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Why No One Cares About Your Ideas--And How To Change That

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Think only a born salesperson can hold a room? Good news: Charisma can’t be taught, but effective presentation skills can---and we all need them.

Say you had an idea for a great new business, if only you could deliver a crackling pitch in eight minutes or less. That’s the challenge entrepreneurs face when luring squinty-eyed investors---but it’s also a useful way to think about selling any idea at work.

The trick is spooning out information in a way that lets an audience naturally absorb and retain it. That, and plenty of practice.

Here are 10 keys to giving effective presentations, plus a quick case study care of one promising start-up in the automotive industry.

If you apply these principals and the crowds still yawn, you’ll know why.

1.  Use opening anecdotes with caution.

If you lead with the story that inspired your idea, it better be really good. Because the longer that opening vignette, the more likely audiences will tune out---and once they’re gone, they don't come back.

2.  Nail the basics: What it is, how it works, why it’s different/better than the rest.

Any idea---no matter how technical or complex---can and must be explained in simple, jargon-free terms. Artful metaphors, simple diagrams, short videos: Whatever it takes, make sure the audience grasps the basics.

3.  Clearly define the business opportunity and how you intend to capture it.

Ideas are interesting; cash is compelling. How will you generate it? How much will those efforts cost? That’s what your investors, your boss and your customers ultimately want to hear.

4.  Quantify, quantify, quantify.

Words have limitations; numbers are more efficient. You don’t have to project the future to the nearest dollar (false precision smells), but you do have to provide the broad strokes backed by convincing data and reasonable assumptions.

5.  Establish milestones.

Big ideas and large projects are hard to swallow in one gulp. Break them into a series of smaller, digestible victories plotted on a timeline. Even preliminary milestones confer credibility: They suggest you’ve thought things through.

6.  Ask, but specify.

If you need $250,000 from investors, be absolutely clear how you intend to spend it (equipment, staff, an email-marketing campaign) and estimate the return on those investments.

7.  Anticipate all the big questions.

Once you’ve assembled your presentation, tear it to shreds. Challenge all underlying assumptions and have a clear rationale for each. Weave as much of that proof into your pitch as you can without gumming up the delivery.

8.  Remember that Power Point is a tool, not a crutch.

Three tips on working with slide decks: 1) No more than five bullet points per slide (busy slides are presentation killers); 2) Touch, turn, talk (never read straight off the screen); 3) Assume the computer will crash (meaning that you should bring a backup or be comfortably prepared to fly blind).

9.  Leave an imprint.

The true measure of a presentation is how much of it sticks. Finish strong by hammering home your central thesis, maybe with a snappy-yet-meaningful tagline.

10.  Don’t worry, be happy.

Stiff, mechanical presentations are thoroughly boring and even uncomfortable to watch. Try to relax by remembering that you have exciting news to share. You’re solving a problem, chasing an opportunity, creating wealth---and that’s as fun as it gets!

Case Study: Alert/Divert Systems

Bharat Bhuva can attest to the fun part.

Bhuva was one of eight entrepreneurs who recently pitched their ideas to investors during “Demo Day” at a business accelerator program called autoXLR8R, housed in Saturn's former headquarters in sleepy Spring Hill, Tenn. (AutoXLR8R was developed by the Southern Middle Tennessee Entrepreneur Centers, one of nine groups that provide mentoring and technical support for entrepreneurs throughout the Volunteer State.) Demo Day capped a 13-week training program for startups looking to gain traction in the automotive industry.

The quality of the presentations varied dramatically (they always do), but Bhuva put on a clinic.

A professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Vanderbilt University, Bhuva just launched a company called Alert/Divert Systems. It aims to make a low-tech, life-saving device called DefCone---a series of five inflatable, illuminated cylinders vertically aligned to form a 2-foot-high barrier roughly the width of a car. Bhuva hopes DefCone will replace those small, orange triangles used to warn night drivers about vehicles perilously stranded on the roadside.

Bhuva’s presentation was clear, natural and enthusiastic. I felt like he couldn’t wait to tell us about his new moneymaker.

Here’s how Bhuva made his message stick:

--- First, he identified a tangible, unmet need in the market. In 2012, about 30,000 fatalities involved roadside repairs. Scary number.

---Second, he established why DefCone was a better choice than the existing technology. In one clean slide, Bhuva compared DefCone to the orange triangles using four performance metrics: minimum visibility (drivers could spot DefCone up to 10 times farther away); reaction distance (drivers took preliminary precautions up to 80% sooner when they saw DefCone); lane changes (22% more drivers gave stranded vehicles a wider berth); and passing speed (drivers reduced their speed by 6%). One slide, four numbers: Case made.

--- Third, he defined the business opportunity. There are 250 million cars in the U.S. At $50 per DefCone, capturing even 1% of that market meant $125 million in revenue. A better measure, perhaps, was the 15 million new cars produced every year---each with its own roadside safety kit. Just 1% of that market equaled $7.5 million in sales. Production costs? About $15 per head. Gross profit margin: 70%.

--- Fourth, he specified how much investment capital he needed ($250,000) and how he planned to use it (final design and packaging tweaks, various marketing maneuvers).

--- Last, he gave the crowd an easy message to take with them. Tagline: “We are Alert, and we want to save lives.”

They just might.

Have some uncommonly effective tips for getting heard? Please comment on this post.

See also:

Ten Things They Don’t Tell You In Business School

44 Timeless Business Sayings You Should Know

Do You Read Fast Enough To Be Successful?