Presentation skills…

As an agency that regularly presents a mixture of work, it’s always interesting to get feedback from clients in terms of not just what we presented, but how we presented it… As many of you will know, our staple work is design for print, digital and exhibitions. Every time we present a project, we take time to consider how best to showcase the work and ideas we’re presenting. Even in this digital age we tend to include the majority of our ideas on printed boards, and where appropriate, produce (normally) lovely hand crafted mockups. These tactile pieces are more often than not supported by an on-screen presentation.

Perhaps it’s the age of the author (no jokes) but there’s something really nice in showing a client exactly what you’re proposing, rather than just a set of visuals on screen. It seems to go down well with those we present to, as well. In fact recently we were surprised to learn on winning a pitch we were the only agency of several that produced anything other than an on-screen presentation. Furthermore, our A3 landscape pitch documents are often commented on, as they also contain credentials and case studies as well as the project in question. We do this just in case the ‘decision maker’ hasn’t been present at the pitch (it does happen!) and can see the full picture from the leave behind document.

We’re spoilt in the sense that we’ve got some great print kit in the studio and can create back to back spreads and all the rest of it, but even so, we think it’s the best way to show the little details of design and typography than may not show up on screen, especially not on a projector.

Of course, it depends on the occasion. We probably do tend to ‘go to town’ a bit on major pitches, but for example, when last week we had a nice little informal catch up with old clients in new roles, we just flipped through some images of recent work on an iPad over coffee. Horses for courses, we suppose.

Recently, we’ve just been helping a client put together an initial proposal, the first stage of repitching for their largest client. We were able to bring some of our thinking to how they should go about it and it was nice to hear that the recipient commented positively on the standard of the resulting document.

So, the next time we’re burning the midnight oil, with the printer churning away, scalpels and spray-mount all over the place, we can comfort ourselves that, most of the time at least, it’s well received and therefore well worth it.

It'd be interesting to hear others' views on pitches they've delivered or received. What stuck in your mind? Good or bad? Let us know...