break the rules of presentations

This is Steve

Steve is a Sales Engineer

Hi, Allan Clark, CEO of CSS Inc., nice to meet you.

This is Steve’s boss

Selling complex software solutions is a tough job!

You get only one chance…

…to convince your customer to buy

We have to avoid making mistakes at any cost!

There is no room for error

Good presentations are The key to success!

So CSS Inc. invested a lot of money and effort in presentations

Made by the world’s top-designers

They’ve developed a fancy slidedeck..

…in company standards

It contains standard slides to make sure Steve tells the important stuff…

..and some optional slides to fill in customer specific content

CSS Inc. also invested in Steve’s presentation skills..

…and sent him to presentation school

“Standup straight with your feet slightly apart”

“Slow down and lower your voice when you make

your point”

“Do not cross your arms”

“Hands out of your

pockets!”

Steve has learned all the rules about presentations..

According to presentations they will play it safe!

But…

Good presentations are not about safety!

Presentations following rules are destined to fail!

When you look back in history..

..all great scientists..

..all great artists..

..and all great speakers..

..have one thing in common:

They broke the rules!

So here’s my message to Steve & Allan

Rules might be necessary when writing great software..

..but when it comes to writing great presentations:

Don’t ask yourself which rules to follow…

..but ask yourself which rules to break!

arthur@excellentpresenteren.nl

www.excellentpresenteren.nl

Arthur Sevenstern

15: flickr/Evelyn Proimos/Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas

19: flickr/姒儿喵喵/Prohibiting Sign 22: flickr/Marc Evans/Creation of Adam 22: flickr/Freeparking/Rembrandt van Rijn 22: flickr/Herry Lawford/Van Gogh 22: Wikimedia Commons/Jack Mitchell/Andy Warhol 22: flickr/Christine/David Bowie as Aladdin Sane 1973 22: flickr/Anirudh Koul/Lady Gaga Concert (Pittsburgh) – Lady Gaga with the Piano Limo 23: flickr/MAMJODH/Leonardo da Vinci self portrait 23: Wikimedia Commons/Sir Godfrey Kneller/Isaac Newton 23: Wikimedia Commons/Unknown/Nicolaus Copernicus 23: Wikimedia Commons/Official 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics photograph/Albert Einstein 23: Wikimedia Commons/Starchild Learning Center/Stephen Hawking 24: Wikimedia Commons/Gunnar Bach Pederson/Marcus Tullius Cicero, by Berthel Thorvaldsen as copy from Roman original 24: Wikimedia Commons/Hans Holbein the Younger/Portrait of Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam with renaissance pilaster 24: Wikimedia Commons/Malay Wikipedia/Nostradamus 24: Wikimedia Commons/Georg Frierich Schmoll/Johann Wolfgang Goethe 28 jun 1774 24: Wikimedia Commons/Imperial War Museum Collection/Winston Churchill 24: Wikimedia Commons/Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division/Martin Luther King jr. by Walter Albertin 24: Wikimedia Commons/Unknown/Official Portrait of President Ronald Reagan 24: Wikimedia Commons/Marc Nozell/Senator Barack Obama campaigning in New Hampshire 30: flickr/umjanedoan/Law books on a shelf Other images are author’s collection or acquired from istockphoto.com

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