The death of live presentations is the l…e…n…g…t….h.

Let me say it right now: Your trade show presentation is probably too long. Twenty minutes is too long. Fifteen minutes is too long. Ten minutes is too long. As a general rule, if audience members are looking at their watches, it’s too long.

I’ve participated in hundreds upon hundreds of trade shows, experiencing them both as a presenter and an attendee. In all that time, no one has ever come up to me and said, “That was a really great presentation, but it was a little too short.“ Ever.  In 25 years, it’s never happened.

Want to know (as a presenter) how to have your audience utterly thrilled? Tell that crowd there’s only three things you expect them to remember. Describe those three things. Reiterate those three things at the end. That’s it.

Two hours after the live presentation is over, an audience member should be able to tell you precisely what the presentation was about. These folks are completely inundated at a trade show, so if you can get them to remember a phrase or a slogan and up to three basic points, that’s a triumph.

Make Your Live Presentation Twice As Nice

If you want to get the biggest bang for your buck, don’t make me do a 15-minute show. Let me do a seven-minute show twice as many times a day. Let me build a crowd, work that crowd and then do it over again.

It’s About Questions, Not Answers

Ask more questions than you answer.  Get them to think about your company in a unique way, inspiring them to follow up with booth staff. It’s not important to explain everything. What’s important is to ignite a desire for that audience member to independently acquire any information not included in the live presentation.

So, to recap:

• “Too long” is death.

• “Too many answers” is death.

• PowerPoint as a crutch is death. (We’ll discuss this next time!)

So, stay away from these traps and have a tremendously successful live presentation. If you’ve absorbed this advice and need more guidance on where you go from here, feel free to contact us for a consult.

Do you have an industry-related question you’d like answered on “Hey Newman”? Send him an e-mail and get your inquiry answered on the blog.

Bob, in this economic climate pretty much all companies are trying to save money. So, what are they doing in regards to their trade show presence?

Well, if you can’t afford a 10,000-square-foot house, you don’t buy a 10,000-square-foot house, right? You buy a 3,000-square-foot house, and if necessary, you rent some storage space.

In stark contrast, companies have been totally consumed with “bigger is better” at trade shows and having the biggest possible booth. But the real estate you rent from the management company is one of the biggest expenses … and then you have to fill up that large space (more $$$).

At Magnet Productions, our argument has always been to prioritize filling your space—not procuring the largest one. If you don’t need a 50×50 booth, don’t rent one. If you can get away with a 30×30, then get a 30×30. Frankly, having a small booth completely overrun with people makes a much stronger statement than having a large booth that’s half-empty.

As an experienced trade show presenter, I advise not to have the maximum number of seats because you’re not going to fill them. And if you don’t fill them all, it will give the impression that the presentation going on isn’t very interesting. Now, if you have 10 filled seats and 40 people standing and watching, that conveys a very different impression: Your product is so compelling that you have a standing-room-only crowd.

So, booth size is a great way to save some money. Booth design is another area where the savvy spender can achieve great results for far less money than other companies are shelling out. Magnet Productions partners with a number of booth designers who “re-skin” existing booths. That’s the process by which the designer will strip the signage off a booth and repurpose the existing design to save the client a fortune.

For more information about booth design consultations, feel free to contact us.

Do you have an industry-related question you’d like answered on “Hey Newman”? Send him an e-mail and get your inquiry answered on the blog.