m62 Newsletter

"Killer Presentations" - sold out... but not too late to obtain a copy!

“Happy New Year. I hope you had any enjoyable break and are now ready to face the challenges that ’07 is sure to bring! Or should that be ‘007?

Have you seen Casino Royale? In my humble opinion, simply the best James Bond film so far, more like Ian Flemings dark assassin of the books(of which I am proud to say I have 40 year old paperbacks of them all, 4 first editions: not that I am a fan or anything). It has generated a lot of interest and discussion around the world. Some critics loved it, some hated it but all agree that the film is very different from previous releases. Q does not feature and there are few gadgets. ... The high stakes gambling scene is one of the highlights. But isn’t this also true in key business pitches?

There’s a really important presentation that you know will form part of the overall decision to buy from you or your competitor. So why do companies often take a gamble and put together an unremarkable PowerPoint presentation – using the tried (or ‘tired’) and tested method – basically a cue card with lots of bullets?

Make your audiences, who are after all your critics, love your presentation by ensuring it is different from the rest by being impressive, memorable and engaging.

The Blog Factor
'You got to do a Blog', says everybody I meet and so for the last 4 months I have been doing it, I am a blogger! We trialled it internally and the staff didn’t laugh unless they where supposed to (I now have a habit of including a joke in each blog) and after 4 months of forcing it on them they have persuaded me to make it available online, and so it is. Please take a look and feel free to add your comments or e-mail me with them."

Nicholas B.Oulton
CEO and founder, m62 visualcommunications

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Special Offer for the New Year!

Have you got a business pitch coming up? Will your presentation kill your competition... or your audience?

At m62 we have developed a method for delivering successful visual presentations that combine technology with sound presentation techniques, and which maximize the amount of information retained by an audience. A memorable presentation can make the difference between you winning and losing an order, gaining acceptance of an idea or failing, or creating a meaningful exchange of information rather than misunderstanding.

We have some great New Year offers on our visualisation and consultancy services for all presentations booked before 2 February 2007.

So, to ensure that your 2007 presentations have that ‘killer’ effect (are engaging, memorable and impressive) contact us today for more details about how we can make your presentations more effective.

PLUS enter our competition to win a one-on-one presentation coaching session with an m62 Master Presenter – we have 6 sessions to be won.

Whether your presentation is prepared and needs rehearsing, or you’re scratching your head wondering where to start, an m62 Master Presenter 1 hour coaching session could make all the difference.

Our coaching has one goal, and one goal alone; to make the presenter more effective at point of delivery, whatever the objective.

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Everything you wanted to know about successful Presentations

Have you ever wondered how simple changes to your presentation could have a big impact on its success? Do you really know what makes an effective presentation? We’ve recently added a wealth of informative items to www.m62.net to create a website that provides visitors with everything they need to know about successful presentations.

You’ll also find some attractive offers for Health Checking your own presentation and getting 2007 off to a flying start with a new set of stunning slides. Why not bookmark the site and keep up to date on all the latest thinking.

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How ‘effective’ will your company’s conference be this year?

"There is no better place in the world to find out the shortcomings of each other than a conference."

Will Rogers (1879-1935)

When a project is particularly difficult, large or complex, its purpose can often be forgotten. This is often the case with conferences. The logistical complexity of organising a large event, along with outsourcing the work to individuals with project management and hospitality (rather than subject) expertise means the educational and presentation quality often gets forgotten.

A typical checklist for a conference will include items such as:

• Establish the need for the event
• Set up a steering group
• Hire or appoint conference organisers
• Book a venue
• Prepare a project plan
• Draft a programme
• Approach and book speakers
• Advertise the conference
• Handle bookings and enquiries
• Assemble a delegate pack
• Run the event
• Debrief

But what’s missing? Where do the organisers check or indeed influence the quality of presentations?

Conferences can bring together hundreds of delegates, paying thousands of dollars to attend. The networking is often great, the event runs flawlessly – yet many presentations are dull and fail to achieve their objectives (if they actually have objectives).

It can seem rude to interfere with the work of an invited speaker. So, what can you do to influence the overall quality of your conference?

• Explain that Bullet Points don’t work. At m62 we have evidence that 100’s of bullet points make for dull presentations.
• Encourage presenters to use images and diagrams. The more visual a presentation, the more likely it is to be engaging and memorable.
• Avoid handouts of slides. If delegate packs contain slide handouts, the audience don’t need to pay any attention to the presenter ..and won’t.
• Encourage presenters to produce separate handouts, using the right tool for the job (a word processing programme, not a presentation programme).
• Eliminate distractions. Ensure that the audience can see and hear the presentation clearly, that the lighting and temperature are right, and schedule enough time for breaks.

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Top 10 tips for creating the perfect Sales Presentations

1. Know what you are selling: yourself or the solution?
2. Know who or what the competition is.
3. Know what you are asking for.
4. Understand the argument for doing it.
5. Make it as simple as possible.
6. Prove you can deliver it.
7. Make the value message memorable.
8. Eliminate text: use graphics.
9. Make sure that your slides don't make sense.
10. Ask for the order.

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Making a real difference in Benelux

Since m62’s Benelux Marketing Agency was formed in July 2006, many companies have discovered the difference between a standard PowerPoint presentation and an effective presentation. That is, one that has real impact, high recall and kills the competition.

What differentiates m62’s services from those of PowerPoint production companies is the way we work with companies to the key messages and structure the information.

So far, many Benelux based companies including Belgacom, Siemens, Toyota Industrial Equiment, Nitto Denko, Inter Partner Assistance, have been convinced of our approach. If you are based in Benelux and would like to know how your presentations can be made more effective, contact Koen Bekkers.

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Tip of the month

Resizing shapes and pictures the easy way

Positioned all your objects and photos just where you want them? What happens if you need to make one bigger or smaller? Instead of dragging the resize handle and then fiddling around to centre the object again, just hold down CTRL as you resize: this will set the ‘anchor point’ in the middle of the object and enlarge/shrink it evenly on all sides at once!

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And finally…

Chances are, at some time in your life you've made a New Year's Resolution - and then broken it. A recent US study on resolutions showed that:

• 63% of people keep their resolutions after two months.
• 67% of people make three or more resolutions.
• Top four resolutions:
  1. Increase exercise
  2. Be more conscientious about work
  3. Develop better eating habits
  4. Stop (or at least cut down) smoking and/or drinking
• People make more resolutions to start a new habit, than to break an old one.

Pass it on

If you’ve enjoyed reading this newsletter, please feel free to forward it to your colleagues and they can register their details with us to receive their own copy.

email: newsletter@m62.net
telephone:
US: +1 (212) 672 1979
UK: +44 870 602 6262
Far East: +65 6322 0855
web: www.m62.net