designed so that the messages can be easily discussed throughout the presentation.

*Some of the messages can be watermarked in the background of a slide.

A fancy presentation - or, for that matter, a text-heavy presentation - is only as good as the messages it relays to the audience. The presentation should be organized and graphically created around those messages. Use images to depict key messages. Design flash animations around the presentation's central message.

MONTHLY CHALLENGES:

PRESENTERS

Make sure you talk about the steak. Leave off the "fat" (extraneous, boring details that will only put the audience to sleep.)

DESIGNERS

Check if your slides portray the key messages of the presentation. If you design for someone else, ask that person: "What are the four key messages you want to get across in this presentation?" Then do your best to illustrate the messages on the slides.

COMMENTS FROM MY LAST 'CONNECT TO US" PRESENTATIONS TELE-SEMINAR

Please e-mail me for an outline of my three-week tele-seminar, "CONNECT TO US." The next dates are August 14, August 21, and September 11. The one-hour 20-minute seminar will be from 4 PM to 5:20 PM Eastern Standard Time. The cost is $250, which includes a one-hour coaching session with Claudyne, plus a review and critique of one of your presentations. You'll also receive the CD Slides That Win: Your Roadmap to Success ($99 product) and the book Point, Click & Wow: A Quick Guide to Brilliant Laptop Presentations ($20 product). The tele-seminar is limited to six people.

Here's what some of the participants have said:

"Busy presenters are tempted to let PowerPoint's myriad features take control of the presentations. They do this at their own peril! Ms. Wilder focuses on applying design principles that make slide shows look good while persuading audience members. After all, your slides aren't the show. They're just a reference. YOU are the show."  David Fink, National Sales Training Director

"This seminar gave me the 'incentive' I needed to create better presentations."  Carol Gibson, Executive Assistant.

"I am very grateful to you, Claudyne, for changing my entire thinking about presentations in such a short period of time. I've acquired skills I can hone and, hopefully, enhance, forever. " Linda, Senior Manager in Government.

QUESTION FROM CLAUDYNE

Do you have a PDA that you love? I'm thinking about getting one but want to know what some of you use.

LICENSE TO TEACH THE WINNING PRESENTATIONS SEMINAR

If any of you are looking for materials to teach a presentation seminar, see what I offer at: http://www.wilderpresentations.com/products/license.html

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Copyright 2002, Claudyne Wilder. All rights reserved.