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Product Demo 101: Learning the Basics

Posted on by Rick E

What’s one of the best ways to convert potential clients into paying customers? Aside from pitch decks where you get to wow your audience, there’s another scenario where you can achieve the same results. Imagine it: You already have a prototype of the product you’re trying to market, and you’re looking for people who will gladly take your offer; you think an amazing deck won’t be enough, so you decide to take things up a notch and do a demo.

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However, you don’t know the first thing about product demos. Sure, you’re a rock star when it comes to pitches and public speaking, but demonstrations can be different. For one, instead of handling two important elements—yourself and your deck—you add one more: your product. And balancing that act can be stressful, especially when you’ve got hundreds of eyes staring at you and you know that a lot is at stake. Another is that there’s a new dynamic in audience engagement, a level that places you closer to them—and them to you and your product.

Look at the bright side, though. If you do remarkably well, then you’re sure that your audience will take a good, long, hard look at your product. And when they like what they see, they might just want to have your offer. Then, you’re on your way to closing deals left and right. But that is if you do remarkably well.

So, how do you go from A to Z of a product demo? What can you expect from showing off your product in front of a live audience? Are there even benefits to doing so? How do you even begin preparing and how do you start off a demo? Let the following infographic tutor you on the basics of a product demo, and the dos and don’ts during the proverbial curveballs during your time onstage.

Resources:

Kokemuller, Neil. “The Purpose & Benefits of a Product Demonstration.” Chron. n.d. www.smallbusiness.chron.com/purpose-benefits-product-demonstration-55113.html

https://slidegenius.wistia.com/medias/vkv6pnxuez

Business Pitches: Give Your Audience a Memorable Experience

Posted on by Rick E

When you think of business pitches, the first images that come to mind are probably bleak. After all, you’ve had to sit through your fair share of monotonous meetings and discussions. You’ve had to squint your eyes in order to read the lengthy paragraphs projected on the screen. You’ve had to stop yourself from falling asleep in a darkened room. You’ve had to patiently wait for the speaker to get to the point.

Despite all these negative scenarios, there are still occasions when you were able to watch a memorable business pitch. The slides were concise and well-designed, the points quickly and clearly made. In particular, they all have a few characteristics in common. Take note of the following and apply them to your business pitches as well:

Authentic

Business pitches are often devoid of any emotion. Presenters believe that they need to focus on the hard facts. While data is important in building your credibility, your pitch will need a more “human” element in order to create a connection. This doesn’t mean that you have to move your colleagues to tears. One way to make your business pitches memorable is by creating a more authentic experience. Instead of drowning your audience in a sea of spreadsheets, try to focus on telling a story instead.

Meticulous

A lot of business pitches also suffer from information overload. Without a clear goal, presenters tend to detail too much of their content and end up sharing things that may be unnecessary or repetitive. They end up confusing their audience even more. To solve this dilemma, you will need to identify your main objective and meticulously curate your content. Make sure each slide and sentence contribute to driving home your main point. If you have data to present, include only the ones that are most important to your message. You should also prepare a loose script to keep your speech on the right track.

Visually Stimulating

More than having concise slides, business pitch decks also need to be visually stimulating. As we’ve mentioned in the earlier scenario, too often presenters commit pitch mistakes that overshadow their core message. Aside from carefully picking and choosing which content to include, presenters all so need to make pitch decks that speak to the visual senses of the audience. A striking color palette, plus the use of high-quality images can make a huge difference in your slide design.

Compelling

The impact of a business pitch also rests on the power of delivery. For people to listen, you will need to create an engaging and compelling atmosphere. When you face an audience, you must demand their attention through the way you speak and carry yourself. Speak clearly and loudly. Exuding confidence in your words is one of the key ways to build credibility. You should also be mindful of your body language. Avoid gestures that make you seem closed off or aloof.

Featured Image: Sebastiaan ter Burg via Flickr

PowerPoint Karaoke: Have Fun and Improve Your Pitching Skills

Posted on by Rick E

I’m sure you’ve tried karaoke to wind down with colleagues after a long day of work. But have you ever thought to give PowerPoint Karaoke a try?

