Larry Asher provides guidance on how to effectively present and sell creative work in 3 key steps: 1. Thorough preparation in the days and minutes before the presentation, including getting sign-off on a creative brief, understanding the audience and stakeholders, and rehearsing the presentation. 2. An engaging presentation that explains the work, sets the context and problem being solved, demonstrates how the work addresses the brief, and is explicit about next steps. 3. Consideration for alternative presentation methods like video calls or PDF decks if an in-person presentation is not possible.

1. How to Present
(And Sell)
Creative Work

2. Larry Asher

3. 1.That’s who I am.
And you are?

5. What’s on tap?

6. What’s right?
What’s wrong?

7. 2.How do you present now?

13. 3.Why (and when)
presentations go south

14. Seeing the client as someone you have to please.

15. Not getting up off your ass.

16. Starting with an apology.

17. Failing to set the stage properly.

18. Over-explaining the details.

19. Reading. Writing.

20. Getting defensive.

21. Folding your tent too quickly.

22. Asking“do you like it?”

23. Let’s take a break.

24. There are two parts:
Preparation
Presentation

25. 4.Preparation:
Days Out

26. Do you have a signed-off
creative brief?

27. The briefest of briefs
Deliverable: HTML email for loyalty program
customers
Audience: Starbucks card users; frequent visitors
to Starbucks retail stores
Takeaway: “You should buy aVerismo System
because it allows you to make Starbucks
lattes at home.”
Tone: Newsy, simplified, welcoming
Offer: Pre-order online

29. The takeaway:
No sentence in a brief is
more important.

30. You should
blank
blank
because
blank.

31. You should
verb
noun
because
single compelling
reason.

32. You should
buy
aVerismo System
because
it allows you to make
Starbucks lattes at home.

33. You should
take classes
at SVC
because
you’ll get the straight
scoop from top pros.

34. You should
consider
Swedish
because
they’re treating cancer
in a new, effective way .

35. Do you have have
agreement on what
constitutes great work?

36. It’s intrusive.

38. It’s involving.

40. It’s intrusive
& involving.

42. It’s emotional.

44. It’s intrusive
& involving
& emotional.

46. It’s single-minded.

48. It’s true to the brand.

54. It’s on strategy.

55. BTW: Is this “on brand?”

57. It’s intrusive
& involving
& emotional
& single-minded
& true to the brand
& on strategy.

59. Do you know who’s going
to be there?

60. Do you know who’s going
to say what?

61. Have you seen the room?

62. Have you written it down
and rehearsed?

64. 5.Preparation:
Minutes Out

65. Prepare your body & soul.

67. Rebrief the room.

68. Set the stage.

69. Tell them what you’re after.

70. Let’s eat lunch.

71. 6. Presentation:
Step-by-Step

72. Own the room.
Assume the pose.

74. Put on a show.

75. Explain what they’re
seeing (to a degree).

76. The most important
stuff
Less important stuff
Non-Essential Details
Time

78. We see a close-up photo of a
young guy wearing a t-shirt.
He’s wearing his seatbelt.
The seatbelt is covering up
some of the words.
The copy reads,“Buckle up.
Stay alive.”
Here’s a small Province of
Quebec logo.

79. Tell us why this solves
the business problem.

80. Use your checklist.

81. Is it on-brand?
Is it on-strategy?
Is the concept great?
Intrusive
Involving
Emotional
Single-Minded

82. Do not ask:
“what do you think?”

83. Be clear (and presumptive)
about what happens next.

84. Shut up.

85. No, really. STFU.

86. Days Before
Right Before
The Presentation
Get a signed-off brief
Agree on your standards
Try for face-to-face
Prepare mind and soul
Re-brief
Set the stage
Tell them what you’re after
Own the room
Put on a show
Explain what they’re seeing
Use your checklist
Tell how you’ve solved the problem
Be explicit about next steps
Shut up

87. Let’s take a break.

88. Presentation Agenda
1.Why we’re here today
2.The problem we’re trying to solve
3. Here it is!
4.Why this work solves the problem
5. Do we agree?
6.What we’ll do next.

89. 7. Putting it all together:
A case study.

90. This was the solution

93. What we learned from the Super Bowl.
Swedish Cancer Institute
2014 Creative Presentation
April 23, 2014
Worker Bees, Inc.

94. Familiarity breeds favoritism.

95. Most people aren’t paying attention.

96. Research Highlights:
The at-risk don’t care much about cancer.
“Not very” or “not at all” concerned about getting cancer:
57%
Spend “a little” or “almost no” effort staying up to date on the
latest approaches to cancer treatment:
82%
96

97. If there’s an opening, take it.

98. Research Highlights:
No organization has a strong position.
Rates concept statement as “extremely” or “very” important:
“Highest Survival Rates”
77%
“Personalized, Genetic Medicine”
70%
98

99. 99
The Audience: The Legion of Boomers

100. What’s the single take-away?
100
You should consider the
Swedish Cancer Institute
because we now use
genetic sequencing, an
exciting new advancement,
to lead us to the most
effective treatment plan.

101. Let’s get this party started.
101

102. 102

103. Listen Up
Copy Revised 3-29-14
They can intercept the genetic profile of a
patient’s cancer cells, and then prescribe a
personalized therapy.
RICHARD: Hey, Cancer...When you try to harm
people with your sorry cancer cells...
I’m going to explain it for you real quick: SCI!and you go up against the Swedish Cancer Insti-
tute, what result do you think you’re gonna get?
RICHARD: Hey, Cancer, you know what
happens when the Swedish Cancer Institute
comes after you? Game.
That is not mediocre. That is extraordinary. [That
is what you want.]

104. One last thought:
Winning will be good.
104

105. 105

106. 8. Let’s present.
> Choose a creative sample to present
> Write your takeaway sentence
> Write your presentation notes (10 minutes)
> Give a 5-minute presentation
> We’ll give you a 5-minute critique

118. 10.When you can’t
present in person.

119. Share your screen while
doing a Skype video call

121. Edit a video narrated by
you presenting the work.

123. Build a PDF deck that
walks the reader through
the presentation.

124. What would Don Draper do?

125. He’d get you drunk first.

126. He’d remind you what this assignment was:
Create a multi-media campaign to:
1. Build preference for the Swedish brand
2. Drive people to take a free online health screening

127. But then he’d say, this is the actual priority of the message:
Build preference
Get screenings

128. He’d say that there are lots of different stages in the purchase cycle
OrthoHealthy
Former
Patient
PatientAt-Risk DiagnosedDiagnosed
MD

129. But, when you use mass media, you’re mostly talking to these guys
OrthoHealthy PatientAt-Risk DiagnosedDiagnosed
MD
Former
Patient

130. And this is what they think of health care and hospital ads
We
don’t
care

131. He would remind us that women, not
men, are the most important audience
X XXX X

132. And then he’d light up another smoke

133. This is what you want people to do when they see these ads:
Talk
about
them

134. Would anyone talk about these?

135. He’d remind us not to say these words:
Leading edge
State of the art
Compassion
Care/Caring
Excellence
Right here at home

136. He’d remind us not to show these images:
Docs in white coats
Docs in blue scrubs
Docs in green scrubs
Docs with arms crossed
Happy couples on bikes
Big buildings

137. Then he’d light up a new one and ask
if you have any questions

138. He’d say good bye, good luck, and
then he’d step out to “take a call.”

142. If you must send PDFs,
password protect them,
and give out the
password at the
beginning the call.

143. 11.What do you think?

144. 12. Q&A + H&K

145. larry@workerbees.com