We've all sat through presentations that almost put us to sleep. A good speaker who understands the elements of powerful prospecting presentations can make any information engaging to the audience. Here are a few tips to dramatically improve the professionalism and effectiveness of your prospecting presentations.
You Can Fail Before You Even Start
This easiest way to improve your financial services presentations is to properly prepare. Too many times speakers feel they can just wing it and sling from the hip. The content that is on a PowerPoint slide or in a workbook is the headline content, but what makes the presentation meaningful is the filler information. The things that are said to connect or bring the topic down to real life. The obscure facts or statistics that make the topic interesting to the listener are just as important. If you haven’t practiced your presentation approximately 20 times, you will not be adequately prepared to deliver an interesting and compelling presentation. You must know the topic forward and backward, as well as inside and out.
Don't Rely on Visual Aids
At a moment's notice you should be able to give your presentation freestyle without any visual aids, other than maybe a flip chart and markers. Why? Because sometimes technology fails, you have a room full of people and the show must go on. The fact that you know the information so well allows you to deliver a freestyle presentation that might win over some of the audience, while your ability to overcome a difficult unforeseen problem typically wins over the rest. People always enjoy seeing someone overcoming adversity, and being prepared pays off in many ways. It always increases the likelihood of something favorable and beneficial coming as a result of your effective presentation.
Show Up Early
An additional component of being prepared is showing up early. I believe you need to arrive to your meeting location at least one hour prior to your presentation. I can't tell you how many times I've been setting up a meeting space and my first guests walk in 45 minutes early. Some people have nothing but time and a desire to not be late. Arriving early allows you the time to adequately prepare your facility to be the most conducive for your presentation and allows you the time to familiarize yourself with the small details such as introducing yourself to any facility staff. Once you're set up, you can work on bonding with your guests and establishing a rapport with them.
The Importance of a Story
Many speakers and presenters fail to tell the story. When I say they fail to tell the story, I am talking about the lack of a story that ties the facts and figures together. They fail to draw the audience in and bring them along the journey. Statistics, facts and figures are very left brain oriented logic. We do know that people buy in on an emotional basis (right brain) and then they make a justification based on an intellectual basis (left brain). Only 10-20% of left brain function is involved with the buy-in process. This why the ability to draw your audience in with a story is so important.
Provide Context for Information
As detailed in the book “Story Telling for Financial Advisors” by Scott West and Mitch Anthony, the best speakers use metaphors, anecdotes, analogies, and stories to engage their audience. This is the glue between statistical data and real life scenarios that prospects can relate to. If your audience can’t relate they won’t engage. If they don’t engage they won’t be compelled to buy in to the presentation. If you can’t engage the prospect with your presentation all you will have is a disinterested individual. Many times I refer to this type of person as a suspect and definitely not a prospect.
Every Detail Matters
A presenter's goal is to take the audience by the hand, walk them down the story path, and place them at the end goal. This is not rocket science, but it is presentation science. When it comes to public presentations, everything matters. Even if you understand the elements of great presentations, some people just aren't great speakers or they are uncomfortable in front of a large group of prospects. Having a professional speaker at your workshops increases credibility and insures that your presentation will be skillfully delivered.
Do you have great presentations, a professional speaker, and still struggle to get prospects to set appointments? An automated nurturing system like Prospecting 365 can guide your prospects to seek your help when they decide it's the right time for them to make a financial decision.
