Transform your listeners into 'fans'

We are dealing with an information overload. Emails, newsletters, brochures, phone calls, social media: all day long people, products and services are asking for our attention. When you are giving a presentation, you may hope that your sales pitch gets the attention it deserves. That people actually listen to your message and will remember something of it. How do you get to the point where your listeners are interested and inspired? That after your professional presentation they are transformed from listeners into fans?

1. Exceed expectations
When was the last time you were surprised by something, someone or a product? Probably this surprise caused a positive feeling to your expectations. So just try to do something extra. Surprise your audience with a great opening, a small gift or a beautifully designed presentation. Depart from a standard presentation structure and come up with something original! A good example is a visual timeline. Often in a corporate business presentation, you want to tell something about the history of your company. This can be done by simple bullet-points, but also with an original approach as seen in the video below:

2. Optimize your speaking arts
In general, we expect mediocre speakers. People who have prepared their presentation reasonable, recite their prepared piece and thank the audience. When someone speaks really inspiring, people are enthusiastic and motivated. These are the speakers who will be remembered. The really good professional presentations. Practice speaking as much as possible within your private circle. Let people be critical and give you tips. Perhaps uncomfortable, but filming yourself is also an option. So you can watch yourself and work on improvement.

3. Hold structure
People love it when they know what to expect. How long the presentation will last and what topics will be discussed. Make sure this is clear in your sales or business presentation. A good professional presentation is characterized by clarity and structure.

4. Give them something
“Thanks for your attention,” nothing more standard than that. It is way more fun to give your audience something. The presentation on a USB stick with a couple of interesting, related articles, a nice pen or something original. It is also a good tip to ask your audience after presenting what their thoughts are on your story. Another possibility is to send them an email with a brief feedback on your experiences of the day with a hyperlink to a so-called HTML5 version of your presentation.

Are these tips something you can work with? Or do you have additions? Let us know. We are the PowerPoint specialists and provide training in the field of developing and presenting PowerPoints.