How to please the investor (and not only). 10 errors in the presentation of the project
Want to present as Steve Jobs? The art of presentations can be learned fairly quickly. But in the first speech, the mind becomes confused, and the narrator repeats all the typical mistakes. I collected the most obvious ones. These are not tips from smart books, but recent living experiences just like you. How to quickly make a presentation spectacular, and what kind of blunders should be avoided from the very beginning? With examples.
The most common mistake novice speaker. To keep within the allotted time is very difficult . Regardless of the format, be it 7, 5, 3, 2 minutes - you need to train very actively so as not to go beyond. At serious presentations, limits are strictly adhered to - a microphone will simply be taken away from you, it is not possible to keep within the limits of 30 seconds, if it is 5 minutes of presentation, and 15 seconds, if 2 minutes. It seems that 7 minutes is a lot, but even in such a generous restriction it is extremely difficult to meet. Try with a timer. If this is your first time, you will miss 2 minutes. To avoid this error, you need to run a presentation with a stopwatch many times at home. Honestly speaking every word. Trying in front of others. The actual presentation takes more time than the training, so you need to fit with a margin. To tell about the project in 3-5 minutes is more difficult than it seems. And the most important thing about the project is often at the end.
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It was : Good afternoon. My name is Alexey and today I will tell you about the project Skiing Online, designed for extreme winter sports enthusiasts who want to share multimedia content ... ... our monetization scheme [sorry, your time is up]
It became : Hi. I, Alexey, represent SkiOnline - a service for snowboarders ... ... our monetization scheme - partnerships with sports brands and contextual advertising ...
Do not overload the presentation. People (and especially investors) polls ADD - attention deficit disorder. No one can (and most importantly, does not want to) focus on complex structures. The presentation should consist of simple abstracts. About how you read long texts only in exceptional cases, people listen carefully only when they know in advance what will be interesting. You have not had time to interest, so be simple. What, who, why, why. Question - answer, thesis - the second - the third. The presentation should be clear and clear.
It was : a multimedia content sharing service for extreme sports communities
It became : Twitter for snowboarders
There is nothing sadder than reading from a slide. Written on the slide - and so it is written on it, they will read it, you are not on stage to voice the text. The slide and the story should complement each other, the text on the slide is needed so that you look at it for a second, remember what the slide is about, and tell it without looking. And for listeners, the slide helps to cling to the context, if they are distracted, and have just focused attention again. Pictures, numbers - yes. But the text is not for you. When reading from a slide, you don’t look into the audience, stray from the story line, speak monotonously without passion, forget what else was on that slide.
It was : Our competitive advantage ... uh ... responsive user interface ... uh ... powerful newsfeed functionality ... uh ... having a cat in the logo ... [forgot what he wanted to say, and the slide for 40 seconds was designed]
It became : Why will they use us ?! Our designers did not sleep at night and made a fantastic user-friendly interface - be sure to try it yourself! Look what a juicy ribbon, you can drag photos from one profile to another. But everything fades against the background of a cat - this is a guarantee of our success.
This is probably from books, but very important. You need to hook the audience. You can't just list dry facts, it's boring. Tell a story. How did you come up with the idea, or to whom and how it has already helped, something from the life of the project. History is a personal experience, it involves. Link a third-party story with the project. A coherent story is always more interesting than a report.
It was : Our service allows you to exchange messages with friends on a social network and others, taking into account the geographical coordinates of your current location
It became : Once I broke my leg, and there was no one to tell me where I am. If I had SkisOnline on my phone, I would have written “I broke my leg, help,” and all the skiers would see my message a mile away and come to the rescue
It is unlikely that you will be able to improvise at once, everyone memorizes the text of the presentation one way or another. The worst thing about memorizing is trying to retell word for word. Then any mistake knocks off the line and you are in a panic trying to return to the text, forgetting what you had to say. Up to the fact that instead of the original version of the phrase, you say another, and, noticing this, you correct to the “correct” one. In a combat presentation, the correct version is the one that you voiced (unless it is a factual mistake). They said “for skiers” instead of “snowboarders” - continue like this. This is not a reservation, but a different version of the phrase, do not correct it - it spoils the impression about the presentation. To avoid this - learn only the general scheme. What about a slide, what would you like to tell in it. Inside the slide - improvise on a given topic. Retelling memorized text is almost always worse and more dangerous.
