NOTES ON PRESENTING CREATIVE.pptx

NOTES ON CREATIVE
PRESENTATIONS
BY TOM WITTLIN FOR SWEDEN UNLIMITED

Notes on Creative Presentations Tom Wittlin for Sweden Unlimited April 2023
WHEN I FIRST STARTED WORKING IN
CREATIVE AGENCIES I HATED
PRESENTATIONS.
I mean, it literally scared the bejeezus out of me. I
remember my first “pitch” and my boss was telling
me to rehearse in the office in front of the team and
that made it worse.
I stumbled, stammered and all but needed a new
change of pants.
That was 15 years ago.
Fast forward to today, and I can honestly say I
LOVE pitching now. Really. It’s probably one of my
favorite things to do as a creative.
It’s because I learned to embrace the fear, and turn
it into something fun. I hope this presentation goes
some way to help you feel the same.
2

The biggest thing I came to learn through
experience and reading books, is that it’s not
ONLY how good the work is, it’s also about how
well you sell it, and that means; building rapport.
At the end of the day, the people you present to
are people. Not robots, not gods. People.
They have feelings, a sense of humour
(hopefully!) and therefore, this should be treated
as an exercise in meeting people as much as
anything.
I learned that when you create a sense of drama,
a pitch (or presentation) can be turned from a
business meeting, into a form of entertainment.
Much like how fashion shows have evolved to be
as they are today.
3

So at the risk of banging on and boring you
with my understanding of what a pitch /
presentation is - (maybe another deck), I’ll
jump right into the things which I’ve come to
recognise are important when preparing.

Don’t be worried about whether they will like / dislike
what you’re about to show them.
The important thing is YOU love it (that’s vital - don’t
present something you aren’t 100% behind), and
understand it.
Forget about anything you can’t control.
RELAX
But, how can I relax for god’s sake?
Dance / meditate / run or whatever before you
present to get grounded and out of “panic brain”.
Feel your feet in your shoes, your fingers on the
keyboard and notice your breathing.
The goal is to bring yourself into the NOW.
01/01
6

Mum’s said it all the time and for good reason. When
you ‘try’ to be something else, (eg cool /
sophisticated / edgy or smart) it’s felt by people.
Be friendly - not cocky or pretentious (I always make
jokes at my own expense) - and smile when you’re
speaking.
They might not see it, but they’ll hear it.
BE YOU
Speak slowly. Don’t rush. I’ve come to notice, that
people I admire that truly understand their work speak
slowly in order to allow things to sink in.
Less words. Slower.
01/02
7

YOU ARE NOT
THE WORK
If they don’t like something or worse - hate it, breathe, smile and say “oh ok,
that’s fine - but could you elaborate - what’s not working for you?”
Don’t take it personally. It’s an easy trap to fall into - once you’ve taken a hit you
just want the meeting to end.
Once you have understood ‘why’ they don’t like it the next challenge is working
to address it.
01/03
8

THE WORK YOU
9

KNOW
YOUR
SHIT*
You have to know every pixel of this design or
concept like the back of your hand and provided
you’ve done it, that’s fine.
In the past I’ve been thrown into presenting someone
else’s work last minute without fully understanding it -
and it’s a train wreck.
So be prepared to know everything about the design,
and be ready to answer questions.
* Not to be confused with “know you’re shit”
02/01
11

FIND A THEME
All good stories have a narrative. An underlying
message or theme which allows you to ‘get the hang
of’ quickly.
Try to find one in your work. Whether it’s sleek
futurism, old English Heritage or California cool. Find it
and make it the bassline to your presentation.
This can be as simple as a few well chosen words
and images. Nothing drastic, just something that
nods to the ‘idea’ you want to convey.
02/02
12

● MOVE QUICKLY : Don’t gloss over things but give a holistic view not a pixel by pixel walk through, save the details for later
● GIVE REASONING : Provide rationale for design choices (“this font brings a more modern look”)
● SOURCES: Reference aspirational brands & designs (“like Saint Laurent or Chanel do”)
● BE PROUD OF YOUR WORK - when people know YOU love it, it comes across. Get excited and show your passion
● DON’T BULLSHIT : If you don’t know the answer to something simply say “good question - honestly I don’t know but leave it with
me and I’ll find that out”
02/03
ALSO
13

● GET THEM TO LIKE YOU - Research your audience - stalk them in IG etc - do they
have kids / dogs / like surfing or something - then drop in references to this without
saying “I know you like…”
● NEVER TALK OVER THEM. Please.
● Answer questions positively and encourage contributions (eg if they say “could we
do…” - answer with “yeah I love that idea - we could put that in here”)
● Ask questions. Take an interest in not just their business but their lives - remember -
they’re people.
● Be humble. If they say they love it, say thank you and don’t take all the credit - if
someone else has worked on it with you say “Thank you, we’ve all worked really
hard on this”.
● Follow up after the meeting with a thank you (usually a PM will) and remind them to
ask any questions they have.
● SEND cool stuff to get them excited “I saw this the other day I think you’ll love it”
THEY
ARE
PEOPLE
TOO
03/01
15

16

HAVE FUN
In the scheme of things, what you’re doing
isn’t life or death.
Creative work is enjoyable, and when you’ve
done something you’re proud of, look
forward to showing it off.
My kids come home with things they’ve
made or drawn which they’re incredibly
proud of and tell me all about them.
And I love it, because they love it.
CLOSING
17

“The more relaxed you are the
better you are. That's sort of
why I got into acting. I realized
the more fun I had, the better
I did it.”
A WORD FROM BILL MURRAY
18

NOTES ON PRESENTING CREATIVE.pptx

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to NOTES ON PRESENTING CREATIVE.pptx

Similar to NOTES ON PRESENTING CREATIVE.pptx (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (6)

NOTES ON PRESENTING CREATIVE.pptx