You’ve all had to sit through them - when new customers come in, an orientation of new staff, when honored guests come along, or any time Senior management want to give a presentation - it can seem endless… and boring.

Many presentations go by a standard formula - Title slide, introduce the Contents, Mission and Vision, History…. and so on. Nothing in those first few minutes of the delivery really sticks out and wakes them up. If your company is renowned for something, famous for something, was the first, is the only, is the best, is the leader - then put it up front - surely this is more important than the ‘contents page’?!.

Many forget that sometimes the Corporate Presentation is an excellent opportunity to ‘really sell’ the company - rather than a going-though-the-motion sales monolouge.  

Also, towards the end of the presentation where typically is the usual annoucments of future plans… make it exceiting, build up to it. A great lesson can be learned from watching Steve Jobs announce the iPod - the first 10 minutes, you don’t get to see it… only after the build up is done, only after he had interested the audience enough are they hanging in expectation. Again, many of us simply throw it all up on one slide towards the end, instantly killing off the build-up effect and suspense of seeing what your company is going to do next.

The key message is this: focus on what you want to sell. If you’re selling the company to potential customers, then put all the ‘best’ statements and success stories first. Hook them in the first 3 minutes and get them thinking that this is a comapny I really want to join, work with or do business with.