In PowerPoint Karaoke, participants are challenged to take the stage and deliver a pitch based on slides they’ve never seen before. The rules are pretty simple. Instead of singing power ballads, participants will need to make sense of random slides, and connect it to an assigned theme. They will also be restricted by a time limit. The results are usually pretty crazy and absurd. To give you a clue, here are some slides from a PowerPoint Karaoke event held in Seattle last 2012:

As you can probably imagine, PowerPoint Karaoke can lead to some pretty hilarious situations. The best speakers are those who are willing to step out of their comfort zone, ready to have fun while practicing their improvisation skills. It’s the perfect game for anyone looking to deliver better and more engaging pitches.

Getting started:

If you’re ready to throw your own PowerPoint Karaoke party, here are some tips to help you get started:

  • Build your pitch decks beforehand. Be creative and go for slides that will challenge the participants. If you want, you can find pitch decks online and edit them for your use. Five to seven slides per deck will do.
  • At the event, let the participants draw for their speaking order and assigned theme. This will give everyone an even playing field, and prevent people settling for topics they’re familiar with.
  • You can decide whether you want speakers to control their own deck, or have the slides auto advance.
  • Set a time limit that’s no more than 5 minutes.
  • Decide on a winner by letting the audience vote. You can prepare forms, or just ask them to choose their favorites by show of hands.
PowerPoint Karaoke is a great activity to try with your colleagues. Gather a small group in a room and start having fun. Urge everyone to test their improvisation abilities and improve their pitching skills.

Featured Image: Simon Law via Flickr

Maintaining Audience Attention in Your Pitch Decks

Posted on by Rick E

The British bank Lloyds TSB conducted a study on the cause of careless household accidents, and the results they gathered have some pretty broad implications. As quoted by Fortune.com, the average adult attention span has plunged from 12 minutes in 1998 to 5 minutes in 2008. Participants attributed their short attention span to stress and decision overload, both unavoidable in our fast-paced lifestyles.

With the advent of technology and the distraction of multiple screens — from our work laptops to our smartphones — holding one’s attention for longer than the usual is nearly impossible. That is, if you’re bored by the topic.

Considering this information, it seems that presenting to a huge audience has never been more difficult. Five minutes is barely enough time to make a positive impression. This is a huge challenge that presenters need to over come. Here are 3 key strategies to keep in mind:

Condense your slides

Try to present more information orally to reduce overloading your slides with too much text and data. The people in your audience can read much faster than they can listen to you talking. As we’ve discussed time and again, an effective pitch deck acts as a visual aid. It doesn’t contain every sentence you want to share. Instead, it perfectly illustrates your main points through the use of images and other multimedia elements. Instead of packing your slides with a bunch of facts and figures, spend more time illustrating and articulating your points.

An emotional and physical connection might be more effective in capturing the audience’s imagination. This bond calls the attention of people whose minds were wandering off in the crowd, and engages those who are beginning to invest in what you’re saying.

Follow an intriguing narrative structure

Structure your pitch deck in a way that will surely engage your audience. There’s a reason why we can sit motionless in a movie theater for two hours, completely enamored by what we’re watching. Movies follow a great story arc that build suspense and intrigue. Effective storytellers know how to create anticipation that keeps viewers looking forward to what happens next. Following their example, your pitch deck can also work the same way.

Craft your pitch deck in a way that presents a problem (“what is), and slowly build your way towards a solution (“what could be”). The problem-tension-solution pattern roughly mimics the structure of classical Greek dramas, which research has found to be effective in eliciting powerful emotional response.

Create “soft breaks” 

According to presentation expert Carmine Gallo, the best way to re-engage the short attention spans of your audience is by creating “soft breaks” within your pitch deck. After every 10 minutes or so, give your audience some moments to pause by incorporating videos, activities, and demonstrations. You can also encourage audience participation by posing a question they can answer through a show of hands. If your pitch allows it, you can also call up other speakers from your team to offer the audience a fresh new perspective.

The Final Word

Capturing people’s attention can be a bit of a challenge, especially during a time when attention spans are beginning to drop, and people are constantly busy. But that doesn’t mean you have to make a plain, uninteresting pitch deck.

Engage people’s senses by keeping your pitch short and sweet, weaving a narrative around your pitch deck, and giving soft breaks in between. Follow these tips and you might just win new business!

Featured Image: Oliver Tacke via Flickr

Lost Impact: 4 Words to Avoid in Pitch Deck Delivery

Posted on by Rick E

Remember the saying, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me?”

It might be true for the playground, but not for your pitch decks.

