No-one wanted the downturn but it’s here.
Now more than ever, your sales presentation must be perfect. The number of things that can go south on you is close to infinite.
It is vital that you do a dry run before the big day and another the day of the event.
I have seen people fail and fall on their arses because they didn’t completely 100 per cent test everything.
- Fresh batteries
- Extra power cords
- Take into account time zones
- HDMII/DVI/VGA adapters. Old projectors are still installed everywhere.
- A very long HDMI cable of your own so you can bypass the local AV system
- Your own new dry erase markers
- A mobile phone you can use as an internet connection
- Double check the web meeting address and phone number
- If you need amplification have two microphones and functioning. Ever notice how with photos of astronauts they have two microphones inside their space suits? It’s not for stereo, it’s in case something goes wrong.
Have a user account on your laptop just for presentations. Ideally you have a dedicated laptop in a dedicated laptop bag with all of your cables and adaptors.
- This user account should have a neutral background, not a photo of your family vacation
- No software must be running on this account except your presentation software.
- Disable any services that may interrupt you like messengers. During your presentation you don’t want notifications from your mother in law showing up.
- Your presentation laptop must be stable. Do not run software updates before your presentation unless you have the time to re-test all of your software. This is not the time to learn the OS update has disabled the laptop’s Wi-Fi.
Finally, have three copies of your presentation file: one on your laptop, on USB and in your e-mail that has already been downloaded – There’s no time for GDrive, Dropbox or Sharepoint comedy.
There is nothing worse than being at a podium having to explain to your audience that a major part of your pitch can’t be shown because you are missing a dollar store connector.