How We Will Create A Killer Business Presentation For Your Company
Table of Contents
Looking for a solution to create business presentations that don’t only look good, but convert your prospective clients into actual paying customers? All it takes is a carefully crafted message that resonates with your audience and establishes an emotional connection.
Once you’re able to connect with your audience on an emotional level, you’ll find that you will be having more success when it comes to pitching to investors, presenting sales presentations or raising capital for your business.
At Presentation Geeks, we’ve crafted countless business PowerPoint presentations for enterprise, international conglomerates and local small businesses. With years of experience and collecting ongoing presentation feedback, we’ve synthesized years of trial and error into our winning formula to create killer business presentations. We’re sharing our secret formula to create business presentations that don’t only look good, but convert prospective clients into paying customers, help employees get promotions and increase internal communication efficiency.
We know what works and what doesn’t work. In the world of business, you’re often only given one chance to make your statement. With no margin for error, you need to be confident you’ll have a powerful business presentation to present.
Let’s begin!
What Is A Business Presentation?
A business presentation is a communication tool designed for either internal or external audiences which covers key information on your company’s plans, business model, products or practices. A business presentation may also be used to persuade or influence people to act a certain way such as investing in your business or buying a product or service.
A business presentation for an external audience would typically include less sensitive information on the company. Some might consider this the “big picture” of a company. They are main ideas of a business that won’t give competitors an upper hand. They are used primarily to educate, win business or generate awareness around the company. An external audience can be any person of the general public who isn’t a current shareholder or an employee of the company.
On the other hand, a business presentation intended for an internal audience may include more sensitive information since it is being shared with trusted individuals. This may include future project proposals, complex topics and other future dealings the company has in store. However, not all information is necessarily sensitive. A town hall meeting for a company, which is intended for its employees, may not have any overly sensitive information.
There are some gray areas though. Potential investors are still considered the general public as they don’t have a stake in the business yet. But, they will need some sensitive information in order to help with their decision making on whether or not they plan on investing in the company. In this instance, it is ok to provide potential investors with certain sensitive information because without doing so, they won’t move forward with the investment.
How We Create A Successful Business Presentation - 5 Main Points
Now that we know what a business presentation is, let’s go over how to create a successful one.
There is a simple formula we follow to create corporate presentations. Similar to the strategic planning of a business plan, our business presentations all encompass five main points which are non-negotiable. If we are building a business presentation, we are doing this same exercise.
Working through the exercise and tackling these five main points will help make your next presentation more refined and polished. Other presenters typically start rushing into Google Slides to start the design portion of a business presentation without giving much thought to the content they are going to input. This is how unsuccessful business presentations are made which is what we want to avoid.
Instead, follow the same five points we do and we are confident your presentation will be one the audience remembers.
Know Your Audience Members
At the very beginning of your business presentation journey, you will want to do extensive research on your audience members and have an understanding of what they are looking for. A carefully crafted message targeted towards your audience is the first step you need to take when creating a business presentation.
Consider this, if you talk about a certain topic such as pain points or experiences that do not resonate with your audience, they will disconnect and not continue listening to you since they can’t relate or it’s not something they want or need to know. To attract the audience’s attention, you will need to make sure the messaging is aligned with what they’re looking to get out from you. Whether your content is informational or persuasive, it needs to connect.
Remember, a presentation is a communication tool. To effectively use this tool, we need to have a better understanding of the communication process. Communication begins with the sender or encoder – you. You encode the message and transmit it through verbal or non-verbal channels such as talking, body language or even your presentation attire. A great presentation uses both verbal and non-verbal tactics. When the message is received by the receiver – your audience, they begin to decode the message and start to formulate their own meaning of the information. They will process what you are saying and subconsciously begin to make connections. Does this make sense? Can I relate to this? Is this what I’m looking for? These questions are all being asked at the back of their minds which will ultimately lead to the conclusion if they will connect with your presentation or not.
External variables and noise impact the message such as their personal beliefs, literal distractions in the room or cultural upbringing. It is up to you as the presenter to do research on your audience to mitigate the amount of noise corrupting the message. Communication is a skill which is mastered by understanding your audience and how they will interpret your message. You master communication by understanding your audience and reducing the possibility of miscommunication.
Avoid Business Presentation Templates
If you want to lose your audience’s attention almost immediately, you can do so by using business presentation templates. Most people have seen or used the templates on PowerPoint. By using a template, especially one that is easily recognizable, you not only lose the audience’s interest in your presentation but you have also lost credibility.
