There’s no consensus on whether you should use PowerPoint in your sales pitches. Some people find it extremely helpful, others hate it. If you find it helps you structure your pitch then by all means use it. But be warned against the potential pitfalls – the time taking setting it up, the fact that it can make the conversation slightly less personal and more formal, and the danger of becoming dependent on it. You should be able to do your pitch without it. That way if the worst happens and it doesn’t work, you’ll be able to put on an impressive performance in adverse circumstances.
Keep the PowerPoint presentation short and sweet and don’t include too many slides. More than ten is usually too many. Also make sure you’re not putting too much information on each slide. Everything should be concise, clear, and immediately understandable. If your customer is reading the slides, then they’re not listening to you. For the same reason, don’t hand out printouts of the slides until the end of the meeting.
Also be warned against the presentation looking amateur and ruining your professional image; it could be worth getting a professional to design your slide templates for you if you will be using PowerPoint a lot.
Keep the PowerPoint presentation short and sweet and don’t include too many slides. More than ten is usually too many. Also make sure you’re not putting too much information on each slide. Everything should be concise, clear, and immediately understandable. If your customer is reading the slides, then they’re not listening to you. For the same reason, don’t hand out printouts of the slides until the end of the meeting.
Also be warned against the presentation looking amateur and ruining your professional image; it could be worth getting a professional to design your slide templates for you if you will be using PowerPoint a lot.