As powerful as language is, there are certain words that seem to have lost their impact through constant use. We’ve been using them far too much in our everyday, casual conversations that they lose power once delivered on stage. Here are 4 low-impact words that you should avoid when you’re delivering your next pitch deck:

1. Really

We commonly use the word “really” to emphasize certain points. Casually, we might say something like, “I saw this really good movie the other day”.

But in formal settings such as business pitches, there’s often a lot at stake. If you want to emphasize something, it’s better to offer an accurate description.

Instead of saying “our new product is really revolutionary,” you can share a concrete example or supporting evidence instead. “Our new product has proven results and made plenty of sales in the past year” would sound more impressive than giving a vague suggestion of how good your product really is.

2. Amazing

You often hear the word “amazing” when describing something high-quality. For example, you might have heard it casually used in sentences like, “the new iPhone 6 is amazing.”

Again, it’s better to offer your audience something more descriptive. Let them deduce that what you’re presenting is amazing for themselves. Help them come to that realization by showing them specific details and examples. In our given instance, you could give the features of an iPhone that other phones wouldn’t be able to compare with. This would certainly be more impressing than simply saying it’s amazing.

3. Maybe

You don’t want to seem uncertain in front of your audience. To deliver a memorable pitch, you need to exude knowledge and confidence.

Words like “perhaps” and “maybe” leave the opposite impression, making you seem completely unsure and unprepared. Stop hedging and go straight to the point with active and urgent language.

4. Stuff

This word offers no real description. It’s a vague way to refer to something that’s crucial to your pitch deck. Instead of using this, look for a word that actively describes what you’re trying to say. If you can’t think of one, go for a descriptive phrase. Be specific with everything you say to allow your audience the opportunity to recall and internalize your main points.

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Get rid of the “fluff” and make your pitches stronger. Achieve that goal by making use of words that are tangible and concrete. Avoid these 4 words and give your audience information that’s more meaningful and memorable.

Featured Image: marc falardeau via Flickr

3 Steps to Simplify Your Complex Technology Pitch Deck

Posted on by Rick E

Delivering a pitch about technology-related topics can be quite challenging. For one, you will have to simplify various concepts for the benefit of your audience and to maximize your allotted pitch time. You’ll also need to organize your ideas into concise and easy-to-understand pitch deck slides.

You need to keep your technology pitch deck from being looking too complex. On top of it all, you have to make a connection with the audience. It becomes even more challenging when you’re presenting to people who are not familiar with the topic or technology you’re discussing.

If you’re in a similar situation, here are three key pointers to keep in mind when working on a technology pitch deck presentation:

1. Focus on the core message

Avoid over-explaining the concepts in your slides by zeroing in on the key points you want to share. Before you open PowerPoint, start by creating an outline. What is the main takeaway of your pitch? Is it really necessary to explain particular concepts? If it is, which part of your explanation is the most crucial? Keep editing and trimming down your points until you arrive at the main ideas you want to share.

2. Explain with images and illustrations

As we know, research has shown that visual elements can better engage the attention of an audience. Instead of piling paragraphs of text onto your technology pitch deck, you can make use of images to expound on key points. You can also make use of flowcharts or SmartArt graphics to illustrate concepts that might be harder to understand.

3. Don’t forget the story

Knowing that you’ll be presenting about technology, you might want to simply focus on answering the “how-to’s”. But other than that, you should also remember to tell your story. At the heart of all the tech-speak, what is the narrative behind the topic you’re presenting? A story is a great way to make an emotional connection with your audience. As an example, consider this ad run by Apple for the iPhone 5s.

Conclusion

Creating an engaging technology pitch deck is challenging, but it isn’t impossible. All you need to do is create a solid plan and focus on making a valuable connection with your audience.

While interesting stories may temporarily engage, don’t forget to link it all back to your core message. Text can be effective in getting straight to the point, but illustrating your point may be even better in catching people’s attention. Make use of diagrams and other images to relate to your pitch.

Giving people hard facts can tire people out. Structure your pitch deck like a story with a convincing hook, line, and sinker. Don’t forget to tie it all in with a powerful conclusion and call to action.

Need a nudge in the right direction? Here at pitchdeck.com, we create different types of presentations and technology pitch deck is one of our specialties. Contact us for a free consultation today.

