How many times have you sat through a slideshow presentation that made you lose interest almost immediately? Probably too often. How are your sales presentations to your prospects and clients different than those other boring ones? If you can’t think of many examples, that’s okay; Lucy Alexander is here to help with some advice in her article on HubSpot.

Use Images and Charts

When a slide pops up that contains only a wall of text, either your audiences’ eyes will begin to glaze over or they’ll stop paying attention to what you’re saying in order to read the slide. Slides should only be used to help you move your pitch along and to give your audience visual components to remember. Images and simple charts are far more likely to remain in a prospect's or client’s brain than overly detailed text and tables, especially if you tie in a GIF or other component that will make the audience laugh.

Interaction is Key

Getting your audience involved is the best way to ensure that they’re actually paying attention to what you’re saying and retaining the information. Alexander says that audience interaction can range from asking an open-​ended question to an activity as simple as asking listeners to raise their hands in a vote. Engagement keeps the brain active and allows more information to be absorbed.

Don’t Overload Your Audience

Of course you want to educate your prospects and clients as much as you can during a sales presentation, but keep in mind that the human attention span isn’t that lengthy. Boil down your slides to the essentials, but add time for a Q&A after the presentation so that the audience can ask about the finer details if they’re interested. Inquiries into the finer details are a good sign that you piqued the audience’s interest with your presentation.