How to Present Design So Clients Say YES
Summary
TLDRIn this video, the speaker emphasizes the importance of effectively presenting and selling your work. Key points include the necessity of live presentations, providing context and background, demonstrating the creative process, and showing work in relevant applications. The speaker advises on handling objections, offering stretch ideas, and ensuring clear next steps. The goal is to achieve better results with fewer revisions by confidently and strategically presenting your work to clients or team members.
Takeaways
- 😀 Present your work live whenever possible, not just through email.
- 📝 Set the context by referring back to the brief and goals of the project.
- 💡 Give an insight into the creative process to build confidence in your work.
- ⚠️ Provide warnings that initial reactions to new designs may be uncertain.
- 🎨 Show your work in context and relevant applications to help clients visualize it.
- 🤝 Introduce stretch ideas to demonstrate creativity and potential future projects.
- 👂 Listen to client feedback and address objections by connecting back to the brief.
- 📋 Ensure clear written next steps with deadlines to keep the project on track.
- 🔍 Use relevant examples and prototypes to illustrate design solutions effectively.
- 🙏 Always end presentations with a thank you to show appreciation.
Q & A
What is the importance of justifying your work according to George Lewis?
-Justifying your work is crucial because it helps you sell your ideas to clients, bosses, and teammates. It involves showing the reasoning behind your work, which is essential for gaining acceptance and support.
Why does the speaker recommend presenting work live rather than asynchronously?
-Presenting live allows you to provide commentary and framing around your work, which helps in effectively communicating your ideas and receiving immediate feedback. It also enhances engagement and understanding.
What are some key elements to include in a presentation deck?
-A presentation deck should include the client name, project name, section of the deck, and page numbers for easy reference. It should be well-presented and may include prototypes or physical products if relevant.
Why is it important to refer back to the project brief during a presentation?
-Referring back to the brief helps bring everyone into focus, reminding them of the project goals and context. It ensures that everyone is aligned and understands the purpose of the work being presented.
How can showing the creative process benefit the presentation?
-Showing the creative process helps clients understand the rigorous steps taken to develop the work, building confidence in the solution and demonstrating that it wasn't just quickly thrown together.
What is the significance of providing 'warnings' before showing work, according to Sage Have?
-Providing warnings helps set expectations and prepares clients for their initial reaction, which might be stark or unfamiliar. It helps them understand that their appreciation of the work will grow over time.
How should the primary deliverable be presented during the presentation?
-The primary deliverable should be shown in an ordered way, but more importantly, it should be demonstrated in context through relevant applications. This helps clients visualize how the work will function in the real world.
What are 'stretch ideas' and why should they be included in a presentation?
-Stretch ideas are creative concepts that go beyond the brief. They demonstrate the presenter's creativity and provide additional value to the client. They also help establish a longer-term relationship and create talking points.
How should objections from clients be handled during the presentation?
-Objections should be addressed by connecting responses back to the project goals and brief. It's important to listen, take notes, and avoid endless discussions by focusing on how the design solution addresses specific issues.
What should be included in the 'next steps' section of a presentation?
-The next steps should be clear, written instructions with deadlines. This ensures the client knows exactly what they need to do next, what is expected from them, and what the presenter will do next and by when.
Outlines
💡 Balancing Inspiration, Perspiration, and Justification
Creating great work requires a balance of inspiration, effort, and the ability to justify and sell your ideas, according to George Lewis. Presenting your work effectively is crucial, whether to clients, bosses, or teammates. Live presentations, whether in person or via video call, are recommended for significant reveals to provide the benefit of your commentary and framing.
📊 Effective Presentation Formats
Presenting your work live, rather than asynchronously, ensures better engagement and understanding. Using a well-organized deck with clear sections, client and project names, and page numbers aids in clarity. Demonstrations, such as Figma prototypes or physical products, can enhance the presentation, making the work more tangible and relatable.
🔄 Context and Process in Presentations
Begin presentations by recapping the project's brief and context to focus the audience. Providing insight into the creative process, such as research, sketches, and iterations, builds confidence in the work. Showing that there's a rigorous process behind the design helps avoid subjective discussions about personal taste.
🧠 Process and Client Engagement
Explaining the process behind the work, including sketches and research, helps clients understand the effort involved. Giving warnings about the initial starkness of designs, like logos in black and white, prepares clients for the reveal. This approach helps them see the long-term benefits and opportunities the design will provide.
🎨 Showing the Work and Its Applications
The core of the presentation should focus on the work itself, shown in an ordered and contextually relevant manner. Demonstrating the design in various applications, such as on merchandise or digital platforms, helps clients visualize its real-world usage. This section should be the longest and most detailed part of the presentation.
