1. The Art of Selling Ideas

2. “Good Ideas are so frequently undermined by bad presentations that
it is almost tragic”
Shelly Lazarus, Chairman and CEO, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide

3. So why is presenting so important
• Work poorly presented is frequently work that is rejected.
your
X
• Work rejected is work that has to be revisited at the agency’s expense.
• Work that’s rejected wears people down with disappointment and the need to
X
revisit the same brief over and over again.
task
X
• Poorly presented work doesn’t do much for the client relationship either.
any

4. The Value of Well-Presented Work

5. The Value of Well-Presented Work
• Well presented work gets approved, the job moves on, we can all go back to
focus on the work.
your boss
X
• Even if the client rejects the work, your professionalism is respected and in turn
you’ll receive a professional response directed at improving the job.
• Well presented work also develops trust. By presenting well you show that you
believe in what you do, and your sincerity becomes the foundation for trust.
• ...and there’s the excitement factor.

6. small brown things
that move...
MICE!
A CONCEPT: an abstract or AN IDEA: the specific result of your cognition, what you
general idea inferred or have in your mind.
derived from specific
instances

7. It is Not What You Say
It is What Other People Hear
• One of the most difficult things about presenting, is that we’ve already done the
work and our heads are into the next three jobs. “We know why we did it the way
we did,” we moan, “It should be obvious.” But the fact is, it’s not obvious.
• You have to guide people through your thinking, get their buy-in. By explaining
where you’ve come from, you include them in the process, giving them a share of
the work .
• In covering-off the thinking that lead you to your recommended concept, you put
an end to the question, “What if we did this..?” because you have generally
already tried it, and in showing how you reached your conclusion, you’ve already
shown why you’ve moved on from that point.

8. Try to imagine them using PowerPoint...

9. The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint
• PowerPoint undermines good thinking by forcing the imprecise use of language,
by fragmenting information, and by encouraging the triumph of order over content.
• These inherent problems are then compounded by slavish devotion to an array of
tools (clipart, transitions, templates etc.) that are supposed to help, and a widely
embraced presentation slide that involves reading every last word on the slide.
• PowerPoint over-dependency represents intellectual lethargy on the part of the
presenter, and generally includes something similar in its audience.
• ...by the way I am using Keynote.

10. Your Way
• Frank Sinatra was one of the great
presenters.
• He presented in his own style. And
you can present in your own style.
• Today you will learn a few
techniques. But you must present in
your own way.
• As Frank used to sing “I'll state my
case, of which I'm certain”.

11. Homework
• Everything that can go wrong, will go
wrong. So make sure you’ve
covered all eventualities.
• You need to spend way longer
preparing than you do presenting.
Way, way longer.
• Make sure you present it all the way
through with all the technology and
charts and stuff, to a critical
audience.
• Only through presenting it will you
see where the flaws and
weaknesses are.

12. Energy
• Be confident. If you’re happy with
the work you should be confident.
• Be happy. A happy presenter is one
who knows no fear, and clients can
smell fear.
• Don’t do a presentation just
communicate with passion and
imagination.
• Stand up. Walk about. Talk naturally.
Tell jokes. Tell stories.
• Be a natural, warm energetic person
telling people about interesting stuff.

13. Know Your Audience
• Who are you presenting to?
• What do they want from you?
• What mood are they in?
• Are they words people or pictures
people or numbers people?
• Do you need to establish your
credibility somehow?
• The presentation isn’t about you. It’s
about them.

14. Distill
• Picasso was one asked how he
could turn a large block of rock
into a sculpture of a lion.
• “It’s easy,” he said. “Just take a
chisel and chip off all bits that
don’t look like a lion”.
• Maybe you can see the idea, but
to others it still looks like a large,
ugly boulder.
• You have to reduce it to make it
simple. Less is always more...

15. Purpose
• If it’s a purpose you can share then
state that purpose right upfront.
• Make sure your presentation is
geared to that purpose.
• If you’re trying to get a decision
made don’t spend 20 minutes
diverting to something else…
• Let people know what you expect
of them. What are you expecting
them to do?

16. Reveal
• You’re now ready to show the BIG
IDEA.
• Paint pictures in their minds that will
form the perfect backdrop to those
you are about to reveal.
• Then reveal. It’s your work – it’s gold.
• Take them through the concept
slowly, Once you feel everyone
understands the idea, then go over it
again, this time explaining the detail.

17. Ideas not Executions
• The idea does not limit itself to
being the literal expression of the
strategy. It does not stop there.
• The idea expresses the benefit in
an engaging, distinctive way. The
execution is the way the idea is
presented, explained and depicted.
• An execution is an idea about the
idea. In other words, the selling idea
dramatizes the benefit, and the
execution dramatizes the idea.
• Is the art of selling ideas not
executions...

18. The Finish
• People pay disproportionate
attention to the end of things and
they remember the end of things
better.
• Most people’s presentations just
fizzle out at the end because they run
out of energy before the end.
• Make conclusions. You’re an expert.
Don’t be afraid to make your
recommendation.
• Summarize – recap everything you’ve
just told them in your presentation.

19. Defending
• Now it’s time for someone else to
have their say. Usually it’s the client.
• Some like to comment straight
away. If they’re straight into their
comments – listen.
• Others like to mull it over. If they’re a
muller, leave them to mull.
• Defend your work in line with the
thinking you’ve already presented.
• But whatever happens, never, ever,
create answers on the spot.

20. Always Remember
• It is not what you say that counts it is what other people hear.
• One of the most important truths of any presentation is that it does not exist in a
vacuum.
• Every presentation must have a theme and a narrative structure. Be thinking as
much about the drama of what you have to say as about the content.
• People don’t care how much you know, unless they know how much you care.
• The key to all story endings is to give the audience what it wants, but not in the
way it expects.

21. An Example

22. KING AGAMEMNON’S BRIEF:

23. Others presented...
• Military Strategies
• Attack Plans
• Overviews of Resources
Required
• Broad Costings Depending on
Length of Battle
• Widely Varying Casualty
Estimates

24. Odysseus
presented...
• Trojans Are On Alert - Waiting
for Attack
• Troy is well defended
• Conventional Attack is
Dangerous
• Time consuming (10 years)
• Capital intensive
...an analysis

25. Odysseus
presented...
• In Trojan Culture You never
refuse a gift
• In Trojan Culture the Horse is
totally revered
...an analysis

26. ONLY DECEPTION WILL GIVE
US THE ELEMENT OF THE CONCEPT
SURPRISE

27. AN IDEA

28. Reading
• The Perfect Pitch, by Jon Steel.
• The Cognitive Style of
PowerPoint, by Edward Tufte.
• Envisioning Information, by
Edward Tufte
• Presentation Zen, by Garr
Reynolds.
• How not to come Second, by
David Kean
• ...and many more.

29. Antonis Kocheilas
antonis.kocheilas@me.com
As Managing Partner / Planning for
LOWE Athens, I am responsible for
agency’s acknowledged strategic
prowess. LOWE Athens is the 2nd
most effective agency office in
Europe according to the Effie
Effectiveness Index
(http://www.effieindex.com)

30. THANKS A LOT