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The Solution Format
In Step 2 in The Presentations Kit: 10 Steps for Selling Your Ideas by Claudyne Wilder, there are ten formats for organizing your presentation. We've adapted one of these formats, which we call the "solution format." In the example slides shown below, we're selling upper management on the idea of investing in effective presentation equipment.
Imagine how to use builds to display the information. Don't build every slide. Consider which slides not to build. For example, you could show all the requirements at the same time and this would change the pace of the presentation.
The Presentation Flow
You need to integrate your electronic presentation into the total presentation you are giving. The electronic presentation is part of your "presentation," not all of it. You can't just turn on the laptop, give the speech, answer a few questions, thank the audience, and leave. As you organize the talk, think about what you will do, especially at the opening and closing of your talk. Here's where you can't count on the slides. You will be talking—just you. Also, in the middle of your talk you should stop showing slides and encourage questions and interaction with your audience.
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This is an example of how to give a sales presentation to a small group of twenty people.
1. Start without a slide on the screen (a blank screen showing) while asking your audience some questions to hear their concerns and interests. (You might even have some questions on the screen.)
2. Before starting your electronic presentation, let your audience know when they can ask questions. (If it is a ten-minute speech, you would probably go straight through.)
3. If your presentation will last thirty minutes, stop partway through to ask some questions that assess your audience's reaction to the information and whether they understand the information. Also answer questions at this point and stop to answer or ask questions after each major agenda point. If the lights are low, turn them up so people can see you. (The lights also help wake people up if they've become sleepy.)
4. End the electronic presentation with the lights on high, if they were low. End without a visual so you are center stage. Save enough time to encourage your audience to discuss their reactions and to plan the next steps you or they will be taking.
Whatever the presentation, the same dynamics apply. Don't just turn on your media and start. Establish rapport with your audience first. End with enough time left to establish rapport with your audience again. Let them see you, hear you, and feel your energy and sincerity.
Hint: If you are afraid you will forget your opening and closing lines, put them on a sheet of paper in a large font size. The key is to have the points very large so you only have to glance down briefly.
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