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How to Present so that People will Welcome You like a Present

Whether you are in sales, management, operations, finance, administration, engineering or IT, you cannot run away from presentation.  A presentation is an opportunity for you to show people what you have so that they will buy you and buy what you sell.  And we are all selling all the time, the biggest sale would be to sell ideas.  

 A presentation is not a pitch, it is a give and take exchange.  This is an opportunity for you to 'switch heads' or exchange information with your audience, which can range from one person to a thousand.  The goal is for you to fully understand your audience situation so that you can tailor-make a product, service or idea to them.

Even if you are not good in presentation, you need to avoid doing the 3 things that make people resent what you present:
  1. Irrelevant information
  2. Information not customized to the audience
  3. Boring presentation.  That's why they call 'bored to death'!
On the other hand, there are 7 keys to present so that people will welcome you like a present:
  1. What's In It For Me: always talk in terms of the benefits, not the features or advantages, of what you sell.  
  2. Custom-tailor to the audience's needs and wants.  Your presentation should always deal with the problems that the prospect is experiencing, not the problems that you think they are having. Like in our courses, we always provide on-the-spot solutions to our trainees' problems, and sometimes even we ourselves are surprised at the spontaneous solution!
  3. KISS: Keep it Short and Simple.  If you have more than 10 items, round them to 3 or 5, or maximum 7. 
  4. Use charts, pictures and diagrams to illustrate.  A picture speaks a thousand words. 
  5. Use videos, for a video speaks a thousand pictures.  
  6. Engage the audience, which includes not just Q & A, but also telling of personal stories and experiences, and showing care and concern for their situation
  7. Have a Bonus: Everyone welcomes an unexpected gift, this can be presented at the end of in the middle, not but at the front as it will make them have unrealistic high expectations.  In our training, our bonus comes in the form of additional materials that they can always download, be it articles, mobile apps and free personal consulting.
In short, if you do the above 7 ways in your presentation, your audience will begin to like you and soon you will have not just loyal customers but raving fans!  Happy presenting!

By Andy Ng, whose presentation materials have been converted into 3 DVDs: Magnetic Selling, Abundant Blue Ocean Strategies and Successful People Management.  For list of courses, click here.
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