In the world of sales and marketing, presentations are unavoidable. You will find yourself sitting through several presentations, and having to make a fair few along the way.
If there is one thing you will have noticed as a member of the audience is that some sales presentations are terrible. Having sat through them, you promise yourself that you will never make those mistakes when creating a presentation.
But how can you ensure that your sales or product launch presentations are attractive and interesting to your audience?
By following a few top tips from sales management books to create a great sales presentation outline that will wow audiences and boost your portfolio.
Use a Sales Presentation Template
There are a number of old-fashioned programs to create presentations but they are limited in terms of design and functionality.
Fortunately, sales managers now have access to online resources that make creating presentations much easier.
Presentation websites not only relieve you of having to create a presentation from scratch, but also give you customizable templates.
The layouts available in a presentation template make it easier to move or swap out elements and to repeat items as and when needed. Using a template will make the presentation designing process much less of a hassle, so you can concentrate on highlighting your sales points.
Temper Your Use of Colors
Presentation templates will already have a color scheme but you can change that according to your needs.
You can choose a color scheme according to the brand you are representing, or for aesthetic value.
But when choosing colors for your sales presentation, you should ensure that they complement your topic and your style.
Though it may be tempting to use bolder, vibrant colors throughout the presentation to hold people’s attention, too many dissonant colors will be jarring to look at.
You don’t want to dazzle your sales prospects with your color scheme – you should be using colors to highlight points and to improve the flow of information.
Pick colors that complement each other as that will improve readability and strive to maintain the color scheme consistently throughout the presentation.
Alternate Slide Layouts
The title slide and final slide of your sales presentation will have a different layout than the slides within, but that doesn’t mean you keep those slides to one layout.
Vary your layouts so that your presentation looks more attractive to the audience and you have more flexibility in the way you add information.
Choosing different layouts will not make it harder to achieve consistency, nor will it be more taxing to design-it will, in fact, help you stay creative and make it easier for you to mold your presentation to your needs.
Dedicate Each Slide to One Sales Point
Having sat through bad presentations, you will know that one of the most egregious mistakes one can make in a sales presentation is to cram in too many points on one slide.
The eye will not know what to focus on when there are multiple unrelated points on a slide – and it will also be harder for the audience to retain what they have learnt.
Instead of trying to save space by putting in several points in a slide, dedicate one slide to one sales point.
This will improve retention in your audience, and make your information and layout look cleaner.
Though your presentation will become longer as a result, you will actually find that it flows better and moves faster because of this method.
Keep Text to a Minimum
Limiting the number of points you include on a slide also saves you from making another dangerous error in presentation design – using too much text.
Some of the worst sales presentations incorporate far too much text in a single slide, forcing the audience to read what amounts to an essay during the presentation.
And for the presenter, having so much text in the presentation itself makes their verbal discourse redundant – there is nothing left to say if it is already incorporated on the slides.
Don’t write too much text in your presentation – people will find it boring, and they won’t concentrate on what you have to say.
Instead, include only the most salient points in your presentation and verbally elucidate the context of the points you are making. This will make for a more engaging and visually pleasing presentation – if you’re looking for inspiration, these infographic ideas will help.
Use Icons to Highlight Points
Icons are a great visual tool to share information and you should attempt to incorporate them into your presentation.
You can use icon motifs throughout your sales presentation—such as mobile-related icons for a presentation about telecom.
Or for a restaurant-related presentation, you can include food-based icons in place of bullet points to further create a connection between the subject and your presentation.
There are numerous types of Icons that you can use to tell your story, but ensure that they are consistent in size and design and that they are relevant to the subject matter being discussed.
Incorporate Charts and Graphs
There is no better way to share data than through charts and graphs.
In a presentation, which is such a visual medium, charts like pie charts and gantt charts, are an extremely important tool to share information with your audience.
A good chart can emphasize important data and points, and can succinctly share important pieces of information to get leads.
Choose a chart that is aesthetically pleasing but also works within the design of your sales presentation.
A well-chosen chart can engage your audience and help with recall so your audience leaves the room feeling enlightened.
Conclusion
These few tips on designing a sales presentation will make it easier for you to create a presentation that is engaging and interesting for your audience.
Here is a summary of what we have learned:
- Start by using a presentation template that will save you the trouble of creating a presentation from scratch.
- Once you have a template, be measured with your use of color – choose colors that highlight information, instead of overpowering your presentation.
- Don’t be afraid to vary your presentation design layouts – a single layout reused too often will be boring for your audience.
- Illustrate a sales point in every slide – don’t cram them all into one slide.
- As a general rule, avoid adding too much text on your slides.
- Use illustrations like icons to create a theme and highlight points in your presentation.
- Finally, use charts and graphs to visualize data.
With these points, you will be well on your way towards creating a strong sales presentation that will make a positive impression on your audience.
Featured image source: Freepik
