Let’s be honest – we have been boring each other for years – at client conferences, at finals presentations, internal strategy meetings and sales conferences.

It amazes me how low the bar actually is in corporate America when it comes to how we present to each other.

One of the reasons I believe we don’t get better is because we really don’t have to. We can and have been successful droning through the PowerPoint that no one can really see. We can and have been successful closing deals with a nine pound pitch book that is more about us than the client. And we can and have been successful year after year hosting client conferences that feature one talking head after another.

So why change when what we do is so acceptable? In two words: Huge Opportunity. In this increasingly commodity-based environment, how we present what we are offering can be our most powerful differentiator.

There are three things (actually more, but you’ll find out soon why I am focused on just 3) that can have a dramatic impact on your sales presentations.

1. Show-up as a human being and look for emotional connections.
We know that all things being equal (and they often are) clients buy from people that they like. We also know that buying decisions are largely emotional. In my observation, very little conscious effort is made in showing up in the board room as a likeable, friendly person ready to connect on an emotional level. Instead, we often show up as stereotypical “work-is-my-life,” buttoned-up Bankers. Our introductions are often limited to our name, corporate titles and our years of experience – the closest we get to making human connections is a smile – and we often miss even that opportunity.

I recently coached a Retirement Services team selected to give a finals presentation to UPS Teamsters. As you might imagine, it was a very large deal. A day into the dry run and rehearsal, one of the team members casually mentioned her Dad had worked for UPS for over 50 years and had received on several occasions the very prestigious award (a jacket) given to drivers who had perfect records. She talked from the heart about what a wonderful organization they were, how proud her Dad was to work for them and how he was enjoying a wonderful retirement because of them. I nearly jumped out of my seat “You have to incorporate that into your part of the presentation!”

A few days after the presentation we met to debrief. All team members spoke of the moment that the client heard the story. They said the climate completely shifted from a typical sales team presenting to a prospect to a feeling of camaraderie of everyone in the room helping people like her Dad have a secure retirement. They won the deal.

Okay, so we don’t always have such obvious emotional connections. But what we can do is consciously look for opportunities to connect with the people on the buying side. We can talk passionately about what we do and why we do it so it’s not just about the titles and how many years we have been in the industry. We can also genuinely illustrate the camaraderie that we have with our team members and give the client a glimpse into why we like working with each other and why they would like working with us.

2. Focus on three points or less.
One of the hardest things we face when coaching salespeople on their presentations is to get them to select what is important and exclude the rest. Our general rule of thumb is three points per presentation. It is often just short of excruciating for people who absolutely love their content and the details behind it to not include every last bit. But the reality is that our audience is likely to only be able to remember 3 things. If we crowd our presentations with too much detail, we significantly dilute our message. If we dilute our message, we risk losing the deal.
People get nervous about limiting their presentations because they are afraid that they are not giving the prospect enough information. For some reason, there seems to be a general notion that the slides we present are actually a copy of “the deck” we leave with them. Guess what? There is no rule out there that says they have to be the same – in fact I would argue they shouldn’t be. What you project on the screen when you are speaking should not distract the audience from you. You are the presentation – not the slides. Slides should be no more than a supporting prop to help you communicate the three most important messages for the prospect. A great rule of thumb is that slides should never be able to stand alone. What you leave behind however, can and should contain enough detail for the prospect/ audience to reference should they require more information.

3. Make it fun.
Your audience will love you for it. Don’t worry – you can still be hard-hitting, credible and informative and yes, you can still incorporate fun when the material is “dry” – in fact, all the more reason to make it fun! We all know speakers who are naturally funny and easily incorporate humor into their presentations – more power to them. The reality is that most of us are not natural comedians and we shouldn’t try to be. Fun doesn’t have to be funny. Fun can be subtle, like incorporating photographs, music or a cartoon into your slides. Or it can be obvious, by engaging the audience in some kind of activity, game or warm-up exercise. One Investment Banker in a finals presentation opened up his part of the meeting by talking about his first job working for a store chain that this prospect had acquired. He challenged them to sing the jingle from the 1950’s television commercial (one of them actually came up with it). He then played the original 30 second spot. It took about 4 minutes away from the content of his presentation, but was an investment that paid off – they were all ears after that. He made a great transition talking about how the client’s culture was a combination of all of its previous cultures and how the new company on the table was a perfect fit.

Sales teams who incorporate these three approaches will win more deals and have more fun doing it. So the next time you are prepping for a sales presentation or client conference ask yourself:
• How can I show up as the interesting person that I am?
• What three things do I want to communicate? And
• How can I make it fun for the audience?

I could say so much more, but practicing what I preach, I am going to leave you with just these three things. (Gosh it’s hard!)