🌟 Introducing Stretch Ideas
Beyond the primary deliverables, presenting 'stretch ideas' showcases your creativity and potential for further collaboration. These additional concepts, even if rough, provide talking points and demonstrate your ability to think beyond the initial brief, potentially leading to more opportunities and a stronger client relationship.
❓ Handling Questions and Objections
During the Q&A section, actively listen to client feedback, taking notes and connecting responses back to the project brief. Address objections by reinforcing how the design solutions meet the original goals. Keep discussions focused and concise to maintain control of the meeting and avoid endless subjective debates.
📅 Wrapping Up with Next Steps
Conclude the presentation by outlining clear, written next steps with deadlines, ensuring both you and the client know what actions are required. Sending these details in a follow-up email, along with the presentation deck, solidifies the plan. Always end with a polite thank you, encouraging a positive closing note.
🎓 Final Thoughts and Encouragement
In closing, the speaker shares their enjoyment of presenting and designing, encouraging the audience to find similar joy in their presentations. Viewers are invited to learn more about Fox Academy and are wished success in their future presentations. The video ends with a message of happy designing.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Inspiration
💡Perspiration
💡Justification
💡Presenting live
💡Context
💡Creative process
💡Relevant applications
💡Stretch ideas
💡Client feedback
💡Next steps
Highlights
George Lewis emphasizes the importance of selling your work and justifying your creative decisions.
Presenting live is crucial for major project reveals to provide commentary and framing.
Recapping the project brief helps bring the audience into focus and reminds them of the project's goals.
Providing an insight into the creative process builds confidence in the design thinking behind the work.
Warn clients that it’s rarely love at first sight with new logos or designs to manage their expectations.
Show the work in context through relevant applications to help clients visualize it in the real world.
Introduce stretch ideas beyond the brief to demonstrate creativity and potential future opportunities.
Handling client questions by connecting back to the brief and project goals ensures objections are addressed constructively.
Clear next steps with deadlines should always be provided at the end of a presentation.
Demonstrate your process by referring to sketches, wireframes, and research to show the rigor behind the design.
Contextualize the work with relevant applications, such as showing a logo on a tote bag or a website design in a browser.
Use stretch ideas to create talking points and prevent the meeting from focusing solely on dislikes of specific mock-ups.
Show primary deliverables confidently and spend most time on the application section of the presentation.
Listening and mirroring client feedback during Q&A sessions shows attentiveness and can help with follow-up actions.
Summarizing clear next steps in writing helps ensure all parties are aligned on the follow-up actions.
Transcripts
if you want to create great work here's
how you must spend your time one percent
inspiration
nine percent perspiration and ninety
percent justification that's according
to george lewis the legendary ad man and
i think he's being a little bit
facetious here but he's right that
you've got to be able to sell your work
you've got to be able to show the
reasoning behind it you've got to be
able to get somebody to buy it and that
might mean showing to your client but it
might mean your boss it might be your
teammates but being able to talk about
your work present your work sell your
work is vital so we're going to talk
about how to do that in such a way that
you end up with a better result and
fewer revisions so first of all the
format how should you show your work
well i'm a big believer in presenting
live wherever possible not asynchronous
that means don't just email it over for
feedback that can work for little
check-ins along the way but when it
comes to
the big moments when it comes to the
reveals when it comes to the big ideas
that first show
of your work of that approach it might
be a website design it might be a
branding project you want to try and
present that live you want the benefit
of your commentary of your framing
around it so you want to
work your way in your career to that
position where you can do that obviously
you know small check-ins minor edits you
don't need to book meetings in for them
all the time that's going to be a waste
of time but you want to present live now
this doesn't necessarily need to be in
person i think since the start of the
pandemic i've done about
four presentations when i was literally
in the room with somebody but
it does mean doing it live presenting it
talking about your work so that may be
on a video call and i've done many many
presentations of a video call in that
time
so you talking about your work and you
presenting in some sort of deck so i
just like to make
something this kind of format where you
can see the client name the project name
the section of the deck some page
numbers so when you send the deck at the
end of the meeting the client can refer
to them and this could be just like a
presentation in a keynote a pdf or
taking them around a figma file it
doesn't matter but it's just whatever
works for you something that's presented
well
and
allows you to show the work if you're
able to do some sort of demonstration
for example it's a website you might
have a figma prototype that's good you
might be having some sort of physical
products and there might be prototypes
in the room that people can engage with
or you can send over
that's always great too but branding
work kind of a keynote deck
works great so you prepare this and then
you present to it so you might have some
notes that that go along with it and the
first thing i like to do is refer back
to the brief there needs to be some
background about this project to bring
everybody into focus people have been
