Pressure Presentations

One of the important elements of a leader is to be able to present (whether to internal group or client/propects). Here is an article on delivering presentations under pressure.

How to Deliver a Presentation Under Pressure
After watching business pitches at recent tech conferences, communications coach Carmine Gallo prepared tips for make-or-break situations
by Carmine Gallo

http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/sep2008/sb20080919_919248.htm?campaign_id=rss_smlbz

Last week, dozens of entrepreneurs pitched their startups and technologies to influential investors and members of the tech community in hopes of raising money and attracting attention at two different important conferences—TechCrunch 50 in San Francisco and DEMO fall in San Diego. After attending the TechCrunch event in person and watching a number of the DEMO presentations online, I tried to turn what I had observed into five tips for anyone making a business presentation under pressure. While you might not have plans to pitch your company to an investor anytime soon, the odds are likely that you will have to pitch to a potential partner, customer, employee, or lender who can make a big impact on your company in the near future.

1. Keep it brief. TechCrunch limited pitches to eight minutes. DEMO gave its startup presenters even less time—six minutes. DEMO also charged an $18,500 fee to present. That's a little over $3,000 per minute. Try this exercise. If you had to pay $3,000 a minute to pitch your idea, what would you keep, and what would you cut? It might seem like a difficult task but it is an important one. You see, our brains are wired to tune out after a short amount of time. Brain researcher John Medina says the typical audience member gets bored in 10 minutes (BusinessWeek.com, 7/7/08). Venture capitalists have told me the same thing: If entrepreneurs cannot pitch their companies in 10 minutes or less, the message needs to be refined.

2. Don't override the memory buffer. Geoffrey Moore is the bestselling author of Crossing the Chasm and Dealing with Darwin and is a venture capitalist at Mohr Davidow Ventures. He has seen hundreds of presentations. He told me that entrepreneurs "try to squeeze a 2MB message into a pipe that carries 128kb per second." In other words, too many people overload their presentations. Remember, your brain can only absorb so much information at a time—keep your pitch simple and clear.

3. Set the stage for the conversation. According to Moore, most entrepreneurs fail to intrigue investors because they jump right into explaining their product without setting up the problem. "You need to create a new space in my brain to hold the information you're about to deliver," says Moore. "It turns me off when entrepreneurs offer a solution without setting up the problem. They have a pot of coffee—[their] idea—without a cup to pour it in."

I was thinking about Moore's advice when watching the DEMO pitch from Kevin Fliess, the founder of travel Web site TravelMuse. He began his presentation by setting the stage: "The largest and most mature online retail segment is travel, totaling more than $90 billion in the U.S. alone. We all know how to book a trip online. But booking is the final 5% of the process. The 95% that comes before booking—deciding where to go, building a plan—is where all the heavy lifting happens. At TravelMuse, we make planning easy by seamlessly integrating content with trip planning tools to provide a complete experience." By introducing the category before jumping into his product description, Fliess created the cup to pour the coffee into.

Once you have described the category, Moore recommends that you stake your "claim to fame" by clearly explaining why your company has the best chance to capture the opportunity you described.

4. Rehearse. Reading from notes is a sure way to lose your audience. You need to take the time to internalize your message so that it doesn't seem scripted (even though you might want to start with a script and reduce your message to bullet points for practice). Bear in mind that most presenters don't spend nearly enough time rehearsing the message (and responses to tough questions). In her new book, Slide:ology, presentation expert Nancy Duarte (BusinessWeek.com, 4/10/07) estimates the preparation time for a 30-slide presentation should be in the range of 36 to 90 hours! That's right, 36 to 90 hours! If that amount is shocking, you probably don't spend enough time researching, collecting material, understanding the audience, organizing ideas, sketching the storyline, or rehearsing.

5. Don't sweat the small stuff. During some of the presentations at TechCrunch, presenters had to wait while their Web sites loaded, because of a spotty Internet connection. Often the presenters stopped speaking while everyone waited. It seems they forgot that even in the most carefully prepared presentation, a minor glitch or two is likely. It's better to quickly acknowledge the mistake and move on. Your audience is interested in what you have to say and what you have to teach them. It's not about the slides, it's about you.

Keep these five suggestions in mind as you prepare for your next big presentation. Remember, you might not get another chance to win over your audience.

Don't Screw up your Presentation

Presentations are key. As a leader, you will do more than your share. To be a good leader, you need to improve your presentations. They might be related to selling a concept, exciting your team, or selling a solution. I have seen my share of presentations and have some pet peeves that I have about them (for example, when the presenter just reads the slides, or when there is no passion to the presentation - if the presenter does not care about the subject, why should I?). I found this article on Forbes.com about some known mistakes in presentations.

I like to presentations; they give you immediate feedback and if done correctly can really energize a room! However, I did not always like to do them, it came with experience . . . the more you do, the better you will do it! So, get out there and do a presentation (even if in front of your family)!

10 Presentation Killers
When the pressure's on, don't fall prey to these rookie mistakes.
By Maureen Farrell

Faulty Numbers
Miscalculations, overly zealous projections or failure to explain missed numbers are all deadly. Make sure your story matches the market and the numbers you present. Investors don't want to work with a management team that doesn't have a firm grip on reality.
Crowded Slides
"People spend too much time creating [Microsoft] PowerPoint slides and not enough time developing the key points of a presentation," says Gary Hankins, author of the Power of the Pitch. Follow the "six by six rule": no more than six bullet points of text on a slide, and no more than six words per bullet point
Showing Your Backside
Never turn your back on the audience for more than a second or two. If there's a chart or graph you need to explain, remember the three T's: touch, turn and talk. Use a pointer to call attention to a certain fact or figure, but then make sure to face the audience when you're making your point.
Not Showing Them The Money
Sure, investors want to hear about the nuts and bolts, but don't spend your entire presentation explaining every esoteric detail of your software. Each nugget you share should serve to demonstrate--clearly and quickly--the company's money-making potential
No Knockout Punch
Every good presentation needs a good closer---and not merely a summation of points and a simple thank you, says Hankins. Get feedback: If you don't, and the audience has objections, "you could get dismissed without the opportunity to disprove them."
Failing to Anticipate The "Killer Three" Questions
Your delivery might be flawless, your PowerPoint slides works of art. But if you flub the "killer three" questions your audience is likely to ask, you're toast. The "killer three" is different for each presentation, says Hankins, but you should still try to identify them. (Hint: Focus hard on your company's core value proposition.)
Multiple Messages
There are myriad interesting nuances to your business. We have some news: Investors don't care. What your presentation needs is a clear, consistent theme. If you don't know it, the audience won't either--and confusion is cancer to a presentation.
Splintered Team
Splitting a presentation into separate sections each handled by a different person is defensible (if a bit distracting). Still, each team member should be up to speed on all parts, if only to convey a sense of cohesion about the team and its ability to execute.
Not Knowing Your Audience
Get this wrong and you should consider a different line of work. If you are looking for seed funding for your software company, don't pitch a late-stage venture capital firm that focuses on the energy sector. Likewise, if you are pitching to the head of purchasing, focus on price and delivery and save the bells and whistles for the head of engineering.
Ignoring The Risks
All businesses have inherent risks. Don't ignore them and don't pretend they aren't there--it's insulting, and smart investors (and customers) won't stand for it. Instead, identify the risks and explain how you plan to deal with them--and perhaps even turn them to your advantage some day.