The Instant Answer Guide to Business Writing

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>> Gerhard Gschwandtner: Hi, my name is Gerhard Gschwandtner and welcome to Selling Power TV. Today we have the pleasure of interviewing Deborah Dumaine. She's the founder and CEO of Better Communications and also the author of a terrific book called the Instant Answer Guide to Business Writing. You told me that you helped a client create a PowerPoint that led to a $5 million sale.

>> Deborah Dumaine: We do a lot of work with a global food and beverage company. It's a household name and they have a particular challenge. Like all of our customers, sales people can be great in presentations they stand up, they look you in the eye, they're not nervous but what comes out of their mouth is not always the greatest so we're in the writing business we have programs to make sure that you have a PowerPoint and a message, a presentation that really wins. Now they have a particular challenge because they're supported by a large marketing department that has to get a lot of research out for them because that's how they make their sales. It's a highly competitive situation. They're trying to get their products on the shelves and the marketing data is very important to making the sale. Now the question is how much and how do you use it in a PowerPoint? There's a lot of danger but in a PowerPoint it can be over shadowed by the data and the sales message doesn't come through.

>> Gerhard Gschwandtner: There needs to be a balance between the two.

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Deborah: That's a recipe for disaster. So you have to create a story that sells and you have to make sure the data doesn't over shadow it.

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Gerhard: How did they get that $5 million sale?

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Deborah: It was very exciting. After we all worked together in the workshop we basically created the PowerPoint with them. They went out, they presented it and they called us back a couple of weeks later and said we won. It was very exciting.

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Gerhard: So they made a huge sale with that PowerPoint.

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Deborah: Yes they did and you know it happens a lot. They have to analyze multiple buyers because they have a very complex sale. They have to analyze all the different buyers and figure out you know what do they do about the receptive one? What do they do about the resistive one? It's not an easy task to do these presentations. But fortunately with that process that becomes easy. We have tools for people to do the analysis, to do the reader focus and figure out how are they going to approach these customers. Now PowerPoint can be your worst enemy or your best friend. A lot of times when people know they have to write a presentation the first thing they do is open a blank slide and they start writing. Well that is the worst thing you can do. What you need to do is have a plan, have a process and spend a good amount of your time figuring out how am I going to approach this? What's my strategy? How am I going to make this sale?

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Gerhard: So you have a beginning, middle and an end to divide it.

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Deborah: Yes and a lot more.

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Gerhard: So what was so special about that presentation?

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Deborah: I think they used the tools better than I've seen a lot of sales teams do it. They really analyze, they applied, they stuck to the process, they figured out what to do with the various constituents who were going to be making the decisions and they answered their needs. They were very focused. They had just enough data, not too much and they used what we call a road map which is like an experience that they take the reader or the in this case listener through so that they absolutely make sure that they cover all their points. It was a clear message and also what's in it for them that's the most important.

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Gerhard: What are some of the other common mistakes that people make with PowerPoint's besides just starting and generating you know content that they don't revise 50 times.

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Deborah: Well they can get in trouble with sequence. Organization is a really tough thing for sales people. It has to be sequenced for the reader and the most important and persuasive things have to be close to the top. If there are resistant readers they need a sequence that's different from a receptive reader. So you have to know the tricks of that. Also, you have to match the tone and style of your of your audience. If you have a driver who just wants you to get to the point that's going to be very different from a technical analyst who wants to get all of the details, facts and figures in order to make the decision. Of course visual design of the slides is very important. They have to be clear and crisp; they can't have too much data. We've all seen slides dripping in data, can't do that. Simple, straightforward.

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Gerhard: There has to be a relationship between the image and the copy inaudible.

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Deborah: Absolutely. The more pictures you can add the more persuasive you are. You have to link the message with a graphic it makes a huge difference. The last thing that is a solution is a tool we've designed which helps you measure the quality of your presentation. So at the end what this team did was they used it to measure the quality and they knew that they had achieved their goals. We're very excited about that tool you can find out more on our website about it.

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Gerhard: What exactly do you measure?

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Deborah: We measure the sequence, the visual design, the audience analysis, the sentences. About 10 different points that make the most difference to make a successful presentation.

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Gerhard: So then you get a report card and then based on that report card you can improve your presentation.

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Deborah: Right. And you can make sure that before you send it that you've gotten all A's on your report card.

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Gerhard: Great! It's a great secret. We're going to continue our conversation with Deborah Dumaine tomorrow where we talk about how you can create your personal brand through your writing style.

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==== Transcribed by Automatic Sync Technologies ====