Communicating Marketing/Financial Information

There are two main categories of presentations:
• performance or accountability reporting to inform your management about actual results, as compared to expectations, and
• information reporting designed to provide a basis for further planning and progress.

  In all instances, your goal is to provide information.

• Be selective in the material that you present.
  Present only what you can interpret properly and only that which directly relates to the needs of your audience.
  That doesn't mean that you can't present new material.
  Do your homework carefully and present both the facts and your interpretation of them.

• Develop a working outline.
  Effective presentation must include both telling and showing.
  Begin the development of your marketing/financial presentation by outlining all the points that you need to cover.
  Think them through carefully.
  Then, under each point, list the major facts that you want to discuss.
  This working outline is very important because it is your guide to the content and visuals of the presentation.

  When you've finished, ask yourself these questions:
  

  • Is it all important?
  • Can it all be covered in the allotted time?
  • Does it fit the purpose of the meeting and the audience's needs?
  • Will each key point make an effective visual?

• Highlight key information.
  It is extremely important to the success of your financial presentation to highlight key information.
  You're not there merely to present numbers.
  You're there to analyze those numbers.
  In any set of statistics, some particular aspect is most important to you and your audience.
  Your job is to find those points and highlight them in your presentation.
  Too many people present great blocks of raw statistics and data, forcing their audience to search for significance.
  You must do the editing job yourself.

• Use charts and tables.
  It is virtually impossible to make an effective presentation without the proper utilization of charts and tables.
  A table is a tool for presenting data.
  A chart is a tool for explaining it.
  The table gives facts an figures.
  The chart clarifies and emphasizes key relationships in the figures.

  Remember:

  • Keep the chart or table simple.
    The simplest charts are bar charts and pie charts.
    Research indicates that these kinds of charts are the easiest for viewers to follow.
    Line charts are more difficult, but they can be effective, too.
    Try to highlight just the key information in your chart.
    Clutter detracts from your audience's understanding of the key points.
    Use simple, non-technical headings.

  • Be accurate.
    Improperly designed visuals can distort, rather than clarify, key relationships.
    Make sure your chart or table clarifies, rather than confuses.

Go to: MKT 361 Marketing Management & Decision Making Seminar

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