As a business coach I find that business people always seem very interested and eager for advice on how to make winning presentations. And recently there has been an increased interest in seeking advice for making winning presentations to investors for their business. They want to know how best to prepare that winning presentation to a prospective investor. Applying strategic thinking to this request, here are ten actions I recommend to anyone desiring to make a winning presentation to investor(s).

1. Know who the audience will be. Research who will be attending and what their backgrounds are so that you know something about who will be listening to your presentation and making the decision on your request.

2. Target your message to the investors. Do some homework by talking with a key player among the investors who will be in attendance. Find out what some of their “hot buttons” are and what they look for in their investment opportunities.

3. Arrive early and be ready to present at the appointed time.

4. Be concise and get to your point quickly. Investors can lose interest very quickly if your presentation does not get to the point quickly.

5. Know the time limit for your presentation and honor it. This shows that you respect the value of everyone’s time.

6. Prepare your presentation to assure that you will keep within the time allotted to you.

7. Anticipate questions that may be asked and prepare yourself to answer them. Do a “trial run” of your presentation with some colleagues or business advisers posing as the “potential investors” and have them ask questions after your presentation.

8. Never, never, never try to fake your way through your presentation, evade a question or knowingly tell an untruth. If you do not know the answer to a question, be honest and admit that you do not know. This will portray you as being honest and straightforward.

9. Rehearse your presentation and have someone provide constructive criticism to you. Make any necessary adjustments to the presentation to address the points of constructive criticism.

10. Practice, practice, practice your presentation!

Thinking strategically and employing the above tips when preparing for your presentation will increase your probability of success in making a winning presentation to investors.

You have to know as much as you possibly can about the people who will comprise your audience. You must uncover what their interests and expectations are. You must also take into consideration where you’ll be speaking, what time of day it will be and what logistical and technical considerations may play a role.

Your whole objective is to effectively and successfully get a specific point across to them. Hence, you must first understand to whom it is you’re presenting and where they’re at, philosophically, in relation to your point. The more information you have at your disposal, the more effective your persuasive attempts will be. Consider the following list of questions when striving to learn more about your audience:

1. What is their common background or interest that brings them together to hear you speak?
2. Who are these people as individuals (business professionals, students, mothers, etc.)?
3. Will your audience tend to be more one gender than the other, or will they be pretty equally mixed?
4. Do you need to be aware of their political, religious, professional or other associations?
5. What will their average education and/or income level be?
6. What topic can you speak about that they will universally care about and understand?
7. What types of things would they be looking to get out of your message?
8. In terms of your key point(s), are they likely to agree, disagree or be indifferent?
9. What is their general age range?
10. Will they tend to be more conservative or liberal in their life views?
11. Is this likely to be an easygoing or more demanding type of crowd?
12. How long will you be likely to keep them engaged? How much time is even permissible?

These types of questions will allow you to customize your presentation to your audience. Obviously, you will not present to a board of college professors in the same way you would address a group of inner-city youth. After you’ve discovered all that you can about your audience, you begin to tailor and customize your message and decide exactly how to present it. This process is a simple formula, really: discover, design and deliver. So, once you know all there is to know about your audience, you must then figure out how to organize your presentation in the most appropriate fashion. Again, when doing so, there is plenty to consider. Think about the following ideas when you are in the “structure and design” mode of your persuasive message:

1. How much time is allotted for you to speak?
2. What will the setting be (auditorium, office, classroom, etc.)?
3. How large will your audience be?
4. Will you be speaking from a platform in front of a microphone, or will you be sitting in an intimate circle?
5. What time of day will it be? Will your audience be tired, refreshed, hungry, preoccupied, etc.? Should you/can you consider scheduling a break in your presentation?
6. Will there be any possible distractions that you can avoid by knowing about them in advance? For example, noise from neighboring rooms, outside distractions, children, traffic volume as people move from one room to another, sunlight producing too much glare, etc.
7. Can you inspect the presentation venue ahead of time? Where will you present from and what will your audience’s seating situation be?
8. What equipment will be accessible, if needed, like an overhead projector, a portable microphone, a flip chart, a blackboard or a dry erase board (along with chalk or markers), etc.?
9. What kind of sound system will be used, if any? Can you come to the venue early to do a sound check and familiarize yourself with the equipment?

Another crucial part of the “design” phase in the discover-design-deliver formula is the crafting of your actual message. What is a good outline for the message itself? The first area of concern is your opening. How do you grab your audience’s interest within the first fifteen to thirty seconds? In this brief window of opportunity, you must also introduce your topic. In other words, what is the issue being discussed?

Learning how to persuade and influence will make the difference between hoping for a better income and having a better income. Beware of the common mistakes presenters and persuaders commit that cause them to lose the deal. Get your free report 10 Mistakes That Continue Costing You Thousands and explode your income today.

Conclusion

Persuasion is the missing puzzle piece that will crack the code to dramatically increase your income, improve your relationships, and help you get what you want, when you want, and win friends for life. Ask yourself how much money and income you have lost because of your inability to persuade and influence. Think about it. Sure you’ve seen some success, but think of the times you couldn’t get it done. Has there ever been a time when you did not get your point across? Were you unable to convince someone to do something? Have you reached your full potential? Are you able to motivate yourself and others to achieve more and accomplish their goals? What about your relationships? Imagine being able to overcome objections before they happen, know what your prospect is thinking and feeling, feel more confident in your ability to persuade. Professional success, personal happiness, leadership potential, and income depend on the ability to persuade, influence, and motivate others.

A hamper is a great gift at any time of year although many people might expect them to be associated with Christmas. They work well as birthday presents because there’s a wide variety of them available. You can pick a hamper to suit perfectly the person you’re giving it to.

Hampers are packed with nice treats that can be used as a birthday feast. This makes them ideal for celebrating a special birthday and allows the recipient to have a really lovely time opening the hamper and them enjoying all the contents.

A hamper is a wonderful gift to get too. They arrive in a large package which is always exciting to get. They are packed in either boxes or nice wicker hampers that can be kept long after the contents have been eaten! The hampers are lovely to get and keep as a reminder of the gift, and they’re always useful to have for storing things in, and they’re always very decorative.

Buying the right hamper means looking through the available options and picking one which will really suit the birthday person. Of course any hamper with alcohol in must be bought by someone over 18, and should only be given as a gift to someone who is old enough to drink!

With different types of hamper including chocolate ones, cold food ones including cheese and salmon, as well as tradition food hampers, there’s a wide choice that should be enough to please anyone! If you know the recipient has a sweet tooth then pick one that will have lots of sweets and chocolate in! If you know they love red wine, pick one with a bottle of red wine in! It’s simple really – you know what they like so you just match this with the variety of hampers and pick the right one!

Celebrate a birthday by buying them a hamper! It’s a great idea that is a wonderful present to get, something different, unusual and something you know they can really enjoy!