This is the 2nd Installment in a series on making BIG LEAGUE PITCHES, powerful, persuasive presentations, it is loosely based on Jerry Weissman's book "Presenting to Win" from which I put together a 10 Step Checklist for Presentations. I am explaining these 10 steps through the phases of a sales Model - KNOW YOUR PRODUCT, KNOW YOUR MARKET, PRESENT OPPORTINITIES, CLOSE SALES. Part 1 is available here.

In Part 1 we talked about KNOWING YOUR PRODUCT and looking at all the information you have to present to determine what ACTIONABLE Point you want to convey, and to distill out the most important clusters of information for getting your audience to this conclusion.

Now we will talk about KNOWING YOUR MARKET. Who are you presenting to, and more importantly, WHY DO THEY CARE? Jerry talks about building in WIIFYs - that's "What's In It For You" where YOU = The Audience. If you understand what the reward for the audience is, you're able to motivate them to stay focused on you and your presentation and persuade them to your conclusion. With each of the clusters of information you have selected as the main points of your presentation you should apply the following tests.

SIX “WHATS IN IT FOR YOU” (WIIFY) TRIGGERS
1. This is important to you because… (presenter fills in blank)
2. What does this mean to you? (presenter explains)
3. Why am I telling you this? (presenter explains)
4. Who cares? (This is why YOU should care)
5. So what? (Here’s the implications of these facts)
6. And…? (Here’s What’s in it For YOU)

DO NOT Assume the audience can put it together for themselves. They probably can, but that's work, and if they work they aren't focused on YOU, and they can't put it together as fast as you're talking. EXPLAIN in SIMPLE TERMS the Benefit to the audience as you present facts. "This software is very user friendly..." the WIIFY seems pretty obvious, but why not take it one step further. "You will find this software easy to use, eliminating frustration with the interface." In sales we talk about Features vs. Benefits, and this is the same concept, explain how the features translate into benefits for the audience.

Step3 is Testing your clusters with WIIFYs - combined with the first 2 steps: Determining your Point B and Distilling your information you have successfully solved MOST of the problems with MOST presentations...you have a clear point, you have clear audience benefit, it's not too detailed, and you can end in an appropriate amount of time. PHEW!

This is all done before you really even begin putting together your presentation. In fact the primary key to success with presentaitons is PLANNING, doing your work in advance...this checklist will help you to do that.

Next we'll talk about PRESENTING OPPORTUNITIES and the meat of your presentation, the Opening, the Body, and the Closing. Leave comments on some examples of advertising (clearly meant to be a persuasive presentation) that made the mistake of presenting FEATURES and not building in a WIIFY to make it a benefit...in radio I can't help but think of the example of the HD radio commercials that spent lots of time talking about different things HD radios could do, but they left it to the audience to translate that into a real benefit, and as such, HD radios have gone NOWHERE. What examples can you think of?

I recently did a presentation on presentations and thought I would share...it's basically a book report of Jerry Weissman's great book "Presenting to Win."

Like a lot of people reading this, I know I am a good presenter, and have no apprehension about public speaking, but from this book I was able to distill 10 steps to executing BIG LEAGUE PITCHES every time. Presentation skills are one of the most valuable assets in Modern Society (Oprah made $260 MILLION last year) so using these 10 steps will increase your earning power.

This is not a list of things you already know like "don't fidget, don't say 'umm'" Instead it's a checklist or formula to make sure EVERY pitch is persuasive.

Jerry organizes his book around the 4 major mistakes and the associated cardinal rules of presenting that solve the problems.

PROBLEMS / SOLUTIONS
No Point /Begin with the end in Mind; What’s your Point B?
Too Detailed / Distill in Advance; What are your main clusters?
No Audience Benefit / WIIFY “What’s in it for You” (the Audience)?
No Flow / Flow Structure; What structure are you using?
Too Long / 30 Minutes; 45 Max without a break.

From this I distilled the checklist:
TEN STEPS TO DEVELOPING WINNING PRESENTATIONS
Step1 – Determine your Point B
Step2 – Data Dump, Distill the important information and determine the main Clusters
Step3 – Test Clusters with WIIFYs, Refine
Step4 – Determine your Flow Structure
Step5 – Develop content linkages
Step6 – Develop Visual elements and linkages.
Step7 – Develop your Opening – Gambit, USP, Proof of Concept, Point B, Overview
Step8 – Rehearse, Verbalize, Build in WIIFYs
Step9 – Add a dash of sizzle
Step10 – Develop external linkages to keep it fresh

My summary above contains some words and phrases you may not be familiar with - I'll explain from the perspective of a simple sales model. In sales it's important to KNOW YOUR PRODUCT, KNOW YOUR MARKET, PRESENT OPPORTUNITIES, AND CLOSE SALES.

I'll address the ten steps going through each of those beginning with KNOW YOUR PRODUCT.

KNOW YOUR PRODUCT
The most common mistake with presentations is that they become what Jerry calls a 'Data Dump.' A very long, detailed, outpouring of information. This stems from the belief that all the details are important. The result is a meandering, boring, ineffective presentation to glassy eyed audiences who leave wondering what the point was. The solution is PLANNING.

STEP1 - What's your Point B?
Persuasive Presentations (what most of us are involved with) are about moving people from Point A to Point B, so BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND - What's your Point B? Is it the superior absorbancy of your paper towels, or the virtues of your software? Those are opinions, you need to translate them into ACTIONS that result in a BENEFIT. By USING my paper towels your housework will be easier. BUYING my software will solve your scheduling problems and get you a promotion. It's important to know what your point is, translated into action; relate that action to a benefit: EVERYTHING in your presentation should be focused on taking the audience to this- the POINT B.

STEP2 - Data Dump, Distilling into clusters.
Once you know your Point B, it becomes easier to sift through the mountains of things you could talk about to determine what is neccessary to take the audience from Point A to Point B. Strip it down to the BARE BONES, don't make the audience think or wonder how this story is related to your Point B. The fact that you stayed up till midnight designing the software and you figured out the problem with the data architecture by comparing it to the stacked up Pizza Boxes outside your office might be interesting to you, but if it doesn't direct them towards Point B, TAKE IT OUT!

Jerry recommends brainstorming in a freeform way to get out everything that COULD be relevant, and then clustering the information into groups, and then selecting out the groups that most strongly support your Point B. Then build these into what he calls "Roman Columns" - clusters of information. Then refine these clusters to glean out the MOST relevant details.

Guy Kawasaki (Rich Dad, Poor Dad) and others espouse a 10-20-30 rule for presentations. 10 Slides, 20 Minutes, 30pt size or larger font on every slide. Given that goal, distill the data into the sharpest points.

In Part 2 AVAILABLE HERE We'll talk about WIIFYs and KNOWING YOUR MARKET...but first, comments - what good books have you read that have improved your presentation skills?