Category — Presentation Skills

Working the tradeshow circuit can be a boom for any business. A well thought out booth that is properly executed can generate enough leads to keep you busy for up to 6 months. For some businesses, this is their sole lead generating strategy as they participate in several tradeshows a year. Here is a featured article sharing a few tips to help you stand out from the pack.

Ten Easy Ways to Stand Out From the Pack at Your Next Trade Show

This article is written by:
Mel White, V.P. of Marketing and Business Development for Classic Exhibits Inc.

Your presence at a trade show is intended to generate qualified leads, as well as showcase your company’s products and ideas. It should also be an opportunity to listen to prospective clients and hear what their expectations are. So, how do you make certain that your booth is not lost in the shuffle? In trade shows, as in life, you have to take chances to get noticed. Remember, the opportunity to make that first impression only comes once.

Here are Ten Easy Ways to Stand Out from the Pack at Your Next Trade Show:

* Develop a Theme for Your Booth — It doesn’t have to be elaborate or expensive. It just has to be related to your company or to your sales pitch. For example, if your company sells coffee, you could have a coffee shop theme, complete with staffers dressed as baristas, and lattés made to order. Or you can tie your theme to your company’s geographic location. If your company is based in Texas, consider going with a western theme.

* Stellar Use of Audio-Video Materials – Think about adding a video kit to your portable or modular display. This is often as simple as adding monitor mount, a monitor, and a keyboard shelf or counter. Interactive A/V presentations can be engaging, informative, and informative. Like a moth to a light bulb, trade show attendees are drawn to professionally produced video presentations

* Use Special Effects to Impress – If your company markets cosmetics made from natural ingredients play a recording of rainforest sounds. Using a spotlight is a great way to highlight your flagship product.

* Provide In-booth Hospitality – This can be something as simple as coffee, tea, and pastries or something more elaborate.

* Music – Choose something appropriate to your company, not elevator music, but something that won’t overpower your presentation. If your company markets snowboards, you may choose high energy rock music. Just remember to keep the decibels at a reasonable level!

Russell’s Quick Tip:

This product sells itself with the touch and feel factor!

The key is to create outstanding samples that you WOW your prospects with during your presentation. If you’re just getting started, you may not understand the dynamics of a proper presentation, and if I were to share a little secret with you: I didn’t know much about giving a good presentation when I got started either! But I learned.

In this business of custom rug fabrication it is a key factor to your marketing success. As entrepreneurs, we all have to learn presentation skills at some point in time. In my case it was a gradual process. With some effort I eventually learned how to dress for success and develop my communication skills. With these skills I can comfortably enter into any environment; whether it’s a multi-million dollar mansion (my personal favorite) or an average middle class home. It’s akin to being a chameleon and adapting to your surroundings.

One shortcut solution to giving an impressive presentation that became obvious to me early on was this little gem: Create a few really exceptional samples that make you shine. They don’t have to be big samples either… around 18″ x 28″ is just fine.

Here is an example of what I’m suggesting. In this case I have cut out handles at the top of each sample and wrapped the handle with an attractive leather strip that I found at a crafts supply store (sold as a small bag of scrap leather pieces).

During my presentation, I always have a selection of 4-6 of these samples, along with a picture portfolio and a few other odds and ends.

Cheers…good luck with your next presentation!

By Shari Alexander

Sometimes the hardest part of running a one-on-one meeting is knowing what to say at the beginning. What are the first words out of your mouth? It can be an awkward moment after you shake hands and say hello. You don’t want to jump into the “meat” of the meeting. There should be a nice transition from casual conversation to the reason for the meeting. [Read more →]