One of the toughest challenges when presenting is when you are part of the presenting team, because it's so easy for other team members to either overrun on time or not be under 100% clear about what their role is. If you're going to be a slick team of presenters you not only need to prepare well and practice hard but you also need to follow guidelines which will help you stand out against other presenting teams.
Here are 10 top tips for presenting as a team:
1. Agree who is involved. This sounds straightforward but often senior people within an organisation decide after the planning has been done that they want to be part of the presentation or pitch ‘after all’ - even though at the onset they said they would leave it to you and your colleagues.
2. Use the 7P’s model to agree as a team the Purpose of your presentation /pitch and what you want the outcome to be. This will help you decide who’s going to do what.
3. Sketch out potential roles - these could be:
Set Up - the person who is responsible for organising all the pre-deliver: this will include seating, equipment, handouts, clickers,.
Meeting and Greeting - the person who takes the lead to make initial contact with the audience as they arrive, doing introductions, creating rapport, checking how you will be introduced, providing the introduction etc...judging the tone and feel
Presentation / Pitch Introduction - The person who gives you the ‘Big, Engaging Start’ - as the start is so important give serious consideration to your best presenter filling this role.
Core Messages - whilst this will utilise around 70% of your time-slot it won’t necessarily be the most memorable part. Those who deliver the key messages need to stay on the agreed line and avoid ‘going on’ otherwise the presentation will overrun. Pick for this role those that most understand the detail of your offering. If you have a big team you could have 3 people doing this bit taking one key message each.
Finish Manager - this person ensures your presentation/ pitch finishes on a high. They will manage the Q&A (which I suggest you do before the final summing up) and introduce the Summariser.
Summariser - the person who speaks last and therefore a key role. What’s needed is a rousing / action driving summary which combines reminding the audience of why they should be interested in your offering and what they need to do next.
Post-Presentation Relationship Building - ideally all of you will ‘mingle’ with the audience once the presentation/ pitch is completed but always a good idea to have someone who leads the way.
Chief Negotiator - if you are delivering a Sales Pitch you may find a negotiation starts as soon as the summary has been delivered. Plan for this and elect someone to this role - ideally the person who is best at negotiating and who has prepar
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