derek walker’s Post

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instigator, janitor, secretary, mailroom person, creative and owner at brown & browner

Please, please, I'm begging advertising professionals to learn how to present without slides or videos. I know the tech is available but there is something powerful about using the theater of the mind to present ideas. And maybe learn how to do comps by hand while you're at it. Many of you are going to tell me how great you are at it already. Don't. I've seen too many presentations with slides that suck so bad because the person presenting isn't comfortable. When you learn to sell without slides, you get comfortable weaving stories using imagination. Do you ever present an idea to a co-worker without images and words, just verbally? If you can get people to see it in their minds, oh you have won already. I am not saying don't use slides! I'm saying get so good without them that with them you are a beast!

Jose Leon

CEO | dentsu | Publicis Groupe | Adobe | Client centric business transformation leader. DEI advocate, committed to creating a workplace where everyone is valued. Proven track record of building and sustaining brands.

1mo

It is a two-way street my friend derek walker ! When people who are being presented to, can start understanding what is being presented verbally, we start presenting verbally... unfortunately we live in a world where the decision makers even after an amazing presentation with super compelling storytelling / narrative, say "Maza Nahin Aaya" (sorry that is hindi) or "I think this will not work" or "can you show me one more option" !!! PPT's are here to stay till the other side of the table too don't want it anymore !! I am the first one to stop using it, where it is not required...

Lakshmipathy Bhat

SVP - Global Marketing & Communications | Robosoft Technologies - The Experience Engineering Company

1mo

Thank you for this. In my growing up years in advertising (when PPT wasn't so prevalent and photography had just been invented;)) presenting across the table was also a presentation. The way senior planners, our CEO, the account directors and creative directors built up their story to get the recommended strategy or campaign was a master class. And then we all got into the habit of turning to Powerpoint for everything.

Risham Firoze

1.5 M+ Organic Video Views Generated (for client). Digital Marketer | Learner at Haris & Co. Academy

1mo

A picture holds a thousand words. Sometimes the best way to present is with visuals because you get more information out, don’t you think?

Paul MacFarlane

Business Strategy and Creative Branding: Bringing The Best of Humanity Forward for the global Fortune 500.

1mo

I do all the time. Anybody need help?

Dave Tutin

Founder/Chief Wise Guy at Industrial Wisdom LLC. Founder/Recording Artist/Author/Publisher at openDmusic LLC.

1mo

It was even worse before PowerPoint - overhead slides (for those old enough to remember) meant dimming the room, just asking people to fall asleep! That said, PP is not to blame as much as the bad way people use it. With any kind of presentation, not just creative, the "good stuff" should come out of the mouth of the presenter and the slides should be a distilled summation of it...nothing more. In reality the reverse happens - hours are spent writing "the deck" and then it is simply read to the client. If that's all you plan to do, just email it. You'll save a lot of time and travel.

Nora DiNuzzo

You’ve worked too hard for it to be this hard.

1mo

Getting comfortable is key. You have to know your story/concept inside and out. If the person you were presenting to had a visual impairment - would they be as captivated by your pitch as someone who could see the slides? Decks have 100% become a comfort crutch (says someone who pitches all the time). Now that I consult, I see SO MANY decks that aren't telling the story as well as the founder could without it. And that's a problem.

Dragan Rusnov

Leader | Founder | Consultant | Engineer

1mo

I love this! Power Point or any other tool may help make your presentation and visual materials better, nicer, more polished etc. Nothing wrong with using it, under the condition you know how to properly use it BUT, being able to sell a story, enable others to imagine and visualize it in their head, is simply an art. No visual, power point or any other tool can replace ability to speak and simply bring contagious personality to the conversation that will do the job even better and more efficiently.

Steve Schildwachter

Brand Leader • People Developer • Results-driven • B2C • B2B • B2E

1mo

Great observation, derek. A long time ago, say, 2-3 years after PowerPoint came on the scene but we didn't have anywhere near the digital tools we have today, a client told us that we could "act more like an agency." He was right. Our presentations were almost antiseptic. Logical -- and we could use more logic sometimes, sure -- but lacking in passion and imagination. Thinking about that, one time I did the account guy set-up for a creative presentation using only a giant blow up of a page from Dr. Seuss' "Green Eggs and Ham." It was totally relevant to the assignment and great fun. We sold the work. The next day, though, the esteemed Theodor Geisel went to that great drawing board in the sky.

Erik P.

Creative Director - Generosity makes you happy.

1mo

This should be a well-known technique, you want people to imagine what it could be. When you come in with finished artwork or flushed out ideas, it traps The client from imagining what it could be to critiquing what has been done.

Chioke McRae

Marketing & Brand Strategy | Educator | Adcraft & AIGA Detroit Board of Directors | Mentor

1mo

Any opportunity I get to present without slides I do because I hate building them even though I tell a good story via slides. I’ve always seen them as a waste of my time. Take this one-sheeter and be happy lol

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