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Putting together presentations - General tips for Strategic Planners
A key maxim of branding is that all behaviour is symbolic. I think Livingston
the poet said it best; "We judge ourselves by what we're capable of, but
others judge us by what we've done". It's what you DO that counts.
Although strategic planners spend the majority of their time turning data
into information, they are judged on what they present.
I trust that these guidelines will help planners in the preparation of more
effective presentations.
When receiving a verbal brief, put down what you
think the deliverable/outcome is in an email to the
team. Also, if you do not email them once in a while
to give them the status of your progress, then expect
to receive hints and worried 'walk-ins' into your
office. People (a category client service often fall
into) feel insecure when they have no direct control
over their performance at a future event. They should
at least know 'how it's going'.
"I need a comstrat/research" can mean one of a
million things. That's why point 1 above is so important.
Do NOT assume that you know the outcome of your
research. In fact, always assume that you don't.
However, there are times when this is an exception
- e.g. when I was asked to test a radio ad, because
the client felt it was 'not working'. I listened
to the ad and proclaimed the test was over - the
ad did not convey anything comprehensible. I had
a good relationship with the CD at the time, and
we both agreed. End of story.
Build a network in the agency. Bouncing off slides
as you go along (to anyone) can make the job easier.
Just don't get addicted to it, because you would
then lose confidence in your own judgement.
The content
Just collect information - do not try and
see the relevance of the info or see where
it fits into the story. Besides the data on
file, also use AMPS (obviously choose rows
and columns that you believe to be 'maybe interesting'
- you can always throw it away or do another
run later). Also do a 'funnel search' i.e.
start wide with a basic search engine (Yahoo!
Or Google), and then drill down with any hits.
Also download all 'maybe relevant' case studies
from warc.com. Also search findarticles.com
any other database that might be relevant (or
you have paid access to). Current news articles
(as opposed to research) are easy to find -
I use Europe's ft.com. Specific advertising
sites are adage.com and advertising.utexas.com
(great site for things like quotes and general
planning info).
Prepare the opening slide of your presentation
- ie what you think (at that stage) the presentation
will cover (based loosely on the brief you
received).
Drop in those existing slides you have from
previous work that you think might have some
relevance. You now have an opening slide and
some additional slides from existing work (could
even be slides the client has supplied).
You will now only have a vague idea of where
you are going. If you feel you have clarity
at this stage, you're in dangerous water -
you cannot draw inferences from the disparate
pieces of information you have assembled.
Telling the story
The presentation is made up of a story
with a beginning, middle and an end.
This is the overall macro story, which
you will NOT see clearly at this stage.
You now need to review all the information
you collected into numerous micro stories,
i.e. each slide to tell a very clear
story. The structure of the slide depends
on the style of the presenter. The experience
of the planner can often be inferred
from that nature of the slide - all the
information in longhand is a planner
that has neglected the entertainment
aspect of the presentation. The advantage
is that all the information is there,
but you will need to wake up the audience
at the end of it. If you have a strong
storytelling style, you can then tell
an entire story (with beginning, middle
and end) with as little as one word on
a slide. This is a great quality to have,
but don't just email this to the team
(unless they have an intimate understanding
of your style), but either send with
detailed notes or take them through it.
Once you have done all your micro stories
(which should look like a hodgepodge of
unrelated slides), print them out and lay
them on a large table. Mark each slide
with a letter, depending where you think
it would fit in ('a' for the intro, 'b'
for the middle and 'c' for the conclusion)
and then redraft the presentation with
this order. The macro story now begins
to take form. Print out again if you like
and do the process once more.
Go over it in Presentation mode on the
computer and tweak as you go along.
Top with icing and serve.
About the author
Sid Peimer Dip Pharm MBA (UCT) is an incorrigible Strategic
Planner of dubious origin. Contact him now – brain
cells are going fast and quantities are limited!!
082 659 9167. sid.peimer@mweb.co.za .