Was : Twitter for snowboarders
It became : Facebook for skiers
In the hall are the same people as you. Especially investors - they are all great guys. Advanced, young, ordinary people. This is not a defense of the thesis in front of professors, they do not want to hear complex logical connectives, literary introductory constructions, and immersion in details. Tell as if you are telling friends.
It was : Three days ago the replication failed in the database and the service was unavailable for three hours, but the user data was saved and 90% was already transferred to the new storage
It became : Yesterday we had something, but we quickly fixed everything
Your slides nobody reads. Pictures look, and nobody reads texts. If they are longer than three words, and more than a few lines on the slide. Presentation slides should be many times more brief than the story, otherwise you can throw them out. A few very short statements in large print. No literary bundles, consider that you have a telegram, and each word costs 1000 rubles. And each character is 50 rubles. Each line - 5000. Well, you understand. Otherwise, there is no chance that someone will read what you have written, people are lazy.
It was : The intuitive user interface attracts people. In the news feed, you can drag pictures between profiles. The cat on the logo has to service
It became : Clear interface. Drag and drop images. Cat.
If the story is monotonous, you can fall asleep after the second slide. Even if you follow all the other points, without the correct intonation and accents, the listener will lose the thread. People need pauses and accents with a voice on important information. Speak loudly, clearly, and be especially expressive where it matters.
It was : Once I broke my leg, and no one had to say where I was. If I had SkisOnline on my phone, I would have written “I broke my leg, help me,” and the skiers on the slope would have rushed to help
It became : Once I broke my leg, and there was no one to tell me where I am. If I had SkisOnline (!) In my phone, I would WRITE “broke my leg”, AND THE SKIERS on the slope DID FOR HELP
You know what and why your service, but they do not. You have been living for a long time, and they never even went skiing. The most basic and unexpected things can be incomprehensible. An application for helping snowboarders is a guide to the slopes, or a guide to injury medicine, or an evacuation helicopter call button, or does it help to communicate with friends, or an online store ... what is help? If the main leisure of the audience is not skiing, but poker, you need to very clearly explain all the basic fundamentals of the project from scratch. For 3 minutes :). Tell more about what is interesting to a specific audience. Investors do not need your features, they need monetization, market size, promotion strategy, and development plans. And a clear understanding of why someone will use it. If you tell skiers, they need features on the contrary, they don’t care about the business model, but it’s just as important to understand why they want to use it.
It was : It will help you learn how to stand up to the edge, show you where to ride on the powder
It became : On the board is very difficult to learn to ride. Virtual coach in the application will help beginners to quickly master the board. More experienced skiers have a problem - to find a place to go outside the resort, away from the crowd. The application will prompt such places.
Good ways to attract attention - a joke, spontaneity, interactivity, provocation. Everyone has already mastered the slides with funny pictures and questions to the audience, this is already boring (but better this way than without it). Be one step ahead. Show self-irony, do something bright during the presentation, tell us about how you can use your service inappropriately. It’s not necessary to wave your hands and say “developers, developers, developers”. It is enough to tell how your service about ski-line was found on request crap online. And put a T-shirt on which you can then be found if you have questions after the presentation.
It was : SkisOnline the first application on request "skis android".
It became : SkisOnline first application on request skis. And once we were found at the request of crap online.
Bonus item. From excitement it is difficult to be yourself, but if it works, it is captivating. When the formality is not felt in the story - this is the best thing that will help attract people to yourself. Be yourself. More passion! Everyone will be interested if you are genuinely interested, and you believe in what you are doing.
