I would like to share 6 tips for a business presentation.
1. No agenda, No meeting
I think that the agenda should be set before we will arrange a meeting. So we should think about the agenda first. If there is no specific agenda, we don’t need to set up a meeting!
The agenda is the items we or the customer would like to talk about. So it’s really useful to make sure what we will talk about and avoid misunderstanding and control expectation.
Please check Presentation Preparation Step1: Collect information for other information we need to check.
2. Make a plan first
Don’t use a presentation tool without a clear plan.
My golden rule is 80% time for making a plan and 20% for design slides.
If you have a clear plan, you can finish slides for a short time because you know what you need to make. I strongly recommend using a pen and note to write slide images roughly. Analog tools like a pen and a note can make iteration much faster!
Please check Presentation Preparation Step2: Make a plan since this is the most important step.
3. Set the priority
We should decide the priority based on customer interest and needs. We should decide the slide order based on the priority. Stick with high-priority items because we lose the opportunity if we run out of time or a key person may leave in the middle of meetings.
4. Keep it simple
If there are so many texts on a slide, the attendee may read the text message without listing to my talk. Because attendee want to know what’s next and it’s much faster to read the text than listening to my talk. Then I lose the attendee’s attention.
My golden rule is 1 message per slide which keeps the attendees’ minds organized and focused.
Please check Presentation Preparation Step3: Design slides for slides example.
5. Be specific
I usually make a slide to draw a scenario about an issue or challenge that a customer may face in the future based on our assumption. Then we ask
“Do you agree on this scenario or have another scenario?”
I think we can get clear feedback than the following open question.
“Do you have any issue with your future product?”
I think the unclear questions may lead to unclear answers. The point is to try to be specific. If possible I try to put some value in the scenario. I prefer to have a quantitative discussion with some value rather than a qualitative discussion.
6. Do an interactive presentation
I think the business presentation should be interactive. Because we have something to provide, get, and discuss as explained in Step2: Make a plan. If we are not interactive, we may be able to provide our information but we can’t get customer information and can’t discuss anything. The business meeting is different from an academic conference and panel discussion which are mainly focused on providing information one-way.
Thank you for reading this post.
Please check how to prepare a business presentation to know the detail of each step.
I would like to know your tips. Please leave a message.
