Make It All About Them: Winning Sales Presentations

11   Dodging the Bullets: Avoiding Death by PowerPoint

Myth: The deck is the presentation.

Truth: You are the presentation.

How many times have you heard someone say, “I can't make it to your presentation. Can you send me your slides?” In this way, the presentation and the presentation deck have become synonymous. There is a general perception that if someone misses the presentation, he or she can make up for it by reviewing the slides.

But here's a news flash: Slides are meant to support—not replace—the speaker. If someone can fully understand the presentation by simply reviewing the slides, then there is something wrong with the slides, or perhaps there never should have been a presentation to begin with. As I have said many times, the presentation is often the only chance that the sales team has to connect with the decision makers. If the presentation is all about the slides, it distracts from you. You are the presentation.

By now, “death by PowerPoint” is almost a household phrase. It is fascinating to me that we continue to abuse this application in spite of the commonly voiced complaints:

• There's way too much text on slides.
• It's painful to watch people read from it.
• There are too many bullet points!
• Charts and tables can't be deciphered.
• You can't see if from the back of the room!
• It's boring!

We relate to all of this because we are not only presenters, we are often audience members (or victims) as well. And deep down inside, we know that the problem has nothing to do ...