In the world of business, success comes from establishing strong personal relationships. A sure way to make your prospective client feel like they are just another number is by treating them like one. A templated approach may help you save time, but your prospective client knows this as well. If you are trying to save time with your prospective clients when you don’t even have their business, how can they be confident they will get the time needed from you once they are your client? They will see through your presentation design and feel the inauthenticity.
To give your prospective client a feeling of respect, it is best to have prepared a customized business presentation. The more detail you can provide that is unique to them, the more authentic the presentation will feel. For example, if your business presentation is targeted towards a specific company, include their logo. If the presentation is targeted towards a specific individual, include their name, position and even a photo if you have one. Anything that makes the presentation more personal will help you succeed.
This doesn’t just apply to prospective clients either. If you have an internal business presentation, you should still consider customizing your business presentation a bit. For example, pie charts and bar graphs that present unique data to your audience’s needs rather than high-level benefits will give you a greater chance at connecting with them. For example, if you’re presenting on regional successes to a sales team, incorporating the high-level sales figures or focusing on regions they don’t even work in will make the presentation feel like a rinse and repeat format. This will make your team feel undervalued and reduce morale.
Craft A Meaningful Story
Now that you know how to properly communicate with your audience, it is time to embellish the information a bit. Remember though, we need to embellish the information to help drive the point home. We do not want to make up lies.
If you know the main ideas you want your audience to leave with, focus on crafting a storyline to help deliver this message. This is where you will use the information you learned from the first point and apply it here. Humans are naturally social creatures and storytelling is embedded in us. Presentation psychology has proven to us that information presented in the form of story is much more memorable.
Ever wonder how Ted Talks are so engaging? Most successful Ted speakers share their main idea through storytelling. Storytelling helps captivate the audience and brings them to wherever you want them to be; almost like time traveling! Effective storytelling should be like a movie playing in front of their eyes even when they are only watching you.
Combining the first tactic of understanding your audience and how they receive messages while combining it with a meaningful story will likely be the hardest portion of creating a business presentation. It takes a great amount of skill, knowledge and adaptability to effectively tell a story to multiple audiences.
Have A Compelling Closing
One of the main goals your business presentation should achieve is to win new business or attract potential investors. Winning new business requires the art of selling. The art of selling is how well you can get someone to act. The best time to get someone to act is at the very end of your presentation which will most likely be the last thing they remember out of your entire time talking.
The skill to master here is knowing how to close a presentation. Once you have the audience hooked on what you’re saying through your storytelling skills, you need to effectively close the presentation to have them act. Focus on one key action you want them to take. Avoid overloading the audience with multiple things to consider. If you want them to buy something, be clear and ask them to buy! Drive the main point home and avoid fluffing your ending with unnecessary talking.
Practice
A slide deck with amazing visual aids is only part of the equation. You have to remember that a presentation is a tool to enhance your overall pitch. Presentation skills is what takes a good presentation into the ranks of other great presentations. Mastering these presentation skills is no easy task.
Presentation skills such as public speaking and body language are only mastered with time and practice. You can’t expect to master the art of presenting when you have never presented before.
Throughout your career, you’ll present in different scenarios. Virtually, in front of a live audience, one-on-one or to an entire company. Each scenario comes with its own nuances.
Practicing your business presentation will help you minimize those moments of awkward silence. Practicing will also help you make sense of the content you are about to present. Especially when it comes to business presentations, a good method to practicing is having a colleague watch your presentation to provide feedback. It is important that you have a colleague watch you practice as they can speak to the content you’re presenting on to make sure it makes sense.
Here are some key things your colleague should be looking out for when going through a test drive of your presentation:
You are maintaining eye contact & incorporate hand gestures
You are standing tall and not slouching on one leg
You speak loudly
You speak confidently
Your presentation slide deck is perfect
Proper visual aids
Proper font size
Proper length & timing
The presentation has consistency
Final Thoughts On Creating Successful Business Presentations
Creating a successful business presentation is easier than you think. By doing some preliminary homework and understanding your audience before you begin crafting a slide deck, you’ll be able to craft a more meaningful story which will resonate with your audience. Package the story up nicely in customized presentation slides and you will be ahead of most presentations.
If you follow the five main bullet points mentioned in today’s article, your next business presentation will be the one to stand out. Consider outsourcing your slide deck design and hire a presentation consultant for your future business presentations.
