Democrats Scored on Visual Selling

If you watched the July 23, 2007 CNN-YouTube debate between Democratic presidential candidates, you probably noticed the format was not typical. Generally, debates consist of political questions and answers between a few talking heads. This one—with its video clips, audience participation, emotionally charged presenters and a moderator, who spoke without hiding behind a lectern—shattered the old rules. The results were dynamic and quite revealing. In fact, I believe that the format forced candidates to truly “sell” their message to the audience and stand out from their competitors.

As someone who taught the importance of visual selling for years, I loved the set up for this debate. All the visual elements—from the YouTube questions to the audience shots to the candidates themselves—kept TV viewers engaged. It was a visual selling feast—one that truly put the candidates’ presentation skills to the test.
See The Great American Sales Pitch, for the full critique.
Hillary's gestures
Barack's gestures
John's gestures

Building Better Images

I just saw a performance of Lanford Wilson's "The 5th of July." It's a powerful story of friends from the 60's who gather to scatter the literal ashes of a beloved uncle and the figurative ashes of their past lives. The main character lost his legs in Vietnam. Seeing him struggle around the stage with crutches made me recall a poster I owned when I was a disillusioned naval officer during Vietnam. The poster's image was similar to the two shown here. The title read "The Army Builds Better Men." That poster drew me in again and again, feeding my anti-war sentiments.

For me now, it is also the essence of an effective image. By itself, the image carries one literal message. But when a presenter speaks words that add a layer of meaning, the visual becomes unforgettable. "Visual Selling" is all about creating images that convey the gut benefit of your proposal, product or idea and speaking words to impress it indelibly on the prospect.

Chicken Nugget vs Lentil Soup -- Diet Visuals

A recent Time Magazine article on "The Science of Appetite" informs us unsurprisingly that when you see a cupcake your mouth starts watering due to early conditioning. Visual stimulus is one factor that makes us eat more, even when we are not hungry.

This reminds me of a remarkable book that draws on the power of visuals to change behavior, also in the diet area: Dr. Shapiro's Picture Perfect Weight Loss: The Visual Program for Permanent Weight Loss . Each page includes two photographs of food with the same amount of calories but a wildly different visual message and nutrients. (In the picture , 1 chicken nugget with 80 calories equals 1 1/4 cup of lentil soup.) I show just one small example, but get the book and see for yourself. For me, it makes the broader case once again for strength of visual arguments to change behavior.

12 Top Visuals Mistakes Presenters Make, And How to Avoid Them

As I was posting a PDF file of "12 Top Mistakes" on my website, I ran my eyes down the list. In doing so, I had three quick observations.

First, these mistakes are pervasive. Most presenters commit at least two out of the 12 errors.

Second, none of the mistakes ruins a presentation. But they're like a glaring pimple on your chin – they sure don’t enhance the impression you make.

And third, these mistakes are all “sooo” easy to correct. We're not learning a new skill here. Rather it’s as simple as knowing not to hike in high heels.

Here's the quick list of 12 Top Mistakes, with a link at the right for those interested in remedies:

Mistake #1: Overlooking “Murphy
Mistake #2: Delivering Split Presentations
Mistake #3: Positioning Yourself Incorrectly
Mistake #4: Choosing the Wrong Screen Size and Position
Mistake #5: Seating Decision Makers in the Wrong Chairs
Mistake #6: Dimming the Lights
Mistake #7: Promoting the Screen
Mistake #8: Playing with Pointers and Other Toys
Mistake #9: Blocking the Screen
Mistake #10: Holding Remotes or Clickers
Mistake #11: Positioning the Lectern to the Side
Mistake #12: Reading Someone Else’s Text Slides

Which ones will you correct in your next presentation?

Abe Lincoln, Visually Speaking

I just got back from the Lincoln Museum in Springfield Illinois, which is, without a doubt, the museum with the widest range of multimedia elements I have ever seen.

Whether you are 6 or 60, the exhibits are engrossing and visually compelling. One life-size exhibit showed a slave mother being torn away from her child and husband. While I looked at the wax figures, I also read the statistics on the number of slaves sold, year by year. Beside me a child was mesmerized by the raw drama that the figures embodied.

Artifacts, movies, wax figure displays, live actors, and holograms bring the dry details of history into vivid reality. Even if you're a reader, as I am, you find yourself drawn to a video that starts just because it is colorful and kinetic. In contrast, the Lincoln Library next door has many important, framed documents, but none of the imagery or excitement.

What's the take-away for business? What insight does this museum offer a presenter? That in speaking to a group, a presenter walks the fine line between information and entertainment. Strong images (instead of PowerPoint text slides) make information come alive and pull in the viewer. And it's just plain entertaining as well.

Another Disasterous Presenter

Since its April release I have been passing out my new book, "Visual Selling", to all my friends. Now they are reporting back to me on all the bad presentations they see. Yesterday my buddy described a terrible talk that he attended last week, where the presenter:

• passed out handout first so that everyone was reading during the pitch, ignoring the speaker
  
• read slides word for word, as if the audience was composed of illiterates
  
• stood in front of slides so viewers could not see them, negating their use
• failed to rehearse, so when his plan to bring points onto the screen one at a time failed, they all came on at once, giving his surprises away!

Where and when shall we hang this speaker?

Join the revolution. Share stories of bad presentations you've seen.

Pilates Presentation Tip

As you speak before others, would you like to appear more confident and open? Then try this posture trick that Pilates instructors teach: stretch your neck up and pull your back muscles down. When you make this very small movement, your shoulders are pulled back and down slightly. Result: you stand more erect, and, to the observer, you appear more confident and open.