"Geoff reached for the mouse , he felt things could have gone better, the slide gradually built up as the MD fidgeted irritably and looked at his watch for the third time in as many minutes. No, if he was honest Geoff knew that the presentation could have gone a lot better, it wasn’t his fault the material was er.., how shall we put it, dull!

He’d done his best to liven it up but even his witty one-liners hadn’t managed to convince the audience that they hadn’t seen it all before. Disconcertingly he’d noticed how they were counting off how many more slides there were before they could get on with the rest of their lives. Next time he really wasn’t going to give them the presentation in advance, despite their protestations! No, they’d just have to guess on how many slides he was going to show them!"

We work hard to get the opportunity to present our ideas, be that for an internal or external audience, to leave without having created a lasting impression is frustrating, disappointing and a wasted opportunity for presenter and listener alike.

Having spent 20 years in the IT industry it’s something of an occupational hazard to have to sit through presentations on a regular basis be that as a member of the audience or as a speaker trying to spice up a pitch. Presenting is an art and over the years I’ve had the pleasure of watching some tremendous exponents who have captured the imagination and more importantly the attention of an audience. Unfortunately not all of us are gifted with such talent and so we need to look for help from various sources and props that we can use to give us a little edge.

It’s time to recognise the shortcomings of simply sticking some bullet points on a slide. Let’s see if we can entertain as well as inform, let’s have a go at creating a consistent marketing message you know the one where all our people say the same thing about what it is that we do! How about we make sure that our online and offline marketing and our presentation material convey a consistent message! And why are we doing this? So that our Company stands out from the crowd and differentiates its’ message.

How are we going to bring about this revolution? Should we burn our PowerPoint manuals (or delete the online help!!) sack all our presenters, insist that our audience have a couple of quick drinks before we turn up? All excellent ideas incidentally, but I fear we are probably going to have to go for a more mundane and in the case of our avid presenters, a more humane approach.

How about this?

Step 1

To begin with we are going to accept that we ALL operate in a competitive market irrespective of what it is that we do. Whether we are communicating externally or internally we have to assume that we are competing ALL the time for people’s attention.

Step 2

We will acknowledge that effective communication is about entertaining and informing simultaneously. The best story in the world, if badly told, will not keep people awake! Believe it, people are human beings and they want to be entertained, they want to have their imagination excited and they want to feel their time was enjoyably spent listening to someone imparting information.

Step 3

We’re going to embrace the use of multi media to get us noticed. We’re going to use motion through video & animation. We’re going to use sound other than that of our own voice, that’s right music.

Step 4

We’re going to deliver the same message on PowerPoint, CD’s and the Web depending on who our audience are by re-using the components that we have created.

Ah, I hear you say this "new" approach isn’t new and it’s expensive. Firstly, very few companies recognise Steps 1 to 3 exist let alone employ them or they’re much "too busy" to put any real effort into a presentation. Secondly it’s not expensive, particularly if you use highly talented offshore resources as is now possible.

Where’s the return on investment? Here are some thoughts, when pitching for business, don’t you think investing some time and money to improve your chance of winning through creating differentiation in style and approach worthwhile? Why turn up if you’re simply going through the motions? How about rather than leaving the ubiquitous copy of the slides, which are promptly "filed", and lack the conviction of your personal delivery, you left a CD with it all on as an exciting reminder of what went before? Wouldn’t it be nice, some might suggest more cost effective, to use the same material for the Web, CD brochures and corporate presentations? The result; people all of a sudden remember who you are, they tend not to doze off and, as a result, a lot of what you’re trying to convey sinks in thereby maximising the return on the time they spent listening and the time you spent delivering the messages!

There is a problem though; it’s not easy to put these types of high impact presentations together. All of a sudden we can’t just stick a couple of bullet points on a slide and walk in and present our latest and greatest idea. We have to think about it, in many cases in a more lateral way than we have done historically. Putting more thought in up front is, if you think about it, a further benefit as thinking about a problem normally spins of many more good ideas.

So, next time you are giving or receiving a presentation think about Steps 1-4. If you’ve got time to contemplate the steps you’ve probably already worked out what I’m driving at, what are you focusing on? Not the presentation, right?

To stand out in the crowd you have to differentiate and get through the ‘background noise’. You’ve got try that bit harder. Think about it, most people won’t make the effort, just think about the opportunities that the few create for themselves by standing out from everybody else.

Written by Mike Smart, Managing Director, GOWI Group