Reseller PowerPoint

What is the best format for a reseller PowerPoint?

What is the BEST format for a Reseller PowerPoint?

Questions about Reseller PowerPoints

I often get questions about reseller PowerPoints. Often because of articles from folks like Seth Godin, Guy Kawasaki and others that talk about low density and 10 slides.

I am familiar with the “proven” guidelines for effective presentations–having launched Harvard Graphics for Windows, Lotus Freelance, Ashton Tate’s Applause and Microsoft PowerPoint (Windows 3.1).

Each time I was trained by the actual Product Managers who created the specifications for the app (btw, Seth’s comment about “being developed by engineers for them to communicate” is absolutely wrong–Engineers prefer dense documents (and convert PowerPoints into Word documents) and they seldom communicated (more like grunts and groans). :-). (Experience as a Sr. VP Marketing at Motorola).

Based on Market Research

Instead, most of the product managers that trained us explained the rules used to create the templates, and they talked about sizing, density, etc.

So I get a little skeptical of those that pretend to know the design parameters–having never been in the meetings with the Product Managers who created them. Or, do not have either secondary or primary research to backup their personal opinions (which has the value of “1” and while interesting, has no statistical significance).

3 Types of PowerPoints

There are several different types of PowerPoints. I’ll just address three common examples: 1) those presented by dynamic experts, 2) those who present to TRAIN others, and 3) reseller PowerPoints.

1) Dynamic Experts

Some PowerPoints are used to present an idea, concept or emotion by someone who KNOWS his topic really well and has a dynamic presentation style. These would include the executives who show off the latest iPhone, product announcements, etc.

These are often very short presentations and the presenter is also charismatic and dynamic (not a drone). These are also the folks giving PowerPoint advice–since their content is entertaining and insightful, they often only need a few graphics to convey their points.

Look at the old days with the PMA (positive mental attitude) rally with speakers like Zig Ziglar, Tom Hopkins or Stephen R Covey–they didn’t have any slides. Look at the “I have a dream” speech and others that had no graphics. These all had great content–but the speaker was the graphic.

Not All Partners are Dynamic

The problem is that most folks (including many resellers) are not dynamic and would be in trouble if they had “10 slides” that they then spend 1 hour presenting!

It is better to have a lot of slides that this person can glide through (so there is always a graphic or new concept that you cover) that keep pace with their presentation than to talk and talk and talk (into the ground) around a single slide (light or dense in content).

Example – Motorola

At Motorola, I was told to speak for 45 minutes on the entire product line, the launch, the expectations, etc. I was also told to keep it to 10 slides.

Rubbish, I had about 60 slides without a lot of density, blew through them and kept moving through the material (which was not dense–but conveyed the points) and received accolades that it was the best presentation given.

I also believe you should often include more on the screen than what you say–since we read a LOT faster than we speak and people believe more of what you commit to writing.

2) Those who present to TRAIN others

Many times those trained are the trainers (they train the trainer). These slides have to be self-contained and either have to contain enough density (to a point) or there have to be a lot of slides (with medium density–but they must contain all the material).

There is no way a trainer can replicate the material when it is all verbal–they should be able to use the slide deck to train their team when they return.

Samples use the “Train the Trainer” approach

This is the format for my SaaS presentation, Alliance and Positioning slides that are on the website.

Although given at the event, they are still used afterward to remember all the things they have to do, and to train the CEO, etc. on the channel. Sometimes folks still call me to review the concepts (even with the density) with their team (hence the videos on the website).

Highest Ratings Ever

All three of the videos mentioned have been presented at conferences (the channel about 25 times, alliances 5 and the positioning 3 times) where the audience rated the speaker on knowledge of the category, content of materials and delivery.

I received the #1 highest rating for 20 of the 25 SaaS presentations, tied 3 times and came in 2nd or 3rd the other times (out of about 20 speakers).

The Alliance was the #1 highest rated presentation ever given (in 3 years) when delivered to the 49 companies that attended the last SoftwareCEO (Comptia) paid presentation, and positioning came in at #1 (out of 20 speakers).

But then again, it was not just the slide decks–it’s the fact that I knew what I was talking about (so again, it depends on the speaker, regardless of the content) and I BLOW through my content.

When someone asks that I slow down–it is a compliment (because they seldom tell you to speed up when too slow–they just get bored and start checking their email–post Covid when so many presentations are virtual).

3) Reseller PowerPoint

And then there is the reseller PowerPoint. It is used to sell–but partners will often leave it behind so their prospect can sell to the rest of the group.

These decks often use a combination of the above–since they have to have emotion which is what sells, but they have to leave behind enough logic (and a sales tool) to keep it sold–but also help the attendee to sell again internally.

First, resellers sell a lot of products and they might NOT know all the critical points to sell from memory. So their slides contain the density to help them remember, but the “short” version is color-coded.

They show the slide with more density, but only read what is in a different color. See the attached Bamboo HR (old example and way too much density–but the color coding makes even this presentation easy to present (read what is in green and you’ll sound like a pro).

The partners can then remove some of the reseller PowerPoint text later (when they finally have it down), but this helps them when they are starting (or there won’t be a later). However, if they leave the longer version behind (we often present to a manager who then has to present to his executive (who couldn’t make it to the meeting).

We give them the same tip–show the slide, but read-only what is in color. The full dialogue is in the notes within the bottom of the slide. This way we have a “cheat sheet” to help them answer questions if stopped, but we also highlight what they have to “present” (read what is in color—if nothing is colored, read it all).

Then, they can reduce the content to just the main bullets—once they learn the product!

Color-Coded Reseller PowerPoints

THESE are the type of slides we create for resellers (again, your personal deck may be like the first one—but theirs has to have more info to begin with).

These guidelines are hard to understand if you are a dynamic speaker–but the dynamic speakers will automatically adjust the density to suit their capabilities. But we have to deliver for some of the lowest common denominators–not the dynamos that might suggest otherwise. But anyone can follow a color-coded deck and can thin it out later.

Sample Presentation

Here is a video of a reseller PowerPoint that the company was taking about 40 minutes to present—I finished it in just over 7 minutes by only talking about the points that were color coded. This video should get this point across quickly.

It is only about 90 seconds to show the concept.

Click HERE to see other elements of a reseller kit. Here is a link that gives additional tips (but it is for the person who KNOWS their stuff–not for resellers).

Actual Presentation – GetInSync

Here is a video of a PowerPoint that takes about 9 1/2 minutes and follows the format of the persuasive format (using the Persuasive PowerPoint and some extra editing). The presenter, Delta, does a good job. It is fast, has a LOT of material (product demo level–without the product, but shows the positioning), good B footage, great voice-over audio, and engaging!