7 Tips to Create the Perfect Pitch and Presentation

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Guest

The following is a guest post by Blathnaid Magill

Perfecting your presentation is key to the success of any marketing campaign. Closing a deal is the most important part of any campaign and how you present your company and your pitch is not something that comes naturally to everyone. Even people who are good at giving presentations can learn new Presentation skills or improve their knowledge. Important decisions are made on the basis of presentations. Companies frequently make challenging presentations with high stakes and perfecting presentations skills can be improved at any level. Presentations are one of the most important parts of a marketing campaign. This is where a company get to convert leads into profit. So how do you improve presentations to in turn increase you company’s profits?
What are the key elements to a good presentation?

1. Fail to prepare? Prepare to fail!

Everybody knows the basic points to make a presentation successful but these points are too often overlooked. Covering the basics well is vital to performing a worthy presentation. The content of the presentation should be visual, not too information heavy and to the point.

2. “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler”

Also, keeping your presentation concise, to maybe three points per slide, helps to keep the attention of prospective customers.

3. Know your audience

People respond well to colour, introducing color will increase your audience’s likelihood to read your presentation slides by 80%, it also helps your audience to retain information by 75%. The content of your presentation should be personalised towards your audience.

4. Content is Key

Focusing your content on the benefits of what you are presenting, rather than factually presenting what your presentation is about, also helps to engage your audience and help them realise the potential of your pitch for their personal advantage thus helping to close a deal.

5. Clarity

It’s important to reiterate your message throughout the presentation and to intertwine your key points.  It also helps to pre-empt all the potential questions your audience might have and answer them within your presentation. This helps your potential customer realise the benefits of your pitch and will make their decision process a lot easier.

6. Lasting impressions

Your presentation style is paramount to an effective pitch. Building a rapport with your audience is crucial to closing a pitch. You need to make a connection with your audience. Body language and your appearance have an impact. Maintaining eye contact with your audience also helps to keep your audience engaged. It’s not about what the numbers in your presentation mean but what it means to your audience and how you communicate this. It is vital that you make a good impression by opening well and leave a lasting impression with a strong resonant closing.

7. Bear in mind

Presentation skills do not extend solely to pitches. Every single business meeting or interaction with a potential client is presentation. How you interact and communicate at every presentation can potentially increase sales.

The above information is not exactly rocket science but mastering these skills well is of benefit to the success of your company. Chance favours the prepared mind and in order to succeed you need to be prepared.