In marketing presentations to clients or prospects, it is obvious that you want to come across as knowledgeable, effective, and, of course, likeable. That means making effective presentations is very important. To do so, they should be well planned, prepared and practiced in front of others. If your presentation is poorly done or your story – yes story – isn’t compelling, or your slides are too busy, boring, etc., it will leave a bad impression about how good a lawyer you are (I know, it isn’t necessary logical, but remember the emotional thing from earlier posts here and here). Selling yourself is more about emotion than how smart you are.
In a post by Tom Peters he shares 56 suggestions for presentation excellence.
Some of my favorites include:
*Having great stories/illustrations/vignettes,
*By hook or by crook�..connect (to your audience),
*Brief your “champions” before, let them review and give you feedback, if possible,
*Uncluttered slides – with occasional quotes from the famous (or infamous),
*Tell them something they don’t know or expect (surprise them),
*If you don’t know something, admit it
*Ask for the sale,
*Have a 30-second to one-minute summary at the ready,
*Smile, relax and make eye contact,
*Be early, and get A/V right/perfect,
*Don’t bring too many people,
*Keep jargon to a minimum, and
*Say what you going to say Clearly�and then again and again from different angles (a variation of: Tell them WHAT your going to tell them, TELL them, and Then tell them what you TOLD them.
Based on comments he received in response to that post, Tom has posted more suggestions. Take a look.