How to Make or Break your PowerPoint Presentations!

Article Date: June 12, 2006

My assistant came into my office the other day to tell me my 10 a.m. appointment had arrived.  I was looking forward to the meeting because it was with an investment advisor who was going to speak to me about hedge funds, an investment vehicle I was eager to learn more about.

However, when I opened the door to enter the conference room, my heart sank and my enthusiasm dissipated. Why? Because my advisor had a personal computer and was setting up a PowerPoint presentation.

I HATE POWERPOINT PRESENTATIONS!

I have nothing against the technology, which is terrific. The issue is the way it is used--or more accurately, abused--in the course of selling. Here's the problem:

All communications laws emphasize the importance of what is called the "kinesthetic connection" between speaker and listener. In plain English, that means that the buyer needs to feel a constant sense of being touched, attended to, appreciated and listened to.

PowerPoint presentations inevitably induce sellers to violate these principles. They draw attention away from human interaction and drive it towards inanimate data, breaking the link between speaker and listener, buyer and seller.

Communications Lesson:
You are the ultimate visual aid. Anything that draws attention away from you, whom the buyer is sizing up for compatibility and trust, has the potential to negatively influence your presentation.

Does that mean there is no place for graphics, slides or PowerPoint applications? No. They can play an important role, particularly in a technical presentation that requires visual references. But when selling, it is critical to keep the graphics simple and to severely limit accompanying text.

Communications Lesson:
If you take away just one thing from this article, it should be this: Never, ever, ever read from your graphics. First of all, there should not be much text up there to begin with. Second, the audience can read the text faster than you can repeat it, so let them do so. Finally, it is weak--a crutch, really--to read a presentation, and everybody in the room knows it.

Communications Tip:
When a graphic goes up, tell the audience why it is there, let them absorb it and comment about it while looking at them--not the graphic:  "Folks, I want to emphasize our point on the market with this chart comparing 2003 to 2004. Notice, particularly, the lack of activity over the past six months."

Turning sideways to glance at the graphic and emphasize a point is fine, but keep your attention on the audience. Pause, watch their faces, make sure they get it, and then move on.

Incidentally, I asked my hedge fund guy to close his laptop and simply talk to me about these investments. He did a great job because he let me--not the computer--guide him to the high-leverage points of the sale.

Computers are wonderful tools, but they haven't invented one yet that has the ability to listen to a customer!

Return to archive