Here’s a transcript of the YouTube video on presenting ideas more effectively. Parts of it will read a bit funny because I speak a bit funny. So it’s maybe best to just watch the video instead.

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HOW TO PRESENT IDEAS LIKE AN ABSOLUTE CHAMP

Hi!

I’m Dave Birss. And in this episode we’re going to look at how to deliver a presentation that will increase your chances of selling an idea.

Hello there. How are you doing? Lovely to have you around here. This is the third instalment of a three-part series looking at how you can be more effective at selling ideas. If you haven’t seen the first two episodes(ONE & TWO) then go back and have a look. You’ll find links down there in the blurb.

In this episode, we’re looking at the last part of the process which is actually delivering the presentation. And we’ll look at how to do that in a way that will increase your chances of selling the idea.

Let’s not dilly dally. Let’s go for it!

KEEP IT HUMAN

I always think it’s a good idea to involve your audience as much as you can. There’s always a little bit of friendly “Hey! How are you doing? Lovely to see you. Have a good weekend?” kind of conversation at the beginning of a meeting. But don’t let that immediately stop and then switch into broadcast mode, where everything is going in that direction.

I think it’s much better to have a conversation. You know, show you care about your audience. Show that you’re actually interested in meeting their needs. Show that you’ve got common ground and a shared goal.

Ask them questions. Point to things that they’ve previously said. Show that you’ve considered them at every point in coming up with the idea.

If you’re wanting to create a more personal connection with your audience you also need to give a little bit away about yourself. Tell a story. Tell about how something has affected you personally. Tell what it was about your experience that went into the idea itself. That is what will make people far more interested in it and keep them engaged.

Business people make decisions on an emotional basis as well as a rational one.

So make sure that you build a connection.

EXPLAIN HOW TO JUDGE

The very purpose of your presentation is to get a positive response from your client. To get them going “yes” to your idea. And the way that we do that is to try and control the way that they judge the idea.

Now you can leave that to the hands of fate and to your client’s whim so that they will just judge it on however they’re feeling at the time or you can do what I recommend and you can show them how to judge the idea.

One way we do that is by recapping on the criteria that you’ve agreed at the very beginning. If you hadn’t seen the first episode of this maybe go back and watch where I talk about that.

But if you can show them the criteria and explain how the idea ticks off every single one of these, then you’re in a really good place. You’re basically looking to get the client nodding along all the way through going “Yes! I would love it if the idea did this”, “Yes! I’d love it if the idea did that”, so that when you present the idea, all the boxes are ticked and they go, “Boom! I get it. Fantastic!”

You want to build up the client’s expectations and then deliver on them.

ADDRESS THE OBJECTIONS EARLY

You should have a good list of potential client objections from the exercise I talked about in the last episode, as well as all the defences to make sure that these objections don’t kill the idea. Now, what I recommend you do is that you actually head those objections off before you talk about the idea.

So what you’re doing is you’re defending the idea before you actually present it. You’re talking about the potential flaws and actually turning them into positives so that the client is prepared for them and they’re ready for them.

That means when you present the idea they’re not going to end up with these negative objections niggling in their mind so that by the time they get to the end of the presentation their heads are just full of negativity. Instead they’ll be looking for these points. They’ll be seeing the positives in them. They’ll be prepared for them and that means that you’ve got their mind in a far better place to say “yes!”

HAVE A CLEAR CALL TO ACTION

Now this is pretty simple but it’s something that has been missing from a lot of presentations that I’ve been in. And that’s having a call to action. If you don’t ask the decision-maker what kind of decision you want them to make, there’s a good chance they won’t do it. So let them know.

Do you want them to release budget? Do you want them to give you approval? Do you want them to introduce you to someone higher up the chain? What is it you want out of them?

You need to know that in advance and don’t be afraid to ask for it. Because if you don’t, it probably won’t happen.

IS THE DECISION-MAKER IN THE ROOM?

The last question – this is something you should have asked long ago now – is the decision maker in the room?

If they are, that’s brilliant. Your job is to persuade them so they say “yes” to your idea. If they’re not in the room, you’ve got a very different job. It’s not to persuade the people in the room, it’s to equip the people in the room to sell the idea on your behalf.

To do that there’s two things I recommend:

The first is: give them the tools so that they can present persuasively with minimum preparation.

The second thing is: that you want to make them look good.

If presenting to the decision maker is going to make them look awesome they’re going to be motivated to do a better job for you.

OOOOOOH! CHECK THIS!

And I want to tell you about a tool that I’ve created to exercise some of your creative muscles. Particularly your storytelling and communication muscles. Because these are really important when it comes to being persuasive with your selling.

And the exercise is story dice. Some of you may already have played this with your kids. Now you’re able to play storydice in the browser. I’ve got a five dice version and a nine dice version. And if you want to have a look at this, which is a great way of building up your communication skills, then I’ve created another video that shows me using the tool to come up with a whole bunch of stories.

I hope you enjoy it. I hope you find it useful. Go and visit that. Again, link down there in the blurb.

But that’s all for me. If you like this video remember to give it the thumbs up. If you’ve got any comments, if you think of missed anything, then please tell me in the comments below. If you’ve not subscribed yet, subscribe. Click the little bell icon. Share it with your friends. All of the good stuff.

I’m going to be back with more videos. In the meantime, you, look after your beautiful brain!