Looking to create that perfect eye-catching sales presentation to lock in some last-minute Q4 sales? The you had better rethink your strategy and take your presentation to the virtual scale. (Edited by Stacy Straczynski)
By Abhay Parekh
1. Show, rather than tell. Compelling graphics and images can often make the difference between an informative presentation and a truly memorable one. Whenever possible, use charts, graphs and other visual means to get your point across; it's easier for the audience to comprehend, and will also help you to minimize the amount of text on your slides. If you need an image to illustrate your concept, go beyond clip art and seek out unusual and interesting images that will help capture and hold your audience’s attention. Digitized video clips can also add variety and help keep your audience interested.
2. Ditch your static slide presentations. Over 400 million desktops currently have the PowerPoint application, so you can't rely on it to differentiate yourself anymore. If you want to stand out from the pack, consider implementing a new multimedia platform, such as Flowgram to create an interactive guided presentation that incorporates Web pages, slides, video clips and more. Whichever program you choose, make sure the final product is easy to distribute through e-mail, blog posts, intranets and popular social media networks like Facebook. They should also be viewable offline as downloadable videos.
3. Go virtual. Up until recently, virtual world platforms have been thought of as a niche phenomenon, but they actually have enormous potential for sales presentations and can be effectively integrated with multiple channels and communication media for corporate branding. If you want to offer a unique business presentation experience, try hosting a special event in Second Life, where many leading brands have launched their virtual initiatives.
• CIGNA, a leading health service company, created its own virtual healthcare community where seminars, interactive displays and virtual health consultants can interact with CIGNA members.
• Adidas, one of the world's most popular sportswear brands, created a virtual shoe, the a3 Microride, that Second Life users can purchase. The shoe, only available in Second Life, let users bounce around any virtual world instead of walking.
• Ben & Jerry's, known for their unique names of their ice cream concoctions, created a Ben & Jerry's Island with an emphasis on supporting climate change initiatives. The island was designed around a sustainable eco-factory where users can learn about the history of Ben & Jerry's and how ice cream is made, as well as watch videos about climate change. Another part of this virtual world includes a "green game" where users collected cow pies for an eco-friendly methane digester.
4. Survey says? Polls are a great way to validate value propositions, vet new product ideas and obtain preference data that can aid marketing, communication and positioning decisions. Consider using a quick, cost-effective online polling platform, such as Vizu Answers or Survey Monkey, to conduct primary research about a topic of interest to your audience, and use the results to offer some insight that isn't available anywhere else.
5. Know when to stop. PowerPoint expert Cliff Atkinson, author of Beyond Bullet Points says, "When you overload your audience, you shut down the dialogue that's an important part of decision-making." Keep your text and images to a minimum, so that your audience can concentrate on what you're saying. He points to some important research by educational psychologists. "When you remove interesting but irrelevant words and pictures from a screen, you can increase the audience's ability to remember the information by 189% and the ability to apply the information by 109%," recommends Atkinson.
Abhay Parekh is founder and CEO of Flowgram, a free Web-based platform that enables business communicators to combine, annotate and share digital content as an interactive multimedia experience. For more information, please visit the Flowgram at http://www.flowgram.com/.
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