Mastering the Art of Oral Presentations

CHAPTER 3Presentation and Messaging PreparationKey Elements to Increase Your Win Probability

Your preparation work defines: (1) the key messages that you want the customer to understand and remember; (2) the competitive environment; (3) the customer’s environment; (4) the customer’s formal and informal buying criteria. These elements and the impact they have on your winning strategy must be reflected in both the formal presentation documentation and the accompanying script. As you prepare your formal documents, use your preparation work to evaluate the effectiveness of your presentation.

Your presentation should focus on five major messages:

1. We understand this job (show them) and we want to be your contractor/supplier.
2. We’ve done it, or very similar things, before (give examples).
3. Here’s how we will do it for you (show them).
4. Here’s how our approach benefits you (improved management, technical performance, cost, schedule, risk, quality).
5. Here’s why our approach is best (trade studies, comparisons, discriminators, ghosting, indirect messaging).

Select Content

If It Doesn’t Help You Win, Don’t Include It!

As you select content, focus on the items of the most interest to the customer. Be emphatic and try to put yourself in your customer’s position. Make sure your content completely and effectively addresses the following core elements that the customer will be looking for:

1. People. Is this team the one that I prefer to work with? Do they exude integrity? Can I trust them? ...