Timing
The most common mistake novice speaker. To keep within the allotted time is very difficult . Regardless of the format, be it 7, 5, 3, 2 minutes - you need to train very actively so as not to go beyond. At serious presentations, limits are strictly adhered to - a microphone will simply be taken away from you, it is not possible to keep within the limits of 30 seconds, if it is 5 minutes of presentation, and 15 seconds, if 2 minutes. It seems that 7 minutes is a lot, but even in such a generous restriction it is extremely difficult to meet. Try with a timer. If this is your first time, you will miss 2 minutes. To avoid this error, you need to run a presentation with a stopwatch many times at home. Honestly speaking every word. Trying in front of others. The actual presentation takes more time than the training, so you need to fit with a margin. To tell about the project in 3-5 minutes is more difficult than it seems. And the most important thing about the project is often at the end.
')
It was : Good afternoon. My name is Alexey and today I will tell you about the project Skiing Online, designed for extreme winter sports enthusiasts who want to share multimedia content ... ... our monetization scheme [sorry, your time is up]
It became : Hi. I, Alexey, represent SkiOnline - a service for snowboarders ... ... our monetization scheme - partnerships with sports brands and contextual advertising ...
Simple Theses
Do not overload the presentation. People (and especially investors) polls ADD - attention deficit disorder. No one can (and most importantly, does not want to) focus on complex structures. The presentation should consist of simple abstracts. About how you read long texts only in exceptional cases, people listen carefully only when they know in advance what will be interesting. You have not had time to interest, so be simple. What, who, why, why. Question - answer, thesis - the second - the third. The presentation should be clear and clear.
It was : a multimedia content sharing service for extreme sports communities
It became : Twitter for snowboarders
Don't read from slides
There is nothing sadder than reading from a slide. Written on the slide - and so it is written on it, they will read it, you are not on stage to voice the text. The slide and the story should complement each other, the text on the slide is needed so that you look at it for a second, remember what the slide is about, and tell it without looking. And for listeners, the slide helps to cling to the context, if they are distracted, and have just focused attention again. Pictures, numbers - yes. But the text is not for you. When reading from a slide, you don’t look into the audience, stray from the story line, speak monotonously without passion, forget what else was on that slide.
It was : Our competitive advantage ... uh ... responsive user interface ... uh ... powerful newsfeed functionality ... uh ... having a cat in the logo ... [forgot what he wanted to say, and the slide for 40 seconds was designed]
It became : Why will they use us ?! Our designers did not sleep at night and made a fantastic user-friendly interface - be sure to try it yourself! Look what a juicy ribbon, you can drag photos from one profile to another. But everything fades against the background of a cat - this is a guarantee of our success.
tell me a story
This is probably from books, but very important. You need to hook the audience. You can't just list dry facts, it's boring. Tell a story. How did you come up with the idea, or to whom and how it has already helped, something from the life of the project. History is a personal experience, it involves. Link a third-party story with the project. A coherent story is always more interesting than a report.
It was : Our service allows you to exchange messages with friends on a social network and others, taking into account the geographical coordinates of your current location
It became : Once I broke my leg, and there was no one to tell me where I am. If I had SkisOnline on my phone, I would have written “I broke my leg, help,” and all the skiers would see my message a mile away and come to the rescue
Do not retell or correct
It is unlikely that you will be able to improvise at once, everyone memorizes the text of the presentation one way or another. The worst thing about memorizing is trying to retell word for word. Then any mistake knocks off the line and you are in a panic trying to return to the text, forgetting what you had to say. Up to the fact that instead of the original version of the phrase, you say another, and, noticing this, you correct to the “correct” one. In a combat presentation, the correct version is the one that you voiced (unless it is a factual mistake). They said “for skiers” instead of “snowboarders” - continue like this. This is not a reservation, but a different version of the phrase, do not correct it - it spoils the impression about the presentation. To avoid this - learn only the general scheme. What about a slide, what would you like to tell in it. Inside the slide - improvise on a given topic. Retelling memorized text is almost always worse and more dangerous.
