How to Present Design So Clients Say YES

Summary

In 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

00:00

💡 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.

05:01

📊 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.

10:02

🔄 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.

15:04

🧠 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.

Keywords

💡Inspiration

Inspiration refers to the initial creative idea or spark that motivates the creation of great work. In the video, it is mentioned that inspiration is only one percent of the work, emphasizing that while important, it is just the starting point. This concept highlights that great work requires more than just a good idea; it needs substantial effort and justification.

💡Perspiration

Perspiration signifies the hard work and effort put into developing an idea. The video states that nine percent of creating great work involves perspiration, indicating that significant effort and diligence are essential to refine and realize a creative concept. It underscores the importance of consistent and dedicated work in the creative process.

💡Justification

Justification involves providing reasoning and rationale for creative work. According to the video, ninety percent of creating great work is justification, meaning that being able to explain and defend one's creative decisions is crucial. This involves showing clients or stakeholders the thought process and research behind the work to gain their approval and support.

💡Presenting live

Presenting live refers to showcasing work in real-time, either in person or via video calls, rather than asynchronously. The video suggests that live presentations allow for immediate feedback and the opportunity to frame and explain the work effectively, which can lead to better results and fewer revisions.

💡Context

Context in the video refers to providing background information about a project before presenting the work. By recapping the project's brief and goals, presenters help their audience understand the project's purpose and align their focus, which is essential for effective communication and feedback.

💡Creative process

The creative process encompasses the steps taken to develop a creative idea, from initial research and brainstorming to final design. In the video, giving insight into the creative process helps clients understand the rigor and thought behind the work, building confidence in the solutions presented.

💡Relevant applications

Relevant applications refer to practical examples showing how a design or creative work will be used in real-world scenarios. The video emphasizes the importance of demonstrating work in context, such as branding on merchandise or website design on a prototype, to help clients visualize the impact and functionality of the design.

💡Stretch ideas

Stretch ideas are additional creative concepts that go beyond the initial brief, showcasing the potential for further development. The video suggests including these to demonstrate creativity and the ability to think expansively, which can open up opportunities for more work and longer-term client relationships.

💡Client feedback

Client feedback involves listening to and addressing the responses and suggestions from clients after presenting work. The video highlights the importance of being attentive to client feedback, making notes, and connecting responses back to the project's goals to ensure that any objections are addressed constructively.

💡Next steps

Next steps refer to the clear, actionable items that follow a presentation, ensuring both the presenter and the client know what to do next. The video stresses the importance of outlining these steps with deadlines to maintain momentum and clarity in the project's progress.

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]

you