In this episode of Selling in Asia, Tom Abbott sits down with Spencer Waldron to discuss how to craft highly engaging virtual sales presentations. Spencer is Director of Global Brand Communications for Prezi – Where he masters the art of helping others communicate visually through storytelling and video. He is, of course, an expert in Presentations, Rhetoric, Data Visualisation, and also an International and Virtual Keynote Speaker.
Move your team from a state of fatigue, to a state of engagement.
Spencer Waldron, Prezi Director of Global Brand Communications
If you haven’t heard of Prezi already, where on earth have you been? Jokes aside, they’re pioneers in Presentation Software that utilizes motion, zoom, and spatial relationships to bring your ideas and stories to life, making you a great presenter.
Founded over 11 years ago, Prezi has come to rival Powerpoint as an alternative solution to non-linear story-telling. If that isn’t enough to pique your interest, consider that Prezi has more than 100 million users! Over the last 11 years, these users have created 325 million public presentations – viewed over 3.5 billion times.
We’ve been busy helping companies transition from in-person to virtual selling for the past few months. One of the main things we cover is how to keep virtual presentations engaging through your delivery and presentation materials, which is why we asked Spencer to share some of his top tips with us on the Selling in Asia podcast.
Virtual Sales Presentations are Conversational Presenting
Spencer and his team found that most businesses spend at least 20% of their preparation time tailoring their presentation for their prospective clients’ needs. However, this is incredibly inefficient. For instance, you may spend the first 10 minutes of your pitch discussing something that still isn’t relevant, at which point – you’ve already lost their interest.
Prezi allows prospective clients to ask for the information they actually need. Therefore an imperative aspect of the concept of Conversational Presenting to ask for directions. Overall, Prezi allows for complete control of the presentation’s construction.
No one wants to sit through a boring, static, and endless slide filled meeting – it’s just not engaging. Prezi champions using innovative and dynamic tools to ensure that potential clients emotionally connect with you, thereby more likely to follow through with a purchase.
The goal is to take the client on an emotional journey; what do you want them to think, feel, and do – Leverage how people feel connected to their needs.
Camera Confidence
All good things take time, which is why for most people, presentational confidence takes some time to develop, and that’s okay! Although the only real way to gain confidence is to get started, don’t wait for perfection. Dive into the deep end – otherwise, you might miss out on a potential client or deal.
You’ll make mistakes, that’s okay.
Spencer
“…but what if my prospect doesn’t want to connect their camera?” is a very valid and common question; If you can’t connect with your client visually, you’ll struggle to measure their engagement. Are they checking their emails? What’s their body language like? Are they… asleep?
Encourage them to connect with you; however, if they don’t, that’s also okay because you’ll notice that the next time you connect – so will their camera. This is why it’s crucial to create highly engaging virtual sales presentations.
Virtual Sales Presentation Best Practices
- Memory & Movement: Moving graphics gain attention and actually raise your prospects’ dopamine levels. However, ensuring they change frequently needs to be graceful to avoid your prospective client becoming overwhelmed.
- The 20% Rule: To give always give 20% more emphasis on your voice, movement, and facial expressions when connecting via video. This not only makes it easier to understand you but raising your voice to an unnatural level actually eliminates filler words.
- The Unseen: Everyone has a hidden emotional agenda; it’s perfectly normal. What happens in a prospective client’s day might affect their decisions, so it’s important to remember that trust is everything. Don’t ignore the signs; if they’re distracted, you can always suggest rescheduling to another time.
Also read: 9 Virtual Selling Best Practices To Host Effective Virtual Sales Meetings
Final Thoughts
Selling virtually is not a matter of just doing the same old sales pitch but online. You have to be highly organized and have tightly planned out presentations, so you don’t leave your prospect bored and disconnected.
That’s why we created our brand new Virtual Selling Course to help you engage, build rapport and sell virtually.