Enhance Your Presentation and Practice for the Win!

Key elements enhance the presentation to make it a “winner” for new work or to impress decision-makers.  Tap into the fields of public relations, advertising, organizational behavior, and psychology of audience appeal.  The essentials are familiar and seem quite obvious, but the trick is how you weave them into your presentation. While there are a dozen of these essential elements to choose from, three are mentioned here for you to work with as you rehearse your presentation to win new work:

1. Attitude. When you are presenting for the purpose of winning work, you are in “sell-mode” and you become energized when you psyche yourself into that mindset. We are not talking about pushy, harsh sales pitches or the rah-rah of over-zealous salespersons. With the understated “sell” attitude, each presenter demonstrates sincerity and concern for the success of the project, for the pleasing of all stakeholders. The guiding attitude of “sell” is how will what we are proposing benefit the owner/community/end-users?

2. Language and voice, together. We all recognize the importance of choosing the “right language” and a using a confident voice. So, during rehearsal, really listen. Listen carefully to the word choices and vocal emphasis of the other presenters. Does the project manager really make his/her approach to the job sound important, with results beyond expectations? Is “on-time-on-budget” just a slogan or is it a driving force that propels the principal-in-charge or PM to achieve at a level of excellence?

* Listen to the words. Help your team presenters replace regular or “flat” words with language that sparks interest—insert words that will motivate and impress. Think together of different ways to say the same thing—selecting language that grabs ears, creates an air of excitement, or influences the selection committee! For example, change “Our project manager’s background is . . .” to “the highlights of our project manager’s experience include . . .”

As each presenter incorporates new words, listen to be sure they give those words added vocal emphasis when they speak.

3. Team! It is most common for team members, both inhouse and those from outside firms with whom you are proposing, to state facts about past projects or number of years together. The real messages, however, about team compatibility and comfort levels are expressed non-verbally and with subtlety. What do the body language, tone of voice, word choices say? Do they share the same “work vocabulary” in discussing issues and problem-solving approaches? Does there appear to be respect for each other, especially during the question-and-answer section of the interview? Each member of the team should observe the team element during the presentation run-through, followed by discussion of ways to strengthen the nonverbal cues to best promote yourselves as a winning team.  

The presentation practice session is vital to the success of your interview. If you practice with a few different essential elements, you will expand your awareness of what moves you closer to a win!