Featured Image: crabchick via Flickr

Save Your Deck: Methods to Recover an Unsaved PowerPoint File

Posted on by Rick E

Sheer panic—that’s probably your first reaction when you realize that you weren’t able to save the PowerPoint file you were working on. Maybe the power went out or your computer unexpectedly crashed. Maybe you were too preoccupied that you didn’t think to hit “Save.” Whatever the reason, you’ve suddenly lost hours of hard work and you have no clue how to get it all back.

Luckily, there’s no reason to stress over losing an unsaved PowerPoint file. If you’re using the latest versions of PowerPoint, you can easily retrieve and recover all your hard work. Follow these steps to recover a PowerPoint file you accidentally lost:

Method One: Recover Unsaved Presentations

If you were interrupted before you ever got the chance to save your PowerPoint file, you can simply look for it in the Microsoft Unsaved Files folder. Go to the File tab, make sure you’re on Recent and click on Recover Unsaved Presentations. The icon is right below the list of folders under Recent Places.

Recover Unsaved Presentations

Everything in the Unsaved folder are temporary files. Make sure you recover and save everything you need, because you might lose it after a few days.

Method Two: AutoRecover

If you’ve been periodically saving your work but was interrupted before you could save specific changes, you can retrieve your PowerPoint file using the AutoRecover function. First, check if you have it enabled. Go to the File tab, click on Options and go to Save. Make sure your options are similar to those in this picture:

PowerPoint Files - AutoRecover

If you don’t have AutoRecover enabled, there’s no other way to retrieve the changes you made to your PowerPoint file. You will have to redo your work from the last save. But if everything looks good, you can then follow these steps:

1.) In the same dialogue box, copy the file destination path.

PowerPoint Files - AutoRecover 02

2.) Open Windows Explorer, paste the path on the address bar, and hit Enter.

PowerPoint Files - AutoRecover 025

To avoid losing any crucial information, make sure AutoRecover is enabled every time you start creating a PowerPoint deck.

Conclusion

Retrieving an unsaved PowerPoint file is a no-brainer as long as you know these basic recovery methods.

You can either open the “Recover Unsaved Presentations” found in the “Recent Places” or use the AutoRecover function to check where that unsaved document must be hiding.

Learn these tricks by heart so you don’t have to worry about getting your presentation back!

Ready to take your pitch deck to the next level? Schedule a free pitch deck consultation now.

3 Tips for a Concise Pharmaceutical Pitch Deck

Posted on by Rick E

The drug development process is often long and tedious. Before new drugs and medical devices are introduced to the public, there needs to be careful planning, research, and several clinical trials. Throughout these steps researchers, pharmaceutical companies, contractors, and government agents work together to ensure public safety. This is why pitches in the pharmaceutical industry are extremely crucial.

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Pharmaceutical pitch decks play a significant role in relaying information during the drug development process. In this case, using pitch deck isn’t just an aesthetic decision. The use of visual aids is an effective way to present consequential data in a clear and concise manner.

These are three tips to keep in mind when working on a pharmaceutical pitch deck:

pharma powerpoint 02pharma powerpoint 03

1. Design should be simple but interesting

The main purpose of a pharmaceutical pitch deck is to relay information and data. That means it shouldn’t get buried under complicated imagery and slide animations. Instead of going over-the-top with customization, use color schemes cohesively throughout your pitch deck.

Going with a simple, engaging design will pique your audience’s interests enough without distracting them from your key points.

2. Make use of images meaningful to your data

If you completely ignore pitch deck design, you might end up with a bland pharmaceutical deck. Even if the people you’ll be presenting to are likely professionals in the field themselves, you still want your slides to be visually engaging. What you can do is make use of stock or CC images that will help illustrate the key points you’re making.

While they don’t have to be directly related to your pitch deck, make sure you can explain your visual metaphors when giving your pitch. Otherwise, you’ll be stuck with a superfluous slide that will make you look unprofessional.

3. Don’t put everything on the slides

Your pharmaceutical pitch deck shouldn’t include every data you have available. Keep the hard-hitting numbers and information in your documents.

Your pitch deck should only serve to supplement your papers by giving a meaningful overview.

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You can pick up more pharmaceutical pitch deck ideas by viewing our vertical portfolio. Don’t hesitate to contact us for a free consultation.

With us, we can help you create slides that will perfectly communicate the hard work you’ve invested throughout the long drug development process.

