How to Make Presentations Longer to Improve B2B Sales

Longer presentations can help B2B sales teams engage with their audiences and create more effective sales pipelines. However many salespeople are hesitant to give longer presentations, especially when they’re used to delivering shorter pitches. To help you make the case for extending your presentation length and improving your sales results, here’s how:

The Optimal Length for B2B Presentations

The optimal length for B2B presentations varies depending on the audience and the context, but there are some general guidelines.

In general, most audiences prefer that presentations be concise rather than wordy. They want to hear what’s important and skip the rest. This means you should focus on getting your point across as quickly as possible, while still providing enough detail to back up your claims.

Reasons for Reluctance to Make Presentations Longer

There are a few reasons why presenters may be reluctant to extend the length of their presentations.

• Audience disengagement: When you’re sitting in the audience, you want to be engaged with your speaker, not bored out of your mind by them droning on and on. If you’re bored, how do you think the people around you feel? If they’re not engaged either, then no one is listening. 
• Lack of preparation time: Presenters who have limited time available may feel overwhelmed by having so much material at their disposal especially if most of it isn’t relevant or interesting which can lead them down a path toward bad decision-making about what should stay in or come out when deciding upon final edits before the delivery time comes around again next month.

Consequences of Not Making Presentations Longer

Here are some negative consequences of short presentations:

• They can hurt your B2B sales. If a prospect doesn’t have enough information to make an informed decision, they are likely to choose another vendor.
• They damage customer relationships by leaving customers uninformed and confused about what you offer them (or why they should buy from you).
• They undermine brand perception by making prospects feel like their time isn’t valued which can lead them to take their business elsewhere in the future.

Strategies to Extend Presentation Length

• Provide practical tips and techniques for making presentations longer without losing audience interest.
• Discuss the role of visual aids, storytelling, and interactive elements in keeping presentations engaging.
• Dive deeper into the subject matter by presenting comprehensive research, studies, and statistics.
• Provide detailed case studies or real-world examples to elaborate on key concepts.
• Use feedback to segue into additional content or to revisit and elaborate on previous points.

The Role of CustomShow in Creating Longer Presentations

CustomShow is the perfect platform for sales professionals who struggle to create long and engaging presentations. The platform empowers sales teams to add videos, animations, SVGs and interactive elements directly into their presentations. It offers a range of features like animated charts, custom fonts, and precise commenting that make it easier to create longer and more dynamic presentations. 

CustomShow’s flexibility allows sales teams to import existing PowerPoint or PDF presentations into CustomShow or export completed presentations back to PowerPoint or PDF with a single click. By adopting CustomShow as their go-to presentation tool, sales teams can create longer, more impactful presentations that ultimately drive B2B sales success.

Crafting Compelling Content

To create compelling content for your great presentation, you need to think about how you can keep the audience’s attention throughout the presentation. Here are some tips:

• Create a story that makes sense and has an arc. A good story will help engage your audience in what they’re hearing, which will make them more likely to listen closely and take action based on what they hear.
• Use data visualization techniques such as graphs or charts when possible, this helps people understand complex information quickly and easily (and with minimal effort).
• Provide examples of specific companies that have achieved success by following the best practices outlined in your presentation material.

Structuring Extended Presentations

Creating extended B2B presentations that engage the audience throughout their duration requires a well-thought-out structure. Here’s how to structure your presentations for maximum impact:

• Introduction with Purpose: Begin with a compelling introduction that clearly states the purpose of your presentation. You want your audience to know what to expect and why they should invest their time. This sets the tone for the rest of the presentation.

• Clear Agenda: Outline the agenda or the key points you’ll cover in the presentation. A clear agenda helps the audience anticipate what’s coming and creates a sense of structure. It also allows them to follow along easily.

• Logical Flow: Ensure that your presentation has a logical flow. Each section should naturally lead to the next, creating a seamless narrative. Avoid abrupt transitions or unrelated content that can confuse the audience.

• Visual Aids and Data: Incorporate visual aids and data to support your points. Visual elements break the monotony of long presentations and make complex information more digestible. Use graphs, charts, images, and videos strategically.

• Engaging Content: Keep the audience engaged with compelling content. Share stories, case studies, or real-world examples that illustrate your points. Relatable content helps the audience connect with your message.

• Interactive Elements: Include interactive elements, such as polls, quizzes, or Q&A sessions, at strategic intervals. This encourages audience participation and breaks the passive listening mode, keeping their attention.

• Review and Recap: Periodically, review and recap what you’ve covered. This reinforces key points and helps the audience retain information, especially in longer presentations.

• Engage with Questions: Encourage questions from the audience throughout the presentation, not just at the end. Addressing questions in real time shows that you value their input and keep them involved.

• Call to Action: End your presentation with a clear call to action. Whether it’s scheduling a follow-up meeting, downloading a resource, or making a purchase, guide your audience on their next steps.

Measuring Success

The key to measuring the success of longer presentations is determining what business metrics are important for your organization. You should start by thinking about the following:

• What is the goal of your creative presentation?
• Is it to generate leads, educate prospects on your product or service offering, or sell a specific product or service?
• How many leads do you need to close in order to meet sales targets? And how many closed deals will result in meeting those targets?
• What is the cost per lead (CPL) or cost per sale (CPS)? How much does each lead or sale cost your company in terms of time spent generating them and then closing them once they’ve become customers?

Once you have an idea of what KPIs matter most for your business and how much money they cost per unit sold, then it’s time to focus on improving those metrics through longer presentations that engage audiences better than shorter ones do.

Next Steps

Increasing presentation length is a great way to improve B2B sales. It allows you to tell your story in more detail and provides more opportunities for engagement with your audience. Take a look at how CustomShow could help in your sales situations.