OUTKREATE

🍁 Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving!

𝐂𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐈𝐑𝐎. The key to success is striking the right balance between 'steak' (substance) and 'sizzle' (style).

Based on popular demand, we’ll be conducting a 30-min webinar on best practices for Investor Day Presentations for public company IROs.

We shared this "talk" at the 2023 NIRI Annual Conference, Chicago - and it was received well by attending IROs.

🚀 Join the 𝐖𝐞𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫: 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 "𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐤 & 𝐒𝐢𝐳𝐳𝐥𝐞" 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬

👉 𝐉𝐮𝐧 𝟐𝟗, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑, 𝟏𝟐:𝟎𝟎 𝐏𝐌 𝐄𝐒𝐓

At the end of it, you will walk away with a winning recipe for your next Investor Day presentation.

Register for the webinar: https://lnkd.in/dUnFX8Jj

💡 "𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗻𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀".

James Cameron, the visionary behind some of Hollywood's most iconic films, doesn't start by picking up a camera.

👉 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨: 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺.

He spends a lot of time writing and thinking. Cameron calls it -- "𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙜," and interestingly it applies to another visually creative medium -- PowerPoint presentations.

𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗶𝗲𝗰𝗲, 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝟯 𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮 '𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗯𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻' --

1️⃣ Effective presentations require 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 and their needs, including identifying challenges and finding ways to emotionally connect.

Prioritize research over design for a tailored and impactful presentation.

2️⃣ 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 to ensure it is clear, concise, and engaging for the audience. The three-act structure, commonly used in movies, provides a simple but effective framework for a presentation.

👉 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘤, 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢.

3️⃣ 𝗔 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿,you should act like a director to create a compelling and engaging presentation. Start by 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀. (all you need is a whiteboard or a piece of paper -- draw/ write your ideas)

This will help you visualize and structure the narrative, plan visuals and text for slides, and build a cohesive story.

𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 - 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐏𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭, 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐒𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬 - 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫, 𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫!


𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘱 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 "𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘑𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘊𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘯'𝘴 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘉𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘌𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘗𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘗𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯" 𝘣𝘺 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰.

𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗕𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘁: 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘂𝗮𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲

Good presentation skills go beyond the basics of avoiding verbose slides and not reading from a script.

𝙒𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙖𝙪𝙙𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩.

To create a more compelling and persuasive presentation from the outset, you should begin by creating a strong outline that answers these critical questions:

👉🏻 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴?

It's crucial to explain the context and importance of your idea upfront, even if your audience is not familiar with your project's development process.

This will help them understand why your idea matters and avoid losing their interest.

👉🏻 𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲?

Even if your idea is complex, try to break it down into a series of numbered steps or phases that your audience can follow easily.

With this strategy, your solution will be more accessible and inspire confidence in your proposal.

👉🏻 𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆?

While some professions rely on a "just the facts" approach, storytelling can be a powerful tool to engage and persuade your audience. Consider using a concrete example to illustrate a piece of data or explain how your solution works in practice.

Including at least one story in your presentation can make it more lively and memorable.

While the visual elements and delivery of a presentation are important, a well-structured outline and the content are what truly matter in persuading your audience.
𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘱 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 "𝘈 𝘊𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴" 𝘣𝘺 𝘋𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘬.

𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗘𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗧𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗢𝗧𝗨𝗦 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸

They know how to deliver a powerful and memorable message.

𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗮 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻?

It takes a team of experts, hours of preparation, and a touch of presidential magic. But fear not, you don't have to be a commander-in-chief to deliver a powerful presentation.

While the messenger and message have changed over 112 years, one key lesson remains the same — everyone edits.

Here're some tips to unleash your inner POTUS and conquer the room.

👉🏻 𝗘𝗱𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆

Presidents have long recognized the power of simple language to convey their tough messages and leave a lasting impression on the audience.

𝘌𝘨: 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘉𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.

In your presentations use simple, short words to captivate your audience.

👉🏻 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝘂𝗽 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝘀

Improve your delivery by using script markup. Add lines and dashes to create pauses, emphasize key points, and control your pace.

Just like how news anchors use marks to deliver their message effectively.

👉🏻 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗲𝘆

Whether it's a speech or a presentation, taking the time to practice can make all the difference. Practice in front of a mirror, record yourself, or practice in front of a friend or family member.

Pro-tip: All you have to do is schedule time to practice ahead of time.

𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿, 𝗮 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲, 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲.

So go out there, embrace your inner speaker, and make your voice heard!

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘱 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 3 𝘌𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘛𝘪𝘱𝘴 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘺 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰

Don’t just pay for pretty - how to vet your presentation designer ☝️

While chatting to a client yesterday, he told us he’d worked with large creative agencies in the past that “designed” his presentations…

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗲𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗿.

While your presentations should look the part, if your agency doesn’t challenge you to make your story BETTER - you’re just paying for pretty. 🤷‍♀️

And, like our client, you’ll end up spending a lot of time managing your agency to get the “substance” you’re looking for.

To make sure this doesn’t happen to you, vet your agency or designer first by asking these questions:

𝟭. 𝗗𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁?
You need a thought partner, not just a beautification agency 💡

𝟮. 𝗗𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗽𝘆?
Great presentation copy takes time. Time you may not have 🕰️

𝟯. 𝗗𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆?
If they do, your presentation will be more relevant 🎯

𝟰. 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿?
Objective feedback can make all the difference 💭

𝟱. 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗜 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗮 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆?
See if they do more than just “beautify” slides 🧐

𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿: on paper, you might think you’re saving money, but if you have to bang your head against a wall to get what you want from your presentation partner - then it’s just not worth it.