Seth Godin in his blog talked about 9 steps to a great Power Point presentation. Step 1 tells you not to use Power Point. Does that make sense?
Having closed new clients by cold calling, I would have to agree that sometimes you can do without a Power Point. One of the strongest openings is to do a brief (I mean 1 minute maximum) introduction of your company and then ask key questions about the other person’s business. Engaging my prospective customers in an interactive dialog helps me to understand their needs and better position our services and solutions.
Do you think Power Point is necessary?
Post your thoughts and ideas here. If you are someone who makes purchasing decisions, do you think that you must sit through a Power Point for at least 30 minutes?
If you are someone who is involved in sales, do you find that you need the Power Point to close the deal?
2 Responses to “Should we use Power Point? Your thoughts please.”
well, i think whether powerpoints are needed or not, it’s very much depends on the person. for example, i’m a visual person, there’s no way i can make a decision, at least not a good one, simply based on what i hear. I must look at comparisons, datas and graphics in order to be able to analyze.
Nope, it doesn’t make sense ….if the question is correctly defined, why would the omission of a PowerPoint presentation make a great PowerPoint presentation.
That said, PowerPoint or any visual tool can be a great utility to use for presentations where they are appropriate.
Sadly, many people tend to pack PowerPoint slides with too much data, making themselves redundant in the presentation process. The trick is to find a nice balance. If your audience is too busy reading your slide to listen to you, you’ve lost them.
This data-jamming in slides could be caused by the fear of presenting or their inability to succinctly communicate or encourage dialogue in presentations. I think it’s unfortunate that many have lost or haven’t learnt the art of persuasion by conversation.
A cold call is a totally different kettle of fish …..(assuming that the cold call refers to an actual phone call) you have about two minutes (max) to pique the listener’s interest. I’d actually do the introduction within 20 seconds, tops, if possible, then shift the dialogue to the listener, getting him/her to participate in a discussion.
So, to summarise …….yes, a PowerPoint is necessary ….when necessary.