Issue 282 - Mastering Quick Presentations
By Patricia Fripp

Every sales professional should know life
comes at you fast. That 30-minute PowerPoint
presentation that you so diligently prepared may,
at any time, have to be shortened into a 10-
minute pitch. That's why you need to be
prepared for anything, says Patricia Fripp, a
sales presentations skills training expert.

"You should have an hour version, a 30-minute
version, a 20-minute version, and a 10-minute
version of your presentation ready at all times,"
Fripp asserts. She knows; she's been there and
offers these guidelines designed to help you
react fast when you need to:

Begin quickly. Start with an attention-getting
statement, such as, "Your job won't exist five
years from now," or, "In the next five minutes I
want to convince you that the best action you
can take is to..."

Use your champion. Ask the person who helped
you to set up the meeting with the CEO and the
team to read five sentences about you as an
introduction. These five sentences should say
who you are, what you do, and how you've
helped others.

"Now you don't have to take the time to introduce
yourself," says Fripp. "Even if the CEO has to
leave in the next five minutes, at least he or she
knows that you have a creative approach, you
are aware of their issues, and you are focusing
on them."

Start with the major reason or begin with the
conclusion. Forget the little stuff start with the
bottom line or the major reason why the prospect
would want to partner with your company. For
example, "The ABC Company can benefit from
doing business with the Fripp Company..." or "I
guarantee that if you talk to Mr. Blank, he will tell
you..."

"What you've done here is set up the talking
points, the reason why they should do business
with you, and you've already introduced a
specific example in less than 10 minutes," says
Fripp. "If you can wow them in 10 minutes, it's
amazing how many people will find the time to
stay longer."

Don't apologize or mention that you usually have
much more time. Be confident that you can
communicate in 10 minutes, says Fripp.

Use a strongly visual story. "Illustrate your points
how it is now, how it will or could be with a
story so vivid that the audience can 'see' it," says
Fripp.

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More on Mastering Presentations

Divide your time into three parts. "Present a
problem, a payoff, and your point of view," Fripp
says. "This will make your short presentation a
complete thought. Think about what you will say
in 10 minutes that will entice the audience to
listen. Punctuate your speech with your point of
view such as: 'The number one piece of advice I
can give you today is...'

"Perhaps you have three talking points and each
one is a 10-minute segment of material,"
explains Fripp. "If you have to cut your
presentation, you have two choices. You can
say, 'There are three specific reasons why you
should do business with us, but we only have 10
minutes, so let's focus on one.' Or you could say,
'There are three reasons...' and give an
abbreviated answer for each one. Give a shorter
specific."

Fripp also says that you have to get in the habit
of using "crisp" language. Don't speak in
"business speak." "For each talking point, have
what I would call a sound-bite statement," she
says. Include one client story. Even if you have a
limited amount of time, Fripp says it's an
absolute must. "Use your clients' words," she
advises. "Answer the questions that people will
ask know what the audience is thinking and
talk to that. It's a conversation even though
they're not doing the speaking."

In summary, Fripp says that if you have time for
only one sentence, talk about the big idea. "You
need a central theme whether it's two minutes,
10 minutes, or an hour," she says.

Visit Fripp's Website at www.fripp.com to learn
more.
Source: www.sellingpower.com

Hope you found this informative, see you next time.

Until then. . .

Make it a great day and a successful week!

Ron

Member of the American Society for Training and Development (c) 2008 by Accelerated Sales Training, Inc. - Live Cold Call Sales Training Workshops. All rights reserved. www.ast-incorp.com

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