Presentaties
Company presentation: what to put in it.
Most presentations about a company start with the founding year and end with the contact details. In between sit a timeline, an org chart, a map of office locations and a slide full of client logos.
All of it is true. None of it sticks.
That is not because there is too little in there. It is because there is too much, and because almost all of it is about you while your audience is looking at themselves.
This article covers which parts belong in it as standard, which ones you can cut, the order that works and how many slides is realistic.
What a presentation about your company has to do
There is one question your audience is asking, even when they do not say it out loud: what is in this for me?
That sounds blunt, but it is the only test that counts. Any slide that does not answer it costs you attention without giving anything back.
That does not mean you cannot talk about yourself. It means you talk about yourself from their point of view. Not "we have been around since 1998", but "we have been doing this for 25 years, so we have seen this situation before". Same information, a different handle.
The eight building blocks, and which ones you can cut
Almost every presentation about an organization is built from the same parts. The difference between a strong one and a weak one is which parts you use.
1. Your audience's situation. Essential. This is your opening. If they do not recognize themselves here, the rest is wasted.
2. The problem you solve. Essential. Without tension there is no story and no reason to keep listening.
3. What you do. Essential, but shorter than you think. One slide. If it does not fit on one slide, the proposition is not sharp yet.
4. Proof. Essential. Two or three cases with a result. Two convincing ones beat six reasonable ones.
5. How you work. Optional. Only include it if your approach genuinely differs from the norm. Otherwise it is a process diagram nobody reads.
6. Who you are. Optional and short. One slide with the people on this project works better than three about the organization.
7. The numbers. Optional. Revenue, headcount and locations matter when scale is an argument. In a client conversation, rarely.
8. The next step. Essential, and keep it in proportion: a follow-up meeting or a demo, not the closing question. Without this slide your presentation is a documentary.
Cutting is allowed. What tends to go first: the milestone timeline, the org chart, the world map with office locations and the mission-and-vision slide. Those four show up almost every time and almost never add anything.
What is usually in there but rarely working
Three parts that are normally present but are not doing their job.
The client logos. A grid of thirty logos says: we have clients. They knew that. Pick three that look like your audience and add what you did for them. Three with context beat thirty without.
The numbers. "40 percent more efficient" says little. "From two days to half a day" says everything. Find the unit your audience uses daily.
The team. A page of management faces is protocol. A page with the three people running this project, and one line on why them, is an argument.
The order that works
Do not put your company first. It feels unnatural, and that is exactly why it works.
Your audience's situation
What is not working in it
Only now: what you do
Proof that it works
The next step
The difference with the usual order is one thing: you introduce yourself as the answer to a problem instead of as the subject of the day. Someone who has just recognized the problem listens differently to who you are.
How many slides is realistic
For a thirty-minute conversation: ten to fifteen slides, with room to talk. For a ten-minute presentation: five to eight.
More important than the number is the balance. If more than half your slides are about your organization, the balance is off, however many slides you make.
Also keep an appendix behind your main story. Everything that is interesting but not necessary goes there. Then you click to it when someone asks, without it holding up your story.
One presentation, several routes
This presentation is rarely given once. It travels to a client meeting, a tender, a trade show stand and an onboarding day.
So do not build five decks, build one modular story. The structure stays the same; per audience you take a different route, skipping what is not relevant and zooming in on what is. Start again for every occasion and you end up with five half-finished versions and a story that sounds different in every department.
If it gets stuck in the translation to slides, you can have your company presentation made by Mr.Prezident.
Frequently asked questions
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What do you put in a company presentation?
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How many slides should a company presentation have?
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Should the company history be in there?
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What is the difference with a sales presentation?
