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Speaking is one of the top ways to get new clients/customers. People get to know you and you instantly start building a trusted relationship. Now that’s the way to grow a business quickly! I made the following 3 mistakes when I first started putting together presentations. I don’t want you to do the same, so here we go!

Mistake #1: Didn’t Have a Presentation Template: Duh. Each time I put together a talk, I started from scratch staring at a blank page in Word. Now I have a system I use every time. While I don’t use Microsoft Powerpoint to give the presentation, I do use it to create my presentations. I can print out the “slides” to use as my notes. I like this system because it allows me to keep just one point per page and is large print for my over 40 eyes.

1. Create Your Title. Be sure it’s clear and enticing. Tell yourself in one sentence, what you want the audience to leave with at the end of the presentation -this is for your eyes only. It helps you have a clear intention for the presentation which will keep you focused on the end goal.

2. Get their attention right away. Have an opening that is powerful and tells them what they will leave with. I’ll use my upcoming teleseminar on “How to Create an Information Product That Sells” as an example. I’ll open with this “By the end of our time together today, you will be able to create your first information product in a week or less.”

3. Give them a roadmap of where you will take them. For example, “in the next hour, I will give you 3 powerful strategies that will tell you exactly how to complete your information product in a week or less.” The 3 strategies are: #1 choosing your topic, #2 choosing the format of your product and #3 resources to use to get it done.

4. Be real. I am authentic when I present. Yes, I position myself as an expert, but I’m an expert who learned from experience and I am there to help them shortcut many of the mistakes I made. While I rarely have jokes prepared, I do naturally weave in humor and warmth into my presentations. Be yourself. This will build relationship with ideal clients who want to work with YOU.

5. Have a strong close. Don’t say “In summary.” People tend to shut you off when you do. At the end of my talks, I give the audience a “call to action.” I ask a few participants to tell us what they plan to do as a result of the talk they just heard. And then I close with a final, powerful point.

Mistake #2: Didn’t Use Stories: I thought I had to give a presentation chock full of facts to show folks I knew what I was talking about. Boring! The next time you are in the audience, count how many stories the presenter tells. If she is good, when she feels the audience’s attention wander, she’ll pull out a story. A story captivates us. I now know the power of weaving in success stories of clients I’ve worked with. This not only gets the attention of the audience, it also reinforces that when they work with me, they too can have similar successes.

If you are just starting out and don’t have many of your client’s stories to tell, you can share stories from your own experiences and the stories of others. The Chicken Soup for the Soul book series is one place to collect stories. Keep your eye out when reading magazines and newspaper articles in your topic area and collect stories to use in future talks.

Mistake #3 Didn’t Collect Testimonials: Testimonials are another great marketing tool that don’t cost a dime! Have you ever purchased a service or product after you read some great testimonials? You can place a testimonial form in each person’s handout packet or on their seat. At the beginning of your presentation you can say that “if you feel you’ve benefited by this presentation, I’d appreciate it if you’d jot down a few specific things you received and what you will now do as a result of being here today.”

Or, if people come up to you during a break, or after your presentation, and say glowing things to you, jot down what they’ve said and ask if you can use their statements as a testimonial. Get correct spelling of their name and ask permission to use their city/state. Ask if they’d like free publicity by adding their website to the testimonial or their email address if they don’t have a website. Getting their photos is a powerful tool to add to the testimonials. And now, for those of you with websites, video testimonials are the newest thing. You can purchase an inexpensive video camera like the Flip Video Camcorder to do this.

The third and last part of this article will focus on how to market your presentations without spending a fortune.

Presentation folders – a must in today’s marketing:

The business world has become very competitive, and to stay in the run you need to market yourself with more effort and competence. Presentation folders can do incredible things for you if you take care to present your information clearly and purposefully for the interest of your prospects. Marketing your products or services would need you to put things in an organized way by putting things together with professionalism which reflects the credibility of your company. The information contained in your presentation folder needs to convey facts regarding your organization and what you offer. It should be in the interest of your customers, and the facts that you relate should point out how your products or services are beneficial to your prospective customers. Not only that, the presentation folder itself should be impressive enough for your customers to open it and find out more about your company.

What should presentation folders carry?

Your presentation folder should be able to tell your customers everything they want to know. They should be able to understand your business success, along with the products and services you offer. The information provided by you should be easily grasped by your prospects, and it should easily be translated into the benefits that they can get. The initial impression of your presentation is very important in order to get your prospective clients interested in what you do. Your presentation folder will have all the necessary information that your customers need and learn about you without having to flip through the review notes or hand-outs.

You can have your presentation folders customized to your requirement if you are purchasing in large quantities. This reduces cost drastically and you can have your company name and logo printed on these. Folders with your logo gets immediately recognized, and your customers know you by the logo on the presentation folders. Customization of presentation folders can also be done by adding a label or any other information, and even you could have the binding modified to your liking.

Presentation folder – an asset in your marketing campaign:

For any business, presentation folder is no doubt a requisite in any marketing campaign. You need to create an everlasting impression on your customers’ mind, and presentation folders are one of the best marketing tools available to put forward your credibility to your target customers. It is the best way to have your documents collated, and presented in an organized way for your prospects to take interest in what you are offering

No matter how you have your presentation folders designed, what is crucial is the information contained inside the folder. It is crucial since the key to your success is how you have put the information together, and how well it has been presented to your prospects. They are one of the key marketing tools that are used today in business representations. A presentation folder differs from a brochure in which you have a limitation of space. Presentation folders allow you to present your company and what you offer in greater detail, keeping in mind that whatever you convey must be in the interest of your customers.

Do you watch Dancing with the Stars? One of the three judges is Bruno Tonioli. Usually, I have a problem with him. Particularly when he addresses the contestants. It is at that time that he will usually express himself in a manner such as “You need to work on your rhythm. You looked like Shrek lumbering about for your dinner!”

PU-LEASE! Is that type of comment necessary? I hope you will agree it is not. Perhaps, in the style of Simon Cowell, they hope to boost ratings. But let’s take a look at it from a public speaking standpoint.

Tonight, Bruno said to one of the worst dancers, “You were on, you were off, your were on… You had a section in the middle where you were with the music, but you need to work on that. Work on staying with the music.”

Don’t you think that is better than, “You look like a broken juke box! Skipping and jumping and not keeping the rhythm.”

As a presenter, you can learn two things from this. First, connect with your audience. Don’t alienate them. If you can connect with your audience, they are more likely to listen, to consider, and maybe to see it your way. That is true whether you are evaluating them, or whether your are presenting a new business proposal or donation request.

Second, learn from evaluations. Learn from others’ evaluations wherever you find them. And if you can’t find them, do them yourselves. Evaluate people. Do it in your head if necessary. Get used to noticing the things that you yourself need to work on. Maybe even by noticing mistakes in others, you will notice that you have the same problem which you didn’t notice before.

It is similar to when you purchase a new car. Before you bought that car, whatever make or model, you didn’t notice that particular car on the road. But once you bought it, you notice every one on the road. The same goes with any type of expertise. The more you watch for it, the more you notice it, the more easily you pick it up in the future. This can be used to your advantage. Look for good and bad presentation techniques in others and you will start to notice them in yourself.

By the way, there is a term for that sensitivity. I heard it on the radio last month. Do you know what it is?