More often than not, clients are now asking to see the whole team for a pitch presentation – and asking for no slides. The cohesiveness of the team is often a key factor in whether the pitch is a success. So, how do you create a great team presentation

Here are eight top tips to help you win with a team presentation

1. Appoint a team leader

This will probably be the person leading the tender pitch. This person is responsible for leading the pitch, deciding on goals and objectives for the presentation and who does what bit. The team leader needs to decide on the over-arching theme for the presentation.

2. Have clear goals

As a team focus in on the three most essential goals that you all have for the presentation. Everything in the presentation must point to these three goals.

3. Build up a consistent story

It is important that the team presentation flows and builds a compelling and engaging ‘story’ to your intended audience. As the presentation fits together, make sure that each part of the presentation is consistent. If you firm has pitch template documents, use them!

4. Rehearse as a group

In an ideal world you would rehearse a couple of times before actually delivering the presentation to the client. With constraints of time, geography and client work this is not always possible. A final run-through would ideally have a ‘live’ audience to give feedback.

In your rehearsal time, you need to fit in the following:

* Clear expectations of everyone’s roles and responsibilities
* Timing check
* Logical flow of presentations, structure and content
* Get familiar with people’s speaking styles
* Build in key points for presenters to reinforce
* Agree on introductions and how to handle transitions between presentors
* A minimum of 2 run-throughs of the presentation

5. Prepare for Q&A
The question and answer session at the end also needs to be a team performance. As a group prepare for likely questions, agreeing on the ‘party line’ for answers, and which person of the team is best suited to answer a question. You may like to use the team leader to channel the questions to the appropriate team member to answer.

6. Focus on transitions

Transitions in team presentations add a new and different dynamic to solo presentations. Transitions are the important bridging elements, which determine whether this is a team presentation or a collection of individual presentations. Each presenter should close up their part of the presentation and then link to the next presenter. The team leader needs to decide whether to introduce each new presenter or get each presenter to introduce the next presenter.

Wherever possible each presenter should include brief references to presentations gone before them.

7. Introducing presenters

Before a presenter starts they need an introduction. This introduction needs to say who they are, but also something relevant about them. i.e. more than just, “James, our partner in medical negligence will talk about our expertise in medical negligence”

When the team is introduced the team leader (or team host) needs to give a brief, succinct introduction of what’s to come. State what each presenter will cover and a brief overview of what each person will talk about.

8. Maintain your focus

It is vital that all team members remain focused, interested and alert to whoever is presenting. Team members, if not speaking, can pay attention to the audience and gauge their reactions to the material being presented.

Perhaps you are struggling to deliver a team presentation without slides? Or, maybe you are finding that you are not winning enough of your competitive pitches? Or do you feel you could get more referrals and leads from running client seminars? – Give us a call + 44 (0) 1234 48 0123 or drop us a line, heather@theefficiencycoach.co.uk, and let us see how we can help you.

The Efficiency Coach specialises in working with professional service firms helping them achieve more for their time, effort and money

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