‘Do not start with Powerpoint – 7 Pieces of Essential Preparation’ is about sharing with you how the very best suppliers achieve greater influence in their presentations. For most, the need to ‘write a presentation’ or ‘create a deck for me’ begins with opening a new Powerpoint file. Stop. Please do not.

1. Do not start with Powerpoint – 7 Pieces of
Essential Preparation
• ‘Do not start with Powerpoint – 7 Pieces of Essential Preparation’ is about
sharing with you how the very best suppliers achieve greater influence in
their presentations. For most, the need to ‘write a presentation’ or ‘create a
deck for me’ begins with opening a new Powerpoint file. Stop. Please do not.
The best metaphor we have found for why is…
• ‘Powerpoint should be used like a drunk should use a lamppost, for
illumination to show the way home, not for support to lean against’.
• In essence, many presenters use PowerPoint as cue cards to help remind
them what to say. And because we can all read 7 times faster than we can
talk – By the time the presenter has spoken the 1st sentence, the audience
has read the 7th sentence and simply waiting for the presenter to catch-up.
Add to this that when PowerPoint begins the audience adjust their necks and
lock into place for an hour of presentation, the engagement goes south and
then at the end the presenter says, ‘Any questions?’. And the poor audience
desperately try to remember what has been said and conjure up a great
question to ask.
By Gabby Smith
www.makingbusinessmatter.co.uk

2. Image courtesy of our cartoonist friend Mike Flanagan
www.makingbusinessmatter.co.uk

3. Ok, what do we do then?
• The answer depends on what you wish to achieve because PowerPoint is an
effective tool when used for the right presentation. We suggest starting with,
‘What do you want to achieve?’. Here are ‘7 Pieces of Essential Preparation’
that we ask our clients to complete for Must Win Meetings before we even
consider opening PowerPoint together:
• Background – Who is the audience? What do they think of you? What are
they thinking? What have they seen/know about us already? Why is this
meeting happening? What are their expectations? OPV – A great tool from
Edward De Bono. One of our favourites.
• Duration – How long do we have? How much time do we want to spend
presenting? How much time do we want to spend discussing? How much
time do we need for agreement?
• EIM – What is our ‘End in Mind? A great tool from Stephen Covey, habit 2
asking ‘What do you want to achieve at the end of this meeting?’.
• Objectives – What are your objectives for this meeting? We suggest having 3
simple, specific, and clear objectives that everyone who is attending from
your side knows. Remember SMART. What are you objectives for after the
meeting?
www.makingbusinessmatter.co.uk

4. Still, what do we do then?
• Messages – What are the key messages we wish to convey? We suggest having 3 simple,
specific, and clear messages that everyone who is attending from your side knows.
• Tone – Describe the tone you wish to convey in 3 words.
• Format What format shall we use? Once you have completed the first 6 pieces, the last piece
is about format and we recommend a combination of formats, e.g. A3 posters, video,
discussion worksheets, PowerPoint, etc. to suit the objectives because this will add ‘texture’
to your presentation.
• You can download the above 7 Pieces of Essential Preparation in a pdf from our website.
• By completing the ‘7 pieces of essential preparation’ you may decide that PowerPoint is the
way forward and it is a very good tool, when used appropriately. When you have written
your PowerPoint presentation, having completed the 7 pieces of essential preparation, you
can now email the presentation and the completed pieces to a colleague and ask them to
review the presentation against your objectives.
• Without providing your colleague with the preparation, it can be a bit like the story of a
child who asked his Dad to look at his homework. The Dad sees a wonderful drawing of a
boat and praises the boy for spending so much time on his homework and doing it so well.
Later, Mum sees the homework and notices the brief for the homework tucked into the
exercise book. ‘Why have you drawn a boat? The teacher has asked for a bat’. The child had
read what he wanted to draw and not what was written.
www.makingbusinessmatter.co.uk

5. Writing your ‘play’
• Once you have completed the ‘7 pieces of essential preparation’
above we work with our clients to complete our tried and tested
tool, the ‘Session Plan’. Similar to a screen play, providing a template
to populate the 7 pieces above, the time per session, the texture
used, the key messages, etc. and what becomes the ‘playbook’ for
the meeting.
• A very powerful tool used to ensure that the presentation goes
according to plan. If you would like to see the ‘Session Plan’ tool
from our Must Win Meetings product, please contact us, or if you
have a meeting coming up with a retailer that you must win, contact
us.
www.makingbusinessmatter.co.uk

6. What do we do?
A typical People Development programme with a supplier to the big
four UK supermarkets consists of a combination of the items that helps
suppliers to achieve their business objectives.
Try our popular
Category Management Academy

7. Where next?
• Click here to start ‘small’ with a 1/2 day Masterclass ‘Must
Win Meetings‘ for only £750+vat.
• How much do you remember from your one day training
course?
• 7 Ways to get better traction with your supermarket buyer.
• Making Business Matter,
Sticky Learning House
5 Cheshire Road
Thame,
OXFORDSHIRE,
OX9 3LQ
• Telephone: 0333 247 2012
• Email: helpme@makingbusinessmatter.co.uk
www.makingbusinessmatter.co.uk