Presentations are big moments. They’re big because something important hinges on the outcome. And also because they involve a group of individuals, presenting together as a team.
How do you go about bringing your team together as a cohesive unit to make a successful presentation? I spoke to Becky King, Executive Creative Director of Dragon Rouge LDN, Chris Lumsden Co-Founder of Good Brand Consultants and Ian Thompson, former Head of Thompson Brand Partners about what works for them when it comes to pitch presentations.
Start with your people and their people
All three contributors agree that a great team presentation starts with a clear decision on who is on the team. For Lumsden (pictured left), an ‘Opportunity Owner’ is responsible for pulling the right people into the meeting. He describes their role as “coordinating the group and briefing them on the presentation. They seek the team’s input and this shapes the best presentation and creates ownership for their individual contribution”. King emphasises the importance for each participant to have a role, “to be there because you’ve got something to add.”
Thompson agrees and adds that “each participant’s role has to be clear. And contributions balanced across the group. This says that our expertise is across the board and not an overreliance on one or two people.” The Opportunity Owner can also be the one to intervene in a crisis. For this role Thompson recommends “doing your homework and bringing personal qualities of affability, openness and a cool head.”
For Thompson, the team you send should say “we’re the right people for the job”. This is sharpened by “sending people who the client will be dealing with if they select you. Not the good speakers. Not the senior people never to be seen again. And remember to think about and act on the make-up of your team when it comes to diversity.”
For King, knowing your audience is equally important in shaping what you say and how you say it. “Find out who will be in the meeting. And what is important to them. Look at their job titles and social profiles. Ask what would resonate with them, what’s important to a Head of Digital versus an HR Director for example”.
Be proactive around space and time
Find out about where the meeting is going to take place and use that information. When on home turf King (pictured left) observes that “you can think about where you want to have the meeting, where you will sit in relation to the client. And create a good agenda, including breaks and refreshments.” Getting this information is even more important when playing away from home.
King adds “it’s on you to find out about the room, the technology set up and also to ask for some set up time. If the meeting starts at 3pm ask to arrive at 2.45 to set up”. Thompson adds that checking the room set up, “will help you gauge what to expect and work out where you want to be sitting and speaking from in the room.” For Lumsden, it is the Opportunity Owner’s role to ask the client to share this information. “They find out about how much time we’ve got, what they want us to do with that time, and what they want to leave with.”
In a team presentation, you don’t have all the time you are given to speak. You’ll have to allow time for getting set up and settled in, introductions, handing over to each presenter and for discussion and ending. With this in mind, King stresses the need to “actively decide how you’re going to use the time. She advises against “fighting your own content by trying to pack everything in. This creates the room to discuss, provoke and talk through.”
Make time to rehearse
There was broad agreement that rehearsal time is time well spent. For Lumsden, rehearsal time is vital. “You can’t just ‘rock up and present. The Opportunity Owner pulls together the run throughs, and makes sure they happen. They keep an eye on how long is each person talking for, that everything hangs together, and listen out for any sharp edges to smooth off.” For Thompson, rehearsal time means “your team will feel more confident. Always check your timings. And leave enough time for questions.”
For King, “rehearsals are particularly useful for checking your approach to handovers. And going over personal introductions, making sure they’re relevant and they fit into the time allocated. We decide how we want to begin and how we want to end. And when we will take questions. Questions along the way can derail the presentation so we make it clear they’ll come at the end.”
Questions create alchemy
Good chemistry is vital for a successful client relationship. For Thompson, (pictured left) it is a key aspect of team presentations. “Chemistry is what separates one agency from another, when more than one agency has ticked all the boxes. Chemistry is created (or not) through conversation. Questions are where you create chemistry, because questions create a conversation. And conversation is the refreshing part for a client who might be seeing multiple agencies in a day”
In practice, Lumsden’s approach to answering questions as a team is “not to predetermine who will answer what. Each person usually has specialist knowledge of an area so if the question is in that area, they’ll put their hand up. Sometimes the Opportunity Owner will coordinate the contributors in the meeting by articulating their understanding of the question and then pulling the right contributors into play. Having questions to ask the client is also a useful way of getting things moving and avoiding a tumbleweed moment. Lumsden’s favourites include, ‘why would you work with us?’”
Considering chemistry more broadly, King observes that “the audience picks up on your chemistry as a group. Negative influences here include people on the team who are making up the numbers, people who do not speak or pay attention to the occasion and people who dominate the presentation.” Lumsden sees a team presentation as “a reflection of our culture. A client is getting to know us, through our performance.”
“We start our chemistry on the way there and keep it going” observes Thompson. “We switch on before we walk on. Smile, make friends with the people who greet us. We get laughing and chatting beforehand. Go in in a chatty mood.” Likewise, Lumsden recommends ‘finding your human’. “We let that come across. We may swear at technology, make a reference to the biscuits or the coffee. We look for conversational oases. These are mini pauses, buffers, moments that occur naturally and provide ways to lighten the occasion and inject something of our personality.”
Each team presentation is an opportunity to take learning into the next one. For Lumsden “after each presentation we regroup, debrief, pick over the bits.” For King taking the time to do this represents a commitment to supporting each other, adding “it also helps to get to know each other’s style and develop trust in each other.”
Big moments for individuals
Coming back around to big moments, it’s important for team leaders to be aware of the different needs of the individuals within the team presenting. For junior members of the team, these occasions can be a daunting experience. They are not only facing ‘the client’, they are also performing in front of colleagues. Consider how you can support them to develop their skills and confidence between performances. And for senior members of the team, think about how you can support them to take on a role that stretches them in the presentation. What can you offer them here?
When done well, team presentations create opportunities for personal growth as well as business growth. Get both of these working together and you’ll make many more successful and satisfying team presentations.
Thanks for reading.
And huge thanks to Becky, Chris and Ian (pictured from left to right below) for your generosity in sharing your experience of what works.
