Extra long presentation

The Southbound Thames-Clyde Express by R. B. Hugill

Previously, we’ve examined use cases for creating ultra-short presentations. We’ve discovered that it’s a powerful tool when you need to interest the viewer with an idea, product, or service based on principles familiar to the targeted audience. But what about an extra long one?

Does it make sense to break the established canon and offer your audience presentations lasting an hour, or even several hours?

We will immediately add a warning that lectures, lessons, training, popular science films and other instructional and educational materials are not this chapter’s focus. In these cases, everything is clear and obvious. Their duration can be… Yes, almost anything. You can always pause and continue watching later, or select the portion that you want to study.

Stop! Isn’t it possible to do the same with a commercial presentation? Theoretically, nothing prevents the viewer from spending 10–20 minutes a day watching a long presentation. But will they do it?

Obviously, only when it is appropriate. For example, a regular customer of a company that offers a wide variety of products. Of course, it is convenient for companies like this to have a large presentation at hand, offering a story about all the supplier’s offerings in one video.

Let’s imagine, say, a representative of a fish, shrimp and snail farm that works with dozens of different species. It would be inconvenient to “bomb” pet stores with links to multiple presentations, each dedicated to one animal. As well, it is inadvisable to use a lengthy presentation to introduce your company. A logical option is to send a potential client (and, of course, place it on your website) one short video business card and a large presentation offering a story covering your entire product range.

It follows that a large online presentation should be very well organized, essentially being pieced together in a logical format with a table of contents that indicates the start time for each segment. Figuratively, it can be compared with a railway divided by stations into separate sections and providing a timetable.

This approach is convenient for both managers and presentation creators. At any time, with minimal effort, they can add to or remount a large online presentation, as well as disassemble it into its separate, independent parts.

Let's summarize:

  • An extra-long presentation is an effective format for companies offering numerous products or services.
  • An extra-long presentation should be divided by clearly marked boundaries into small segments, each of which, if necessary, can serve as a separate presentation and / or be replaced.
  • An extra-long presentation should have a clear table of contents with the exact start time for each segment.
  • An overlong presentation is not good for getting to know a company. In addition to a long presentation, it is worth preparing a short presentation-business card.

Remember that any presentation, without correlation to its length, should be equipped with a feedback system to increase its effectiveness. Of course, we recommend using the Pitch Avatar service and application for this purpose.

Good luck, successful presentations, and high income to all!

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