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To much power can be a dangerous thing.

Article I just wrote for ME Media Week about the perils of Power Point.

We talk a lot these days about the need for brands to make an emotional connection with consumers, but what about making an emotional connection with clients? In new business presentations in particular, it seems that rather than engaging the client eye to eye, technology has made it all to easy for us to swivel towards the big screen and leave it to Power Point.
Once upon a time there was the humble pie chart and the simple but effective bar graph. They used to appear together on overhead projectors and pretty much had the place to themselves. But then in the 80’s they got married and proceeded to create a family of Brad and Angelina sized proportions. Pie Chart and Bar Graph’s kids have fancy names like Brand Matrix, Brand Onion, and Insight Pyramid.
The big problem with Power Point is it gives someone who wouldn’t normally be able to address a large group of people, the power to do just that. In the wrong hands too much Power Point can be a dangerous weapon, turning a boardroom into a bored room faster than you can say ‘pass me the laser pointer’.
For an agency pitching for new business, the temptation to overdo the Power Point presentation is driven by the urge to demonstrate to the client that they understand their business and have put a lot of time and thinking into the meeting.
A smart client shouldn’t fall for quantity over quality. If I was a client, I’d force the agency to restrict it’s strategic presentation to a handful of slides, forcing them to distill their thinking down to its very essence.
Next time you’re planning a presso, consider going Jedi. Remember the scene in Star Wars when Obi Wan is teaching Luke to use his light saber and he makes him put on a blindfold and ‘use the force’? Now I’m not suggesting you blind fold the clients (although that could be interesting). I mean, switch off the Power Point, turn away from the big screen and tap into your own creative force.
It doesn’t have to be all talk. Look for a more interesting way to show the client you understand the fundamentals of their business. There’s a great story about the Saatchi brothers pitching for British Rail back in the day. The client arrived at the agency for the presentation, only to be told that the team wasn’t ready yet and to have a seat. The client waited in reception. Patiently at first, but after repeatedly being told the meeting would start soon, they stormed back to the lift in a huff. Waiting to greet them on the ground floor were the Saatchi brothers who said, ‘Now you know exactly how thousands of your customers feel each day.’ Then they invited the surprised client back upstairs for the meeting.
If you can come up with an entertaining and relevant way to make your point, why wouldn’t you do it? Creative thinking is what clients come to their ad agency for and that doesn’t have to start with the work. So unplug that Power Point. Your presentation wont be the only thing that benefits. Ever noticed how 90% of presentations start with you all sitting around making uncomfortable small talk, while a nervous Indian guy tries to get the boardroom computer system working? I’m pretty sure that IT stands for ‘IT’s not working’. Maybe that’s technology’s way of telling us to go ahead and do IT ourselves.