Tips for Preparing and Pulling Off Successful Presentations on the Fly!

Tips for Preparing and Pulling Off Successful Presentations on the Fly!

Your boss enters your office, telling you to board a plane to the next convention that begins in a few hours, or a couple days, and present a pitch to an audience about the company’s newest product or service. Can you do it? Of course you can! Keeping a few things in mind, of course! No matter how much notice you are given, you need to package yourself; your product, and your stage presence, in the best light possible, ensuring the highest possible buyers and interest in the product or service. Your boss, and your future, is relying on you! No pressure, of course. We all have felt it, but now is not the time to panic.

Profitable presentations include detailed preparation. Three basic elements include generating interest, maintaining interest, and moving the presentation to the sale, or the closing. Within these moves, you must rely on the totality of the presentation, which may include factors such as time, place, and whether there are other competitors for your audience.

First things first. Quickly review the new product or service’s features. Acquaint yourself thoroughly with the new product or service. How do new attributes improve upon older version, or stack up against competitors? What new value do they add to this audience? What demographics are represented within the audience? What will be the format? Will it be a question and answer, in with you moving around the room? Or, will you be behind a podium?

Dressing for success is truly what it says. Dressing inappropriately for your product or service sends a negative message to your audience. You are representing your company, and any faux pas in dress is sure to get back to your boss faster than anything else (besides misconduct at social gatherings) you may say during your presentation. Dress for your industry’s standards. Dress conservatively for business (financial, insurance, legal), and more casually for the arts (film, publishing, gallery) and crafts (baking, landscaping, woodworking) audience. Wear clean, wrinkle-free, clothes, and style your hair so that it does not draw your attention away from your message. Males should be clean-shaven or have tidy facial hair For women, wear conservative daytime make-up, soft nail polish or none at all, and minimal jewelry. The focus should be on the company’s product or service, not so much on you. You are the messenger, however, and you know the old adage, about killing the messenger….

Arrive approximately 20 minutes early to mingle with the audience to note some of their interests, where they arrived from, or what interests they have in your particular company’s product or services. If this is a convention of like-minded souls, you already have background knowledge of what the audience is expecting to hear, and what they already might know.

Organize handouts, and outline presentation notes on your way to the convention or meeting beforehand. You can refer to them if you are standing behind a podium, or put them on index cards which can refer to in your hand. If you are able to reach the venue contact prior to your arrival, you have some idea what the set-up will be like. Perhaps format a PowerPoint presentation on your laptop as you fly, or if there is time prior to the presentation. Double check if there is a copier available, or where the nearest copying center is located. Ask if copies can be made in advance and whether you can email them to a venue contact or assistant. They may have assistants to the arriving presenters, but don’t count on it. If you need copies handed out after the presentation, along with your business card, ensure there will be a place to put them, by the door.

Inquire whether they will have the electronic support you may need, and whether it will be set up when you arrive. Assume it will not be, and be pleasantly surprised if it is. Test it prior to the presentation. Thank the person(s) for setting it up. A follow-up note to the venue manager or coordinator is a nice touch and will make you memorable in the future should you do business there in the future.

In an area within the audience space, or where the audience members can take a look at your company’s materials you have put out for display, have them fill out a form with their name, company name, address, or have an attractive container for them to drop a business card in. Time-consuming feedback forms take audience focus away from you, to the card.

Before meeting audience members and shaking hands (before and after the presentation), pat, not rub your hand on the side of your outfit to insure a sweat-free palm. Do not squeeze too tightly upon shaking hands, this turns off some people, and hurts some women. Firmly squeeze, but do not hold the hand of any gender more than a moment. Look the person in the eyes as you introduce yourself and your company’s name. Ask their name is and where they arrived from. Make a mental note you can refer to during your presentation. People like to be remembered and it connects you to your audience. Tying your message, your product, and its use to an actual person in the audience is a win-win situation in the audience’s eyes. If this is not possible, ask a question you can answer yourself. Usually it is a dilemma question, one that your product or service will answer. Such as, “Have you ever found yourself without a ____________ when you needed a ___________? Raise your own hand encourages others to raise theirs. If no one does, explain how and why the product would meet this need. This will make the product or service memorable and sales may come after the demonstration through online sales or contact.

Introduce the product or service and outline its features, benefits, and suitability. Note positive changes made to the product, if any, or if the product has any features that its competitors do not. If it is a service, is it applicable to any expandable audience? In other words, can its use be focused on another area of need of the audience, or can the audience itself brainstorm needs your product or service can meet? This will generate, maintain, and create a win-win partnership between you, your company, and your audience. Your buyers will actually be selling your product for you!

Lastly, introduce the price. Offer a free, complimentary gift for first-time purchasers, if you are allowed to, or other benefits your company may offer by contacting you, your company’s website, or by visiting a store location. Make it easy for the audience to close a deal with you, or to extend the sale when they leave.

As you fly home, rest assured you have done your job. Follow-up with those that left their name in a couple weeks with a feedback form, a coupon, or a newsletter from your company. Keep their name on file for future events you may be presenting at, just to notify them. You never know when a contact may turn into a sale, a recommendation, a mentor, or a friend.