We’ve all heard people complain that with the rise of the smartphone era and social media, people simply don’t know how to talk to each other face to face. On one hand, new technology has allowed us to do sales in ways we never thought possible twenty years ago, and we’re able to connect with people across the world instantly. On the other hand, it is a little disheartening to see two people out to lunch who are just staring at their phones the whole time.
And maybe this loss of the ability to just connect with someone face to face has carried over into the sales world. We’ve all sat through presentations where the speaker just stared at his or her PowerPoint the whole time. It’s incredibly distracting, and in many cases it’s worse than if there hadn’t been any visual aid at all. Still, visual aids can be incredibly effective when used well. Here are a couple of on effectively using visual aids during sales presentation, from your friends here at Acquirent.
- Less is more. We touched upon this above, but too much focus on a PowerPoint can be super distracting. You’re making the sale, not the visual aid. Only put the key points, or something that needs more clarification one the slide. If everything you’re saying can be put on your aid, then why are you talking in the first place?
- Ditch the clip art. This isn’t your junior high social studies class—you don’t need to throw a picture on every page. Include relevant pictures, charts, or graphs, but only when they serve a purpose.
- Only leave the information up while it’s relevant. If you’ve moved past a topic, and no longer need the chart or slide, go ahead and take it down. It’s just going to distract the audience, who should be focused on you. Similarly, if you have handouts, hold off on passing them out until the end if possible. You want the audience to listen, not read.
- Be able to do your presentation without your aids. This is a big one. Technology can be fickle, and you’ve hate to be left out of luck if the internet cuts out of the computer won’t work. If your presentation can’t stand on its on, you need to rework it.
Following these easy steps will ensure that your visual aids do exactly what they’re meant to: aid your presentation. But don’t take our word for it—we like to let our decade of outsourced sales experience do the talking. Happy selling!
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