Planning the Oral Presentation Strategy

If the proposal team has gotten this far, the firm's capabilities are acceptable, so you don't want to waste time repeating what you've already said in print about the organization or the team.  This is a fresh opportunity to deliver new information important to your key audience--to connect your capabilities to their needs.

From the time you are notified of the presentation opportunity until you actually go, try to find ways to stay in touch with the decision makers.  Find questions to ask or bring some timely matter to their attention, or take them for lunch or a ball game, if that is appropriate in your environment.  Don't be afraid to show interest!

Goals. Your prospect wants to talk about current or future issues, not the past.  Your goal is to demonstrate an understanding of their plans and goals, and then focus on how your services or personnel will help achieve those goals.

Benjamin Disraeli said, ``Talk to a man about himself and he'll listen for hours."  It's the same in business.  If you are knowledgeable and you talk about the prospect's issues and concerns, if you talk about how you can help them to succeed, you will find yourself gaining many more clients.

Structure.  Proposals are a process of persuasion.  Each key issue or message in your presentation should be structured persuasively. Try this format:

• Observation.  Give your observation or recommendation.
• Benefit. State the specific benefits of using you for this particular topic.
• Feature.  Name the features, services or expertise you offer that will solve or address the problem.  Make your claims.
• Proof!  Give evidence that you can do it.  Evidence can be third party endorsements or references, facts, figures, or examples.

Preparing for the Q&A.  Here are a few pointers to help make the ending as good as the rest of the presentation:

• Use the Q&A period to overcome objections, spoken or unspoken. Seize the bull by the horns.
• As you plan your presentation, make notes of where you are vulnerable or weak, or where they might ask a hostile question.  Rehearse the answers to these questions several times so your effective answers will come out of your mouth instead of faltering uncertainties.
• Agree on procedures for the Q&A--will the team leader field all questions and pass them to people to answer? will people jump in to answer if they are moved to? how will the leader bail out a team member who gets into trouble with an answer?

Remember to end a Q&A period strongly with a reminder of your key selling message.  You don't want the meeting end weakly with  ``Well, I guess that's it. Thanks for asking us in."  Focus them again on something that conveys your interest in the work and highlights your best qualification.

For more information on these topics and other strategic issues, see Winning Proposals:  A Step-by-Step Guide to the Proposal Process by Kaye Vivian, ABC (AICPA, 1993).

Copyright 1993, 1997 by Kaye Vivian.  All rights reserved. 
Permission to reprint is granted as long as the text is not altered
and this copyright notice remains attached.

Page last updated: January 4, 1999