Was : Twitter for snowboarders
It became : Facebook for skiers
Keep it simple
In the hall are the same people as you. Especially investors - they are all great guys. Advanced, young, ordinary people. This is not a defense of the thesis in front of professors, they do not want to hear complex logical connectives, literary introductory constructions, and immersion in details. Tell as if you are telling friends.
It was : Three days ago the replication failed in the database and the service was unavailable for three hours, but the user data was saved and 90% was already transferred to the new storage
It became : Yesterday we had something, but we quickly fixed everything
People don't read
Your slides nobody reads. Pictures look, and nobody reads texts. If they are longer than three words, and more than a few lines on the slide. Presentation slides should be many times more brief than the story, otherwise you can throw them out. A few very short statements in large print. No literary bundles, consider that you have a telegram, and each word costs 1000 rubles. And each character is 50 rubles. Each line - 5000. Well, you understand. Otherwise, there is no chance that someone will read what you have written, people are lazy.
It was : The intuitive user interface attracts people. In the news feed, you can drag pictures between profiles. The cat on the logo has to service
It became : Clear interface. Drag and drop images. Cat.
Place accents
If the story is monotonous, you can fall asleep after the second slide. Even if you follow all the other points, without the correct intonation and accents, the listener will lose the thread. People need pauses and accents with a voice on important information. Speak loudly, clearly, and be especially expressive where it matters.
It was : Once I broke my leg, and no one had to say where I was. If I had SkisOnline on my phone, I would have written “I broke my leg, help me,” and the skiers on the slope would have rushed to help
It became : Once I broke my leg, and there was no one to tell me where I am. If I had SkisOnline (!) In my phone, I would WRITE “broke my leg”, AND THE SKIERS on the slope DID FOR HELP
Tell people in the room
You know what and why your service, but they do not. You have been living for a long time, and they never even went skiing. The most basic and unexpected things can be incomprehensible. An application for helping snowboarders is a guide to the slopes, or a guide to injury medicine, or an evacuation helicopter call button, or does it help to communicate with friends, or an online store ... what is help? If the main leisure of the audience is not skiing, but poker, you need to very clearly explain all the basic fundamentals of the project from scratch. For 3 minutes :). Tell more about what is interesting to a specific audience. Investors do not need your features, they need monetization, market size, promotion strategy, and development plans. And a clear understanding of why someone will use it. If you tell skiers, they need features on the contrary, they don’t care about the business model, but it’s just as important to understand why they want to use it.
It was : It will help you learn how to stand up to the edge, show you where to ride on the powder
It became : On the board is very difficult to learn to ride. Virtual coach in the application will help beginners to quickly master the board. More experienced skiers have a problem - to find a place to go outside the resort, away from the crowd. The application will prompt such places.
Joke and be recognizable
Good ways to attract attention - a joke, spontaneity, interactivity, provocation. Everyone has already mastered the slides with funny pictures and questions to the audience, this is already boring (but better this way than without it). Be one step ahead. Show self-irony, do something bright during the presentation, tell us about how you can use your service inappropriately. It’s not necessary to wave your hands and say “developers, developers, developers”. It is enough to tell how your service about ski-line was found on request crap online. And put a T-shirt on which you can then be found if you have questions after the presentation.
It was : SkisOnline the first application on request "skis android".
It became : SkisOnline first application on request skis. And once we were found at the request of crap online.
Be yourself
Bonus item. From excitement it is difficult to be yourself, but if it works, it is captivating. When the formality is not felt in the story - this is the best thing that will help attract people to yourself. Be yourself. More passion! Everyone will be interested if you are genuinely interested, and you believe in what you are doing.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/161135/
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