How Not to Present

As budget season winds to a close and presentation season gets into full swing, I thought I’d provide a few tips on presenting:

Dress to impress. Wear makeup. Put on a suit and tie (if applicable) and break out the cuff links. Hell, I even wear shoes to these meetings.
Decide the appropriate forum for the meeting. If it’s a conference room, make sure to have drinks and food (depending on presentation length) available. If you choose to present over lunch, you should pay. Don’t stick me with the bill. If you do, don’t act all huffy that I assumed you would pay. Um, HELLO, you made the meeting, invited five people and chose the location.
Print your presentation in color. Black and white is cheap, lame and unprofessional. Unless of course it’s applicable to your presentation or point.
Handing me a media schedule and Insertion Orders in a binder clip as your “presentation” is probably not a good idea nor is it going to get buy off.
Be prepared. Have stats and figures to back up your arguments. Not knowing a SINGLE answer to my “easy” questions makes you look like a totally douchebag.
Know your shit. This includes knowing the brand as well. Cheapass.com makes total sense for a discounted brand, but it sure as hell doesn’t make sense for a luxury brand. If you have cheapass.com on the media schedule for a luxury brand, well, you’re a complete moron. I think I’d rather have a chimpanzee on my account.

Posted by Vegasbab on October 2nd, 2008 Posted in Rant, Work