Quick Tip:
Add “No-Doze Presentations” to Your List of Copywriting Services
By Will Newman, Freelance Copywriter

Here’s an easy “extra service” you can offer your clients: creating effective, engaging presentations for them. (You know the kind I’m talking about. They’re typically done in PowerPoint these days … and can be real snooze-fests.)

You could be the answer to the prayers of many sales reps and business execs out there. Add to that list anyone who has to speak publically for business and civic engagements.

Creating a presentation is really no different than writing a sales letter. The speaker has to make a big promise … he has to offer proof … and he has to connect with his audience.

Here are a few reminders of how to approach this task:

• Most important: Know your audience. What do they need in their lives to be happy, more successful, better able to excel, etc.?
• What are the benefits of the presentation for them? Dig deep.
• Start with a strong promise at the beginning. Tell the audience what they’ll learn. But go further. Tell them how it will benefit them.
• Be specific. Details sell products. They also sell ideas.
• Show, don’t tell. Pictures – literal and figurative (stories) – help make your points.
• Prove what you’re trying to get across, but don’t do it solely with chars and graphs. (Boring!) Use real stories whenever you can.
• Make the “sale.” The end of any persuasive effort – letter, speech, or PowerPoint – must lead to action. Tell your audience what they need to do.

Follow this simple structure, and you’ll provide your clients with presentations that get results. They’ll thank you with repeat business.

[Ed. Note: Many PowerPoint presentations cause yawns and groans because they’re “just more of the same thing.” Combining your copywriting skills with imaginative approaches to presentation formatting and structure assures this will never happen to you. A great resource for this is a small, well-written book from New Riders: Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery by Garr Reynolds.]