Business Media Club blog: Shh, here’s the secret to the perfect presentation

16 Nov Business Media Club blog: Shh, here’s the secret to the perfect presentation

Well, sort of. You see, no-one is perfect and no speech, presentation, proposal or pitch will ever go 100 percent to plan.

But you can do your best to make the mechanics work (or at least not get in the way) and, more importantly, get the content right.

Ah, the content. Always king, of course – not just what you say and the way you say it.

How to pitch, present and propose with poise, whether via webinars and online video conferencing or to a real audience or up close and personal to a potential customer is the theme of our Business Media Club webinar on Friday, November 27 (10am to midday).

Getting the tone and your message right matters most.

“Man, will you shut up?” said Joe Biden as Donald Trump noisily interrupted for the umpteenth time in the first US presidential election debate. The nation, if not the world, cheered.

Having won, President Elect Biden subsequently called for the volume of debate to be turned down, to lower the temperature and for unity. “We’re not blue states or red states – only the United States.” That it was okay to disagree agreeably: “Our opponents are not our enemies.”

Time will tell what sort of policy Biden will pursue and how successful he is. That’s the detail to come. What he has set is a fresh tone to Turn. It. Down.

We can all learn from this. Shouty types often urge people to get in the face of those they want to reach.

Fact is, no matter how breezily you rattle through a pitch or how much data you choose to include, most of us only ever remember a few things from ever the slickest presentation.

Talking faster and getting louder only confuses things. You can always fill them in on the detail later – maybe with a support proposal. The key thing is to make sure your big messages resonate.

That’s where tone, pace and rhythm come in.

Also, how interactive do you aim to make it? Whether you choose to stimulate or stifle debate and whether you encourage or block out questions can speak volumes.

In 2020, by necessity, the world has gone webinar crazy. It some instances it has been the only way to interact and if you are the host and leading the presentation how you do it is down to choice – there is no one-size-fits-all.

Fact is, this is the new normal for now. If you feared presentation making in-person, it isn’t going to get any better just because you are perched on the sofa at home.

If you don’t see the results you want from your pitches and proposals, maybe it is the way you are delivering them – your tone, message and delivery.

As 2020 draws to a close join us at the Business Media Club to address the three key P’s – pitching, presenting and proposing. All three could be crucial as a new year beckons.

Book your place via our Eventbrite page.