doing who knows what for the rest of
their day and you want them to be in
that place where they're ready to listen
where they're remembering okay
what are the goals why do we start this
design project in the first place so
recap the context do that briefly don't
bore people to tears at this point but
just bring to focus this is why we're
doing what we're doing this was the
brief that you gave us or that we've
worked on together or the discovery
process we've gone through if there's
been some earlier steps in the project
let everybody know where we're up to
right now and what we're going to be
doing today
and
then give them an insight into the
creative process and a little bit this
is helpful be sure before you show the
work i saw a banker vessel studio from
sweden i speak recently at birmingham
design festival and they were talking
all about their process that they have
this book
called process so they actually show
the steps and kind of the iterations
they're going through it looks like an
illustrator artboard as they are
creating these identities and it's it's
pretty mad to see this whole uh sort of
process follow through but they talked
about the fact that they like to give
the right clients a little bit of an
insight into that process and i think
that's a really helpful thing to do now
you might not just be showing them your
illustrator files but maybe referring to
research that you've done or the writing
that's been done
first before you took to the design
software it could be sketching of ideas
wireframes walking back through that
process and and letting them know that
there is
a rigorous process behind what you do
this isn't just throwing something
together quickly because you know how to
use the software program they don't but
it's design thinking and that will help
give them confidence in in what you're
doing
and it also helps avoid all the
conversations of taste where people are
just so focused on what they like or
don't like now we have a goal which is
established in the brief we have a
process that we follow so that we know
that we can answer that brief and that
gives us confidence in the solution
that we create
so that's really important and and part
of this as well is giving some warnings
uh sage have says the legendary logo
designer at cgh in new york that we give
lots of warnings when it comes to
presentations i think they really labor
it and at one point has talked about
in this article in in in their book is
it's never love at first sight and this
is something i always like to say in
brand identity projects in logo reveals
that when you see a logo for the first
time it's very stark maybe you just sing
it in black and white even and for a lot
of clients
that can be difficult all of a sudden
this mark am i going to become attached
to that am i going to be able to to love
that and it could be something that is
quite minimal and
they don't know how to to feel about
seeing something like that and if there
may be going through a rebrand they have
all their affection for their current
design or if it's something they've
never seen before it's hard to put much
stock in it so
it's good to remind clients of that that
this is something that we do we're
professionals we've gone through a
process
and
what we
will show you you will over time begin
to understand begin to see
how this solves your problem and how
this is going to
open opportunities for you as a design
solution
so then i like to show the work now it
may have taken me a few minutes and a
few slides to get to this stage but
don't let everything prior to this take
too long yes we want to have the brief
the process some warnings but that can
be done very quickly in a few minutes
and
people are here to see the work that's
what they've come for and that should be
exciting a fun part of their day so
don't bore them to tears before you even
get to the work and and lose them so set
up the context
but don't labor that point and then hit
them with the work the primary
deliverable so if that's something like
a brand identity project it might be
showing them a logo like this emblem
showing them the type choices that
you've made or the color scheme that you
have in place so it's good to just
show it in this sort of ordered way
but i like to spend more time showing it
in context through applications
now when it comes to things like brand
identities you know that means throwing
it on a t-shirt and a tote bag these are
like have to be in every brand identity
project or it doesn't count right
seems that way at the moment but what is
better is to have relevant applications
so a logo usually looks better on a tote
bag than it does just you know flat on a
white screen if you're not a designer
and you can't you know appreciate all
the detail that's gone into crafting the
negative space and such things
but relevant applications for me should
be the longest section in your
presentation that means it should be the
most slides and also the longest
duration so demonstrate during this
section
how you've answered the brief
tell the story so by showing uh
the design work in context you can come
back to the points in the brief and
spend more time on them while people are
actually looking at the work and not
just looking at bullet points so really
tell the story now of what the
difference this is going to make for the
client and this is where i also like to
introduce
a strategy as you're showing these
relevant applications so for something
like flux it would be a website
and here you can see the elements of the
brand identity the logo the type choices
the color scheme coming together
but even with websites it's good to you
know just finesse them make it look a
bit a little bit nicer maybe create a
little bit of a browser stylized
interface you know to make it look a bit
nicer or show it on a laptop or
something like that
this is helpful most clients like this
kind of thing and it really shows off
the work uh much better but here you can
come back to those strategic points and
hit them throughout and keep
demonstrating and talking about why
you've done what you have done
now with something like a website
obviously a demo a prototype
for an app any kind of digital product
is better if that's relevant if you're
at that stage um but these sort of still
images can work well too and then once
you've shown the work and spent the most
time showing these applications i mean
you don't want to give one relevant
application like this you want to
created
10 20 30 50 of these kind of slides
depending on
how big a project that it is but over
time a client might see something like a
logo which is very stark once they've
seen 20 slides 30 slides 40 slides they
begin to imagine it in their business
out in the real world and they begin to
understand it and they begin to
just become familiar with it and it
doesn't become so scary and it helps to
really win them over
the next thing i like to move on to as
i'm coming towards the end of my
presentation are stretch ideas and this
is something i've learned through
working with big advertising agencies
they do this really well because they
have big ideas and this is a great
opportunity for you to demonstrate your
creativity
include here ideas beyond the brief so
you don't want to spend too much time uh
working on these ideas you don't want to
over deliver um over service the client
to the point where it starts to hurt
your margins
but you want to demonstrate there's more
we can do with this and usually in the
process of of creating something whether
it's a website a brand identity a video
a campaign whatever it is lots of ideas
come through and you could have other
ideas it could be for products they
could be for campaigns things that the
clients can do to extend and this is a
good opportunity for for you as a
freelancer or an agency
to get more work and establish a longer
term relationship with a client because
they see your thinking and they see your
creativity and what you can do from them
and it also gives great talking points
so just throw some things in here that
are roughly put together just as ideas
you know for flux like add more jeopardy
excitement to the videos like rachel
hosting a brand strategy call while
skydiving or run must build a page in
web flow before the room fills up with
water
so these kind of stretch ideas to just
you know give the client something to
think about and the great thing is
when you come into your final section
and you're handling questions
these stretch ideas give something to
talk about
and they're often a useful talk-up point
that
prevents you know somebody just
obsessing about the fact that they
didn't like one of your mock-ups or
something like that which can be a
distraction a red herring in the meeting
and
it's good to have these sort of talking
points
now
it's important to listen
always but especially to you know our
clients at this point and see what they
have to say
and to mirror their answers so that you
show them that you're listening show
them that you're taking note of what
they're saying write down those notes
and
that can be a follow-up opportunity it
can be something where just a few more
mock-ups a few more examples or another
page on the website some little tweaks
can really help answer
any concerns that they have and it's
rarely a case you know as a as a
somebody who's proven somebody who has
good experience you're confident in what
you can deliver that you
have to necessarily go back to the
drawing board or throw everything out
but usually if there's any objections
they can be
quickly answered and the great way the
best way i've found anyway to respond to
objections is just connect everything
back to the goal connect it back to the
brief why did we start this design
engagement what was the problem we're
trying to solve who are the people we're
trying to reach what's the opportunity
we're trying to go after and as you come
back to that and you show that your
design solution
address specific issues that they have
then
that's a really helpful way to talk
about it rather than just getting into
the subjectivity of i like this i don't
like this um which can be kind of an
endless discussion and don't let this go
on too long somebody raises an objection
you know bring it back to the brief make
notes
agree to follow up but um an endless
talking shop is gonna descend uh quite
quickly
into
you know too many objections and you
want to work on wrapping this meeting up
keeping it to time keeping control of it
and a good way to do that is just move
on to the next steps and this is how you
should always bring things together
there need to be clear written next
steps with deadlines next to them so the
client knows exactly what they need to
do next what you need from them and
they're clear on exactly what you're
going to do next and buy when and having
that written down having that on screen
having that emailed when you send maybe
your presentation deck to them after the
meeting is really really helpful
so these are the areas the sections of
my presentation that i've just been
through that you know i encourage you to
experiment with this could this work
well with your process there's anything
you can integrate here into what you
currently do
to
outline the brief for the client show
them a little bit the creative process
give a little bit of warnings without
being too apologetic still be confident
in your work and show the work
confidently show them proudly show them
the primary deliverables the things
they've actually asked for but then show
it in context then show what they could
do with it through applications link it
back to
their your creative strategy
and give them some stretch ideas of
where this could go give them the
benefit of your creativity
leave room for questions always lead
them back to the brief the goal your
reasoning your process and leave them
with clear next steps and i always like
to finish with a thank you
because it's polite so thank you for
hanging around to the end of this video
if you'd like to learn more about fox
academy check that out in the
description all the best with your
presentations this is something i've
actually come to enjoy doing just as
much as designing and i hope you can too
so
until next time happy designing
[Music]
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