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Used wisely, technology is a boon to advisors. But technology that inundates your prospects with data can be deadly.
The most-widely used presentation tool is PowerPoint. A whiteboard (which permits nonpermanent markings on a glossy surface) is a close second. Both tools can sometimes be effective in large group settings. In smaller meetings – and particularly in one-on-one presentations – they are sales killers.
You can find thousands of books and articles about improving your PowerPoint presentations. Ignore all of them and adopt this rule instead: Never use PowerPoint in a one-on-one presentation or a small group setting. Putting up a wall between you and your customer is the worst possible way to make a sales presentation. In fact, the term “sales presentation” is a misnomer. You don’t want to present anything. You want to listen, understand and respond to the needs of your prospects.
What’s the first thing you think of when someone stands up and launches into a presentation? For me, it’s school. I sat quietly while instructors lectured me. Often, there was little or no interaction. They talked. I listened.
Do you really want your prospects to have the same feelings you had during those lectures: “When will this end?”
It’s not easy to establish an emotional connection with your prospects. PowerPoint makes it more difficult. It permits you to overwhelm them with data they will not retain, and it inhibits genuine listening on your part, since you will be doing all the talking.
When PowerPoint may be effective – and how to use it
There are limited scenarios when PowerPoint may have a positive role in presentations to larger groups. If you want to share information that can be more easily summarized using graphs and charts, or if a picture can convey your message more effectively, then use PowerPoint.
If you’re in a situation in which PowerPoint may be an effective tool, here’s how to best use it to your advantage.
Use a professional designer. If you are speaking to a large group, you are making an important presentation. Using standard templates dilutes your impact. A professional designer will use higher-quality photography and more engaging layouts. Professionals also understand the impact of different colors and patterns. The overall design will be far superior to anything you could do on your own.
Make your presentation fun and playful. A director friend once told me, “First you entertain, then you educate.” There’s wisdom in those words. If your audience is bored, they won’t pay attention to anything you present. Be creative. Inject humor in your slides when possible. In one presentation about investing that I made to a large group, I used cartoon-like characters in my slides to illustrate my points. It was very effective.
Of course, don’t get carried away with your comedic efforts. You are (most likely) not a professional comedian. You don’t want to come across as trying too hard to be something you aren’t. You also don’t want to distract your audience from your core message. Be sure that your humor will not offend anyone in your audience.
Limit text. How many times have you attended a PowerPoint presentation where each slide was filled with a list of bullet points? Depending on where you were sitting, it may have been impossible to read the text. If the text mirrors what the speaker is saying, then the slide Is pointless. Putting too much text on PowerPoint slides is the most common misuse of the software. Your slides should show pictures or graphics, with as little text as possible. The best PowerPoint presentations I have attended had no text on the slides at all.
Issues with whiteboards
What about using the manual whiteboard in small settings? It suffers from the same problems as PowerPoint:
- It encourages speaking instead of listening.
- It encourages speaker to convey significant amounts of data that is difficult to process.
- It discourages communicating feelings and emotions.
- It encourages one-way communication, which practically ensures miscommunication and a lack of understanding.
- It’s boring, because the listener has to wait for you to write on the whiteboard. Have you ever seen a presenter go to the whiteboard and write something really obvious on it, like “I will be making five important points today”? While the presenter is doing that, what are you thinking? If you’re like me, your thoughts range from “This is going to be long and boring” to “I can’t believe the presenter feels the need to actually write that down. Does she think I’m an idiot?”
Are these the impressions you want your prospects to have about you?
A better way
Whenever it is necessary to present data, remember this: Data without an emotional connection are unlikely to be retained, even if understood. Data with an emotional connection are likely to be retained, understood and valued.
This means that presenting abstract data on investing (historical risk and returns, standard deviations, active versus passive investing, etc.) are unlikely to be retained and should not be presented without an emotional hook.
Follow these tips for connecting financial data to emotions:
- Make the data address a problem your prospects can relate to, like saving for retirement.
- Make the data relate to something personal in their lives: "When your son is ready for college, based on historical returns, your account should have a value ranging from $X to $Y."
- Relate the data to achieving a goal, like permitting your prospects to retire at a given age.
- Address your prospects’ fears or anxieties. For example, use a Monte Carlo analysis to show them how unlikely it is that they will run out of money during their lifetimes.
- Relate the data to achieving a lofty goal. Maybe they want to set up a foundation and give away money during their lifetime, or leave a large legacy after their death. If so, show them how you can help them achieve these goals.
When I was trying jury cases as an attorney, a more experienced lawyer gave me this tip after observing my closing argument: “You are talking at the jury. You should be having a conversation with them.” It was sound advice that I never forgot.
When you are presenting data to a prospect or client, you don’t need PowerPoint or a whiteboard. Just have a conversation.
Dan Solin is the director of investor advocacy for the BAM Alliance and a wealth advisor with Buckingham Asset Management. He is a New York Times best-selling author of the Smartest series of books. His latest book, The Smartest Sales Book You'll Ever Read, has just been published. He consults with corporations and advisory firms on ways to improve their sales.
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