Presenting Smart: Will You Pass the Three-Minute Challenge?
May 09, 2008
By John Windsor
Could you make your case in only three minutes? What would you say? What would you show? Could you even do it? Many sales teams and managers would be inclined to automatically respond in the negative.
I don't blame them: This is a tough challenge. But, as difficult as it may seem, sticking to a succinct game plan can totally transform how you present—and, more importantly, how strongly your audience connects with you and your message.
What does it take to have a real impact in that short a time? Talking really fast won’t do, nor will a quick rip through a lot of bullet-point slides. It could be that you only use one slide—or none. But know this: you can, and should, be able to make your case in three minutes or less.
At this point, you may be thinking, "Why bother? I have plenty of time with the client. What's the point of compressing this to only three minutes?" Or, "Our annual sales summit is a full-day event. If my presentation is only three-minutes, what will I do with the rest of the time to engage my reps?"
Here are four reasons why you should bother:
1. It forces you to be concise.
2. It eliminates extraneous details.
3. It succeeds when it covers one main idea.
4. It increases your flexibility.
All these constituents are critical elements in the making of a really compelling presentation, whether you have only three minutes or you're leading an entire conference. The only difference with longer meetings is that you'll use the three-minute foundation as a starting point, then add layers as required.
Now, don't be fooled by the shorter timeframe; it's still possible to bore an audience in only three minutes. Cramming a lot of detail into a short period of time—particularly if it's "supported" with text-heavy slides—will put off any audience and likely kill your opportunity to influence people (That's a behavior that should be avoided in a presentation of any length).
So, what do you need to do to create a captivating three-minute presentation? Let's start with:
What You Don't Need
• Agendas or company background
• Lists of features & benefits
• Complex graphics that require extensive explanations
• Long testimonials
• PowerPoint? (Hey, it's only three minutes—can't you just talk?)
What You Do Need
• One key idea
• No more than three supporting points
• No more than one bulleted slide
• Answers to these questions:
How will this change their lives?
Why should they care?
How can they apply it?
What are the first (or next) steps?
Once you have gathered these pieces, there is one other critical element—you've got to engage their brains right at the start. Lead with a question (but not one that can be answered with a "yes" or "no"). Tweak their curiosity with a compelling statistic or paint a vision of how things could be for them.
Try this exercise before your next presentation. And give yourself only an hour to complete it. That will keep you from obsessing about details and will force you to be creative and concise (Kathy Sierra did a great post on this: "Creativity on Speed").
The cool thing about this challenge is that, in addition to being a really interesting exercise, it will give you a strong idea of how to improve even your longest presentations.
Editor's Note: If you need help getting it really concise, check out "The Cocktail Napkin Presentation" on Windsor's The YouBlog.
John Windsor, an online columnist for Sales & Marketing Management, is President of Creating Thunder, a Boulder, Colo.-based communications training and consulting company. As author of the popular YouBlog, John offers a unique mix of innovation, communications, sales and marketing ideas. An award-winning marketer, John has held vice president positions in marketing, sales, and business development and has worked with companies like American Express, Reuters, Staples, and Knight-Ridder.
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