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How Printed Handouts Benefit Your Business Pitch

While most presenters focus on making effective pitch deck presentations, handouts are also essential tools for clearly understanding topics.

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Handouts aren’t suited for all situations like inspirational talks, for example. Business pitches, however, require more complex information and data. In this case, provide your audience with hard copies that summarize your message.

What’s Inside?

Handouts should reflect your overall business pitch, but don’t print out all your slides. Include only what is relevant—plan what your handouts should contain and only include keywords which drive your main points.

Explaining everything in one sitting might lose your audience’s interest because they’re burdened with too much information.

At the same time, presentation trainer Olivia Mitchell encourages the use of white space in handouts to let audience members write down any important questions or ideas they have while you deliver.

Instead of separating you from them, it actually helps you engage them more.

How Is It Important?

Handouts are great for business pitch decks that demand detailed explanations, especially when you’re maximizing your time while presenting your ideas.

While this isn’t a prerequisite when you do a pitch, it’s one way of making it more memorable for your audience.

Though practice and preparation prevent you from forgetting some of your key points, it’s still significant to give time for making your handout to avoid leaving your audience hanging.

When Should You Give Handouts?

Give them out before, during, or after your pitches. Each time period has its pros and cons.

Providing handouts beforehand might make them think they don’t need to listen to your pitch since they already have the information. They can also be distracted reading your handouts instead of paying attention to your speech.

But if you do choose to distribute before the pitch, let your handouts serve as a guide, not a distraction.

On the other hand, giving handouts during the pitch lets you interact with your audience and makes them feel involved. People can write down their ideas and notes on these interactive handouts, making them feel more invested in what you have to say.

If you choose to distribute handouts after the pitch, advise your audience before you begin. Inform them that you’ll provide a summary, so they won’t be distracted by listing down complex data or facts.

It’s not an issue at what point in your pitches you distribute your handouts. What’s important is that you engage and capture your audience’s attention.

Knowing your handouts’ benefits makes your pitch more memorable. They can be kept for future reference since they’re printed materials, helping your audiences remember your company after your pitch.

Giving your audience something to review lets them recall your pitch deck’s key message. pitchdeck.com can help you craft printed materials containing stand-out texts and visuals.

Take a look at our portfolio, or contact us. All it takes is fifteen minutes.

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References

13 Best Practice Tips for Effective Presentation Handouts.” Speaking about Presenting. Accessed June 5, 2015.
A Quick Guide to Pitch Deck Handouts.” pitchdeck.com Pitch Deck Design & Presentation Experts. 2014. Accessed June 5, 2015.
Using Handouts.” Total Communication. Accessed June 5, 2015.

4 Components for Planning Speeches Like Pitch Experts

According to communicologist Eugene White (1960), there are four interrelated components for presentations: speaker, speech, audience, and occasion. These help pitch experts plan their pitch deck content and assist speakers with their actual discussion.

It’s hard to talk about these principles in the order you should tackle them. That’s why the concepts speak for interrelationship or connecting one to another.

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Determine as much as you can from each factor to focus your speech and make you sound more credible and convincing.

The Speaker

Think of yourself as a speaker. Do you talk fast or slow? Do you use a lot of technical terms? Do you find it easy to get along with people you’ve just met?

Before preparing a deck outline or storyboard, examine yourself. Familiarize yourself with your strengths and weaknesses; focus on finding your comfort zone to decide which parts should be best highlighted or discussed in a more in-depth manner.

Knowing yourself lets you set your pitch deck’s direction. If you’re more outgoing, start with a good joke. If you’re more to the point, begin with a poignant statistic.

The Speech

The language you use should fit your audience and the occasion. Imagine speaking about the common cold to a group composed only of children. Would you use terms lifted straight from a medical textbook? Your choice of words in slides and speech decides if you’ll be seen as boring and uninspired or interesting and rousing.

Once you have information on the other factors, adjust the amount of time you spend per slide. This affects your flow greatly, and also relies on what you can learn regarding the two remaining factors.

The Audience

Check up on your audience to identify important details you’ll need in your pitch deck.

These can include age, gender, number, educational background, group affiliation, nationality, and culture. These factors let you determine your approach’s formality and technicality.

You can determine a lot of things from simply checking up on your audience. Finding out audience size also lets you decide how intimate you should be with your pitch.

A larger audience will have to need a broader approach. Be aware of local cultural norms to avoid embarrassing situations that ruin your credibility.

The Occasion

Knowing the occasion narrows down your speech’s objectives. Know the event’s basic nature, time, and venue.  The event’s nature clues you in on the goals you’ll set for yourself.

The engagement’s actual starting and allotted time decides your speech and deck length. Be conscious of recent events, use good news, and avoid referencing recent tragedies.

Knowing the venue also clues you in on how formal your speech should be. How you dress up in a hotel function room is different from how you would in a smaller auditorium.

Interrelatedness may seem difficult, but simply writing plans on a piece of paper sets you on the right track. Getting everything down sets your pitch’s tone, purpose, formality, and its overall message.

It’s easy to understand and even easier to get right. If you’re looking for people who can get it done right away, then our pitch deck experts are ready to help.

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References

Public Speaking: The Basics.” Speaking in the Disciplines. Accessed June 3, 2015.
White, Eugene. Practical Speech Fundamentals. New York: The McMillan Co, 1960.

How Lecterns Help or Hinder Your Marketing Pitch

Presenters have been trained to eliminate all personal anxieties in order to engage the audience. However, they rarely notice physical nonverbal speech barriers such as lecterns. These are traditionally used as stands to place your notes on. However, it can keep you from grabbing your audience’s attention and building a connection with them.

Why do most effective public speakers never use it? Can it be used effectively?

The answer is, lecterns can help or hinder your marketing pitches, depending on how and when you use it.

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Pros and Cons

Most politicians use lecterns in formal settings because it lets them project authority.

Even pastors use lecterns to hold their notes, bibles, and other sermon materials. But they don’t stay there all the time. For example, Joel Osteen, the Houston’s Lakewood Church’s famous pastor, never stays behind the lectern. He maintains eye contact and interacts with the audience, walking around the stage without looking at his notes.

For some public speakers, lecterns block them off from their viewers, preventing full engagement. This physical barrier keeps the crowd from seeing the presenter’s body language, non-verbal cues, posture and gestures.

Proper Use of Lecterns

Staying behind a lectern is different from standing behind it occasionally. Sometimes, you have to stand behind it due to its built-in mic and limited stage space. Other times, lecterns are unnecessary in venues such as conference rooms. Whether you can freely move around or are stuck in one place, involve your listeners by keeping eye contact no matter where you go.

Conclusion

Staying away from the lectern increases your chances of connecting with your audience. They’re also more likely to listen because they see you standing openly in front of them.

No matter where you deliver your marketing pitches, practice and prepare your speech so you can deliver your message without looking at your notes back at the lectern.

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References

Donovan, J. “How To Speak Behind A Lectern.” SpeakingSherpa. 2012. Accessed July 3, 2015.
Public Speaking.” Atlantic International University. Accessed June 3, 2015.