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One of the things I’ve always hated is reading planning decks filled with charts and graphs.
Don’t get me wrong, it is very important to ensure your strategy is grounded in truth, but pages and pages of data and percentages says you lack confidence in what you’re saying rather than you have a conviction for it.
There are so many tips and tricks to ‘presenting’ strategy – of which I’ll be talking about some of them at the upcoming HOALA conference in Amsterdam – but having a story that takes the audience on the journey of your strategy in a way that both excites and informs is the absolute basic requirement.
Excites … because if the recipient doesn’t see the potential for what’s in it for them, then there’s no point presenting.
Informs … because if they don’t see it baked in reality, then they will regard all you’re doing as trying to sell fantasy.
I’ve seen far too many presentations that only deliver on one of those attributes and the reality is the work either never gets made or you wish it never was made and that’s why getting someone to buy your strategy requires real thought and ‘beating up’ before you commit anything to paper/powerpoint/keynote/film because as Ronald Reagan said, if you’re explaining, you’re losing.
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I assume you mean real facts not alternative ones.
Comment by Bazza April 5, 2018 @ 6:20 amI was first to comment. Fact.
Comment by Bazza April 5, 2018 @ 6:21 ambigger achievement than the iphone x.
Comment by andy@cynic April 5, 2018 @ 6:49 amunless you send me a freebie you right fuck.
I can’t work out why I haven’t got you product.
Comment by Bazza April 5, 2018 @ 7:06 am“If it’s not an iPhone, it’s product.”
Comment by John April 5, 2018 @ 7:17 amThanks for getting me fired John.
Comment by Bazza April 5, 2018 @ 8:06 amwell done on getting baz fired doddsy. this wouldnt have happened if hed flashed the goods in my direction. let that be a fucking lesson to you baz.
Comment by andy@cynic April 5, 2018 @ 8:19 amat the very least, planners have to make percentages sound exciting to the poor bastards who have to do something with the fucking things.
Comment by andy@cynic April 5, 2018 @ 6:51 amjust realised why you never say percentages. because you got 2% in your maths exam and dont know how to do the fuckers.
Comment by andy@cynic April 5, 2018 @ 6:52 amby the way campbell, 2% is not good.
Comment by andy@cynic April 5, 2018 @ 6:53 amIt is in Nottingham.
Comment by John April 5, 2018 @ 7:01 amIf Nottingham schools taught maths in relation to counting stolen money, Rob would have achieved 100%.
Comment by DH April 5, 2018 @ 7:15 amThat’s not the main reason I don’t feature %’s in my presentations – it’s more to do with wanting the audience to truly understand and feel what the implication or quantification of what I’m saying is – but I won’t deny it’s part of the reason.
Comment by Rob April 5, 2018 @ 8:26 amyou expect me to believe that shit?
Comment by andy@cynic April 5, 2018 @ 11:08 amAnother tip for planners. Don’t make your presentations as long as War & Peace.
Comment by DH April 5, 2018 @ 7:16 amYou’re welcome.
Yep. Absolutely. Though how ‘long’ a deck should be – in terms of pages – is always a dangerous way to evaluate things. For me, a presentation should be as short as it takes to get the point you need to make, understood and accepted. That’s it. There may be occasions where that is just 1 slide, others 100 … but if it’s 100, you better be solving World Peace with it. Or taking 15 mins to go through it.
Comment by Rob April 5, 2018 @ 8:31 amI’ve seen you do 100 slides in 10 minutes. It even made sense. It was the point I decided you were OK at this planning presentation lark.
Comment by DH April 5, 2018 @ 8:57 amyou fucking sellout dave.
Comment by andy@cynic April 5, 2018 @ 9:20 pm