You Don't Have To Have PowerPoint To Win

I am not a "techno whiz kid!" I never have been, and, to be frank, I have no particular desire to become one. Plus, I've never needed to be. You don't need to be one to put together a powerful and effective sales presentation that wows your client.

I have won business worth £60000 using just a flip chart and four colored pens. I have won business worth £40000 without leaving my seat - no PowerPoint, no flip chart, no colored pens - nothing! And I knew that the four competitors we were pitching against had been in with all-singing, all-dancing PowerPoint presentations.

In both these cases, I had employed a number of strategies during the sales process that allowed me to be entirely confident that I was right to do what I did and that I would win the business.

But, since you will probably use PowerPoint at some point, here are three great strategies for keeping your audience's attention on you, because YOU are the best visual aid you will ever have!

These three techniques will transform the way in which you interact with your slides and, as a result, will give enormous added value to your audience. And they will make you, without doubt, the center piece of your presentation.

1- The Center of Attention

If you want to be in control, be in the center. This is all about taking control of the space that you are going to be presenting in and arranging it in the way that will give you the best chance of success.

You need to be the center of attention, and the best way to do that is to put you physically in the center of the space. So, make sure that you are in the center and the screen is on the diagonal. If you are right-handed, it makes sense to have the screen on your right. Change it to the left if that is more comfortable for you. Whatever you decide, make sure the screen stays on the diagonal.

What are the advantages of this?

* It puts you at the center of your presentation

* It allows you to refer to the screen without your having to turn your back on your audience

* It means that however many people are in your audience, they can all see the screen. Have you ever been to a presentation where the presenter got in the way and you couldn't see the screen? You know how irritating it can be!

* All the angles point to you, so the message is, "Look at me."

2 - The '"WISH" Technique

This technique sets up the slide you are about to show in a fantastically effective way:

W - Warn - Tell your audience what you are about to show them

I - Inform - Tell them what you want them to pay attention to

S - Show - Show them the slide/visual

H - Hush!!! - Be quiet while they look at the slide and wait till they have finished

Here's an example:

W - "We're now going to turn our attention to the projected revenue for the first half of next year"

I - "I'd like you to notice particularly the upturn you can expect during March"

S - Show the slide/visual

H - Be quiet until you see that your audience has finished reading and is ready to listen to you again

This is a tremendously simple, yet powerful, formula. You do need to practice it, though. Make sure you do!

3 - The 3 T's

Now that you've got your audience paying attention to the right things at the right time, how do you interact most effectively with your slides? Easy..The 3 T's

* Touch or point to the slide/visual

* Turn to your audience to regain contact with them

* Talk to your audience, not the slide/visual

You can, of course, run this in reverse:

* Talk to your audience, not the slide/visual

* Turn to the slide/visual

* Touch or point to the slide/visual

The positive result of employing this technique is that you are always in contact with your audience when you're talking to them. No more talking to slides, no more audiences frustrated at not being able to see/hear the presenter. Simply, a better connection, a more powerful delivery and, for some audiences, a unique experience!