By using a presentation in the right way, you can persuade people.

Persuading people of a good idea, a strong product or an innovative vision often happens by means of a (PowerPoint) presentation. The presentation is at the same time often the first impression you give of yourself and your company. So you had best make and deliver that presentation well.

A few strong tips for giving a good sales presentation:

1) Never read out your slides

Nothing is as annoying as having to listen to someone who merely reads out slides.

It seems so obvious yet it still happens so often. With it you lose contact with the people who want to listen and therefore any interest in your story. The best way to persuade your audience is by looking at your audience (eye contact) and bringing your story convincingly in a clear voice. And you will not manage that if you yourself are staring at a screen.

2) Involve your audience

Too many presentations are lost because no account is taken of what people want to hear.

In a sales conversation you are usually at the table with only one or a few people. Because most presentations are built up in a linear way, the slides follow one another linearly. With that, the content of the conversation is therefore determined by the order of the slides. Make sure your presentation is built up interactively so that you can navigate seamlessly through your presentation based on the content of the conversation.

3) Ask questions

A good salesperson does not only talk a lot but asks even more questions. It promotes dialogue during the presentation and you find out what your audience is really interested in. Avoid 'Yes' and 'No' questions in the process. By asking questions you find out what your audience wants to hear and you can tailor your presentation to that.

4) Final Slide

Make sure the last slide in your presentation has a summarising content.

After an introduction with your PowerPoint presentation, a conversation will undoubtedly follow and questions will come. Often your name and email address are on the last slide. But that information is also on the business card you handed over, isn't it? Put on your last slide a summary of the message you have given. Or repeat the USPs of your service, company or product. If questions then come, you can fall back on that slide and refer to your strengths.

5) Handout

Create an extra contact moment by sending your hand-outs.

If you give a company presentation, the company brochure is in principle the hand-out you leave behind. If you have tailored your presentation to your conversation partner and still want to leave the slides behind, then make sure you leave the right slides behind. After the conversation / introduction, make a PDF of the presentation that contains only those slides that are relevant for your conversation partner. With that you also create a follow-up contact moment.