It’s not uncommon for Interior Designers to work tirelessly (sometimes to the wee hours of the night!) researching and conceptualizing thoughts, ideas, and strategies for our clients. Our concepts are truly what bring our designs to life and gives the space it’s purpose. For us, this is SUPER exciting! It’s our little baby that we slowly nurse into design life. We visualize it, we imagine it, we see it coming to fruition, and, what’s more, we want to share that excitement with our clients. As designers, we’re trained to see the detail and are, typically, more innate to visualize our design strategy. Our clients on the other hand, not so much.
So, you and your team have spent all this time and research into your conceptual ‘baby’, sorted out some of the main details, and think you really have something good going. The client would be crazy not to love it right? Well, not so fast. It’s not as simple as coming up with a truly great design concept and just expecting your client will fall in love with it as much as you have. This is where our salesperson hat comes on. Not the cheesy, infomercial-style hat – the really chic and design-forward one of course! There are many strategies to assist you in selling your ideas successfully and by convincing your client that you have designed success for them. Read on for my tips on how to nail a design presentation!
How to Nail a Design Presentation
Confidence is EVERYTHING
Starting out as a designer, my biggest fear was my client thinking ‘Who is this young chick thinking she knows anything about design – how can I trust her?!’. Well how did I get them to trust me? Confidence. There’s a reason why this is number 1 on the list. Confidence plays such a huge role in any part of our lives but as designers trying to sell our concepts to clients paying a lot of money for it, it’s most important. I remember standing up in front of my first design presentation, in front of a group of scary looking executives thinking ‘I got this’. Even if I ‘didn’t have it’ in my mind, if I presented myself with the confidence to ensure my client could trust me and know that I could come up with the right solution, that’s all that mattered. You can be prepared as you think you are, but you never will be. There will always be unexpected questions or concerns thrown at you that you didn’t rehearse an answer for. Remember to exude the confidence from within and your client will be sure to feel at ease.
Know your Audience
What do you think would be the number 1 way to completely lose your amazing design concept amongst the other failed concepts? Why, working so hard to put together a presentation for the wrong person of course! Often, design concepts are presented to the super higher up peeps that you will probably never see again throughout the remainder of the design process. Instead, that higher up will have their counterpart dealing with the day-to-day fun stuff. In that case, we need to make our presentation simple enough for the information to be relayed to that right person. Putting a presentation together with tons of pretty images and inspiration will totally go over the financial executive in the room. The idea is to find that happy medium, where you’re providing the right information for the people in the room to really sell your concept. This presentation is for them so, cater it to them and make that connection! Taking the time to do a little background research on the individuals you’ll be presenting, whether it be helpless creeping on LinkedIn or a Google search, can go a long way. A combination of strategic small talk and a hard-hitting design idea will assure the client you’re speaking their language.
Structure you’re Presentation
You’ve come so far! You’ve nailed down your confidence, come up with a solid design concept, and got to know the people you’re presenting to a little better. Now it’s the fun part! Presenting the gift that is your amazing design concept. But HOW are you planning to present this? Do you even have a plan? How sad would it be to come this far to only half-ass the delivery? The good news is, expert speakers like Douglas Davis have developed a step-by-step strategy to nail your presentative every time:
Insight: Share your most relevant observation from your research
(This could be that ‘ah-ha’ in your research where you knew this could be successful for your concept).
Therefore: Explain the conclusion you’ve come to based on the insight. (Clearly and concisely of course!).
Concept: Articulate the design concept by revealing your actual idea in a few sentences. (This is the moment of truth! It’s important to be clear and straight forward or you could completely lose your audience).
Execution: Communicate how the concept will convey in the project/design you’re creating.(This is where key words, images, or thoughts come into play. Make them relevant to your concept and be able to speak to them. You don’t want to throw an image on your presentation because you thought it looked pretty. Everything needs a purpose!).
Benefit: Reveal the reason why you’re executing the project this way and how it will relay the perks to the consumer.
(You need to assure your client that this concept is tailor made for them and for the success of their business, home, etc. Would you ever eat a week-old piece of cake? Probably not. Same reason why you wouldn’t recycle a stale concept that didn’t work for one project but think it can work for this one).
Message: State the takeaway for the consumer based on the project you’ve described.(This is that power statement that you want to have linger in their heads for as long as possible! The message that really ties your concept together and what stands apart from a ‘meh’ concept to something truly successful).
Objective: Reiterate the goal that was outlined in the initial client brief or project assignment. (At this point, you’re confirming that we’ve done what the client has asked for and met their needs for reasons ‘XYZ’. Going back to the whole confidence and trust thing, you’ve now assured your client you’ve taken care of them and they can trust you to bring this concept to fruition successfully).
You’ve now been given the tools to flourish and nail any design presentation that comes your way! Take what you will and be that amazing design professional, presenter that you know you are!
