Newsletter

Valuable assets

It’s November and, despite the constant promises of global warming, the cold dark evenings (sometimes cold dark days!) have returned to Liverpool. Not so in Liverpool Street, San Diego, where we have just completed a three-day training course for Kaiser Permanente at the beautifully sunny Hyatt Regency Hotel & Marina.

At 85 delegates (and seven m62 Master Presenter trainers), this was our biggest sales training event yet. Feedback from the groups of salespeople that we put through their paces indicated they found the course exhausting, exhilarating and eye-opening. As one delegate stated, “m62 didn’t just take me out of my comfort-zone. It felt like they dragged me kicking and screaming from my comfort-zone, stripped me naked, stood me on a stage in front of my colleagues, and built me up into a new person!” Yes, it can be hard work rethinking your approach to presenting, particularly when you are being assessed by your peers and a panel of m62 Master Presenters, but everyone emerged from the experience with new confidence, new skills and a new zeal for presenting.

Research earlier this year in UK conducted by m62 showed that only around 3% of sales presenters had actually received ‘formal’ presentation training rather than PowerPoint training – how to create slides using bullet points. Considering that presentation skills are among the most valued attributes in almost any business role these days, it’s clear that becoming a ‘master presenter’ makes you a valuable asset to your company, as well as giving you a much sought-after transferable skill.

However, your performance on stage is only half of the story. The slides you use to get your message across play an equally important part in effectively communicating with your audience. m62’s experience has taught us that there are a set of objective measures that can be used to gauge the effectiveness of the presentation material, before it is delivered.

How many companies actually measure the ‘effectiveness’ of their presentations? We estimate that only around 5% of companies are able to answer this. Our research shows that most companies believe that their material is ‘good’ and is ‘likely to be as good as their competitors’. But is that really good enough?

Why not take a presentation you are currently working on and see how it measures up? Equally, if you have recently lost a sales bid, use the benchmark to find out the reasons why your presentation did not deliver the results you wanted. Download the presentations effectiveness index.

Nicholas B.Oulton
CEO and founder, m62 visualcommunications

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Have you ever wondered how simple changes to your presentation could have a big impact on its success?

In the past, you make have received training on how to deliver a presentation but chances are you won’t have been given PowerPoint Effectiveness training.

We’re offering readers the chance to ‘attend’ a Killer Presentations seminar which is unlike any other. It focuses on what is effective on slides and why – based on academic research and experience. We’ve recorded this session so you can ‘attend’ at your desk or with colleagues and at a time which suits you best! And as many times as you wish to see the session!

Who will benefit from the session?

• Sales professionals who want to improve the success rate of their presentations
• Employee communications managers 
• Analysts and Specialists who inform others or seek approval for projects 
• Marketing and support staff who prepare presentations for themselves or others

As part of the Killer Presentations CD offer, we’re offering a package of benefits including:

• Recordings of 5x 30 minute webinar recordings
• Presentation ID kit (headings/title slides etc)
• 10 PowerPoint FREE templates
• Presentation reference articles
• Extract from the Killer Presentation book - chapter on 'Mnemonics'

For only £49.99p (per package) you can have the following resources all on one CD! How much more effective will you presentations be?

For more information or to secure your copy, email jennie.pearson@m62.net today!

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Too good to be forgotten?

‘There is no better place in the world to find out the shortcomings of each other than a conference.’

Will Rogers (1879-1935)

Conferences can bring together hundreds of delegates, paying thousands of dollars to attend. The networking is often great, the event runs flawlessly – yet many presentations are dull and fail to achieve their objectives (if they actually have objectives).

It can seem rude to interfere with the work of an invited speaker. So, what can you do to influence the overall quality of your conference?

• Explain that Bullet Points don’t work.  At m62 we have evidence that hundreds of Bullet Points make for dull presentations.
• Encourage presenters to use images and diagrams. The more visual a presentation, the more likely it is to be engaging and memorable.
• Avoid handouts of slides.  If delegate packs contain slide handouts, the audience doesn’t need to pay any attention to the presenter...and won’t.
• Encourage presenters to produce separate handouts, using the right tool for the job (a word processing program, not a presentation program).
• Eliminate distractions.  Ensure that the audience can see and hear the presentation clearly, that the lighting and temperature are right, and schedule enough time for breaks.

If you need a fresh perspective for your company event, please contact m62’s conference specialist who will be pleased to discuss requirements with you. Please call Jennie on +44 (0)870 602 6262.

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Tip of the month

Struggling with animation sequences in PowerPoint? If you have built a slide with a lot of elements that need to appear in a specific sequence, such as a set of pictures, simply hold down SHIFT and click on the objects in the order you want them to animate, to select them all. Then click ‘Slideshow > Custom Animation’ and choose Add Effect to add your chosen Entrance effect. Like magic, PowerPoint will remember the order you clicked on the objects and sequence them accordingly.

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And finally…

A recent article in Accountancy Age reported that “UK businesses lose nearly £8bn each year because of dull presentations that force colleagues and clients to switch off and waste company time. This is based on a manager earning an average £30,000 per annum and attending a one-hour meeting every week in which he or she does not listen.” If estimates in the UK alone are almost £8bn, imagine what the costs globally will be.

One insomniac accountant I know couldn’t even get to sleep listening to a dull presentation. He asked his doctor for advice.

"Have you tried counting sheep?" suggested the doctor.
"That's the problem…” he replied, “I make a mistake and then spend three hours trying to find it."

email: newsletter@m62.net
telephone:
US: +1 (212) 672 1979
UK: +44 870 602 6262
Far East: +65 6322 0855
web: www.m62.net