Giving a client presentation is nerve-wracking, whether it is your first time or your 1,000th. It needs to go well so that you can win the business and satisfy the client, but the more you worry about it, the more likely you are to make mistakes. Read these five tips for creating successful client presentations and you shouldn’t go wrong.
Set Clear Objectives
Setting clear objectives will help your clients to stay focused. They can follow your objectives to see where you are in the presentation and what part is coming up next. This makes it easier for them to ask questions or to hold back if they know you haven’t got to that part yet.
Make sure you set the objectives and then talk about what you have said you will talk about. Going off at a tangent makes your presentation longer and your clients may become bored. It may help if you signpost that you will answer questions at the end, as this will help you to stay on track.
Use Visuals to Support Your Presentation
Visuals can be a great support to your presentation. Many people prefer information to be laid out for them visually as it helps them to remember important points. Some visuals work better than others. Graphs and Venn diagrams for presentations can work incredibly well.
Don’t make your visuals too self-explanatory, otherwise, there will be no point in you being there. You could have just sent an e-mail and you could be in danger of being ignored. However, if your visuals contain too little information then you are basically just giving a speech and changing the backdrop. Visuals should add and support your presentation, so include some of the information here, but not all of it. That way you still have something to talk about.
Use Bullet Pints Wisely
Your bullet points should be an aid to your presentation as they will highlight what you are saying and help to jog your memory if you forget something. If you are nervous, there is a danger of you writing too much on your visuals and then reading them rather than giving a presentation yourself. However, that isn’t what you are there for, and the client won’t be happy if they think you are wasting their time and could have e-mailed the information.
Develop the bullet points you are using in your presentation, rather than recreating your presentation on the bullet points. Don’t forget to use a style that is appropriate for your audience and choose a font and size that your client will be able to see if they are sitting far away from you.
Timing
If your client has given you an hour of their time, then make sure you stick to that hour. Overrunning can look rude, and if your client is thinking about something else that they need to be doing, they won’t be listening to you. Make sure that your presentation runs to the allotted time and give enough breathing space for the client to ask questions at the end if they want to. A fantastic way of making sure that you run on time is to rehearse your presentation before you give it. That way you know if you need to cut it down or lengthen it and you can practice what you are going to say and what pace and tone to set.
Technical problems can make your timing go astray, so turn up early and make sure that everything works before you start. That way, you won’t be worrying about how to turn the equipment on or wasting valuable time.
Monitor Audience Response
If you want to know how well your presentation is going, monitor audience responses while you are giving it. You will soon see if your client looks engaged in the presentation or if they look as if they are falling asleep. You can see if they start to tune out and at what point in your presentation. Then you can make the changes you need for next time.
If your client asks a lot of questions, it may be that they are incredibly interested, in which case you have done a wonderful job or you have missed things out and they are asking because you didn’t cover the information. Be truthful with yourself about which scenario is more likely to be accurate and don’t be afraid to ask for feedback.
You are bound to be nervous about the presentation, but follow these tips and it should all go swimmingly.
