Bring Popcorn To Your Next Powerpoint - Imbed A Video Into Your Presentation

"Their eyes seem to glaze over anytime I mention showing our PowerPoint," said Paul. His concern was real and I soon found out why. "We have a presentation coming with a Fortune 50 company; I don't want them taking a nap during our presentation. We need to get and keep their attention," said Paul. "How can we do that, Joe?"

Paul's concern is common with a lot of my clients. Even though they have jam-packed their PowerPoint with information and they try their best not to be promotional in their presentation, they still found their clients being less than impressed.

One answer is to appeal to both sides of a prospect's presentation experience, by not only telling them facts but showing them an example. How? Embed a video right in the PowerPoint. A video that expands on the information you are telling and directly shows those benefits in action.

In this example, we knew that prospects had been having a hard time ordering and printing business cards. (Paul's company is printing) The prospects have to deal with all those names, different titles, different numbers and they are constantly changing with new hires, and promotions as well as people leaving.

So, not only did we tell about Paul's company in a PowerPoint, we did a video and showed the problem with business cards for a company and showed how a business card is processed and made. The end of the video showed how Paul's company had their own delivery trucks to assure that deliveries are in control and on time.

Prospects were impressed that Paul's company handled all facets of the production in house. So, what was the result? "We started writing business the same day we made the presentation, said Paul. "We had never done that before and I think it's because of your video."

Why..? A combination of choosing a topic that was common with most prospects, (business cards), while doing a PowerPoint presentation that was entertaining, engaging and relevant. We used a video that got their attention and told a story. It demonstrated a level of professionalism and sensitivity to keep client engaged and entertained. Prospects wanted to do business with the company right away.

So what principles do you need to remember when you do the video? Keep these following tips in mind;

• Video must have some type of story-Problem, what happens, end resolution

• No Talking Heads, please!!

• Have video complement/expand but not repeat presentation points

• Make sure you have good sound speakers for presentation-If your prospects can't hear clearly, it is a waste of good video

• End your presentation with the movie portion, have a memorable ending that tells them what you want your prospect to do next

PowerPoint presentations are so often dreaded because so many companies abuse them by not doing their homework, reading from the screen, etc. Put the POW back in your PowerPoint with an embedded video that shows them benefits you bring to their problem. You'll have an interested client that will want to go to the next step of buying from you.

Joe Large Freelance Business Writer from Indianapolis Specializing in Contracting industry & Writing/Producing Special Interest Videos