In the sales interview world, you are how you present.
There are a lot of ways to mess up an interview, but it’s especially painful to get to the end of a month-long interview cycle and trip on the final presentation.
Hiring managers’ expectations vary, but good presenters tend to land winning job offers. Here are eight principles for delivering your best when it counts most.
1. Never Try to Do Too Much in Too Little Time
Give yourself enough time to write, review, and practice your presentation. Presentations need time to sit; when you return to them after a day, you catch the small mistakes your audience would spot immediately. Misspelled company name, anyone?
It isn’t easy working a full-time sales job and interviewing at the same time. But the final presentation is the last step between you and an offer, so give it the time it deserves.
2. Get a Second Pair of Eyes
Enlist a friend to review your presentation for typos and formatting, not content. More than one pair of eyes is good practice on any presentation, and typos kill deals. Employers read them as a lack of attention to detail.
3. Practice Out Loud
If you think you can wing your presentation, you’re probably wrong. Under interview pressure, your brain doesn’t work the way it does in everyday situations, and the ideas that usually come off the cuff won’t.
Practicing what you want to say is the way around it, and it keeps you from reading off your slides.
Pro tip: learn the names and titles of the people you’re presenting to, so you can refer to them by name without second-guessing yourself.
4. Don’t Let Time Fly
If you have 20 minutes to present, stay inside them. Go over, and you lose the Q&A at the end, which is exactly the interaction you need to secure the job. When you practice, time each section so you know where to slow down or speed up.
5. Use PowerPoint, Never Word
As a rule, presentations are done in PowerPoint or an equivalent slide tool. Never Word. Polished, customizable templates are easy to find, and the professional look is part of the message.
6. Stay Calm Enough to Think
The calmer you are while presenting, the better you think on your feet. Nerves jam the circuits you need for compelling answers in the moment. Take a few deep breaths, stay in the present, and try to have some fun with it. The presentation is your time to shine.
7. Your Style Is Yours
The best presenters know that a presentation is more delivery than content.
We’ve had clients ask candidates to present on a topic of the candidate’s choice. The topic itself didn’t matter to them; they wanted to see a sales presentation delivered convincingly: self-assurance, energy, the power of a well-placed pause, and something new to hold their attention.
You can only be yourself, so don’t try to be someone you’re not. Bring the most confident version of you, and remember that the number one confidence maker is preparation.
8. Request Feedback and Close
One of the biggest reasons to protect your timing is the Q&A at the end, which is arguably the most important part of the interview. Never leave the conversation without closing for the next step.
It’s always better to ask for feedback while your audience is in front of you than to hear nothing for weeks. If the presentation didn’t land, find out why while you can still respond to it.
The Offer Hinges on the Presentation
Before an offer is made, several people on the hiring committee have to be convinced, and the final presentation is where that decision tips.
Coming across as nervous, unprepared, or sloppy won’t win a compelling offer; a rehearsed, timed, confident 20 minutes very often does.
Walk in with your sales math ready for the Q&A, review the rest of the final interview keys before the big day, and follow up with a thank-you note that earns the next step. And if you’re ready for a job change, get in touch.
Presentations are one piece of the process; the rest is in the complete sales interview preparation guide.