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Featured Image: reynermedia via Flickr

Four Elements of a Successful Pitch

Posted on by Rick E

What makes a successful pitch? When delivering a pritch, being a strong and confident speaker can help in engaging the audience.

The quality of your slides – the content and overall design – is another matter. You also have to consider other elements such as the venue and its effect on your delivery.

If it’s your first time to deliver a pitch, it’s okay to feel nervous. To help you overcome the jitters and ensure the success of your pitch, here are some tips that you may want to keep in mind:

Quality Content

Regardless of your topic, avoid making its scope too broad. Try to be specific by focusing on three or four important points. It would be great to tackle them in such a way that the first point flows logically to the next and so on.

Make sure that your information is clear and logical. Present what your audience is expecting to learn and stick to your agenda. In case they want to know more about your topic, they will ask for sure. Just be prepared for their questions, though.

Engaging Slide Design

Use appropriate colors when designing your slides. Avoid too many color combinations to maintain a clean and professional look.

The same goes for the text. Keep it to a minimum by aiming for one point for each slide. Be sure that the text is large enough to be read even by people at the back of the room.

To enhance readability, the slide’s background color and the text should have great contrast. Resist the urge to use fancy fonts. Plain and simple font types would do for better readability.

Don’t forget to use images. You can always use pictures or graphics to enhance your pitch decks, not to decorate the slides but to support your points. So make sure to use relevant and high-quality images.

Prepared Venue

When it comes to the venue, some variables can either enhance or reduce the impact of your pitch. If possible, visit the place in advance and check for the following:

Is the pitch going to be held indoors?
Will it be in a hall or a boardroom?
Will it be darkened?
Is the room carpeted? Or will the sound bounce off bare floors, instead?

To further get the feel of the place and be more confident on the big day, you may want to rehearse your pitch in the actual venue.

Impressive Delivery

Your delivery can make or break your pitch. Make sure you have practiced your speech and the timing of your slides.

If possible, practice in front of a colleague and ask them to give genuine feedback. Recording your pitch deck using the record function in PowerPoint is also a great idea.

It can help you hear how you actually sound. If you notice anything off with your pitch or enunciation, make the necessary adjustments.

The First Slide: What It Needs to Be and What It Has to Do

Posted on by Rick E

If you want to maximize your slide pitches to establish better brand recall, start at the very beginning – the first slide. Naturally, it is the first thing that your audience will see even before you say a word. So design it in a way that stands out from the rest of your slides. It will help your logo and company name make an impression on your audience, and retain your brand in their memory long after your pitch ends.

It will help your logo and company name make an impression on your audience, and retain your brand in their memory long after your pitch ends.

What your First Slide Needs to BE

As you prepare you pitch deck, it’s important that you develop a first slide that will generate interest in support of everything you are about to say. It should have a visual element that features key aspects of your organization that is consistent with the key concept of your pitch.

It could be a photo or graphic image that stimulates people’s curiosity. As this is an excellent opportunity to draw attention to your business, make sure to make the most of it. When people come in the room and see your first slide, they should be compelled to want to be interested in you what you have to say.

However, it doesn’t always have to be flashy to pique the audience’s interests while informing them of your brand. According to business guru Guy Kawasaki, in his famous 10-20-30 rule, your first slide should often be the Title Slide, which contains your company name, address, your name and position in the company, your email, and work cell number.

Details like these may be straight to the point, but if you’re presenting to a crowd of busy VCs and investors, this is enough visual stimulus to let them in on your brand.

What your First Slide Needs to DO

With the right amount of texts and graphics, your first slide can communicate much more than what it appears to relate to the audience. Your audience should be able to digest the information you are sharing quickly and precisely. They should get an idea about your business even before you start to talk about what you have to offer.

It is important that each slide in your pitch deck be well-designed and engaging. The first slide, however, is crucial in igniting the spark that will make people want to hear what you have to say and get to know more about your business. Design it right and it can help you set the stage for an awesome and successful presentation.

The Final Word

Ultimately, while the first slide isn’t the entire pitch deck itself, it’s still an introduction to the rest of your pitch. In the same way that you need to make a good first impression through your physical appearance and speech, you’ll need a deck to match.

Start your pitch right with a winning opening slide. Impress people from the get-go. Don’t let any opportunity pass.

Reference

“The Only 10 Slides You Need in Your Pitch.” Guy Kawasaki. Accessed May 28, 2014.

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