How to Submit Advertising Ideas

Submit your advertising ideas with a strong presentation.

You've worked hard to produce a creative, high-impact advertising campaign for your client. Now you're ready to present ideas. Your concepts may be brilliant, your demographics sound, and your messaging spot-on, but if your presentation is weak, the client won't buy it. Instead, you'll be back at the drawing board, or worse, out looking for a new client. Here's how to submit advertising ideas that get sold.

Things You'll Need

• Laptop computer

Instructions

1. Know your audience. Are you presenting to middle management? The CEO? The board of directors? Is your audience mostly male or female? Does an attendee have a disability you need to take into account? How much you know about your audience before submitting advertising ideas will have a big impact on how well your presentation is received.

2. Know the location. Where will you make your presentation? In the board room? In an auditorium? Outside? Over a cup of coffee at a local cafe? Is there Internet access? Handicap access? