MKTG-4250 | Product Strategy | Instructor Emily Edwards

Best Practices for a Successful Presentation

Below is a checklist to ensure high-quality delivery of content during live presentations.

Delivery of Presentation Content:

 Engage your audience with a powerful opening.
 Introduce it! Ground your audience in what you’re going to say so they know
what to expect. Introduce your team.
 Opt for QUALITY in coverage, not QUANTITY: It’s better to explain a few
topics, but explain them well.
 Eye Contact: Have balanced 3-second eye-contact with the ENTIRE
AUDIENCE (not just your professor or the decision-maker)
 Don’t read, and no full sheets of paper for notes – notecards only.
 Dress for Success: Wear business formal attire for your final presentation for
this course. All other presentations should be business casual attire.
 Watch your body language! Be sure to attentively listen with a “neutral” facial
expression when your fellow-presenters are delivering their content. If your
presentation room has a podium – come out in front to fully engage with your
audience.
 Smile, bring some energy and excitement: After all, if you’re not energetic
about your category… you audience won’t be either.
 PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE: Be sure to practice to prevent overlap
and duplication during team presentations.
 Flow & Transitions: Make sure your presentation builds logically and flows
clearly from one slide to the next.
 A strong, memorable closing statement: Make sure to carefully craft your
closing statement to leave a lasting impression in your audience’s minds.

Your Slide Presentation:

 Slide Length: You should plan to spend between 1-3 minutes per presentation
slide. So – a 5-minute presentation should be no more than 5-6 slides.
 See-Say Lockup: Make sure the visuals on your slide support what you’re
saying. Example: if your visual shows a chart that says “product challenges and
technical workarounds” – it’s definitely not the right time for you to discuss
concept findings. To accomplish this, simply begin by asking yourself “what do I
want to communicate on this slide” BEFORE building the slide itself. (it’s a
simple trick, but it really really works!)
 Slides should rely on more visuals than words: NO SLIDES should contain
paragraphs of content – but rather, bulleted key words. All slides can be
strengthened by including meaningful visuals to convey the intended point.
 Include videos when possible & appropriate. You can embed the videos to
ensure they will show up appropriately.
 Answer audience questions openly, without defensiveness: We know this
product is your “baby”, but your audience needs to feel that you are open to
dialogue in the Q&A portion to promote the best discussion. You can make your
 MKTG-4250 | Product Strategy | Instructor Emily Edwards

audience feel that you are open to suggestions / feedback by stating: “great
comment – that’s something we didn’t think of”, or “I really appreciate your
suggestion – I’ll take that back with me to discuss with the team”
 Include the full team in Q&A
 Support your teammates in Q&A: only “add to” a teammate response if the
build is legitimate and critically-important. I usually see 2-3 teammates
answering each question, and the underlying effect is LOTS of duplication plus it
makes you appear mistrustful of your fellow teammates’ competency.
 Make sure you upload a PowerPoint presentation (NOT a Google Drive, Prezi,
PDF, etc.).
 Please be sure to “test” the presentation on business school computers in advance
to prevent technological issues. I often see formatting issues when converting
from Google Slides to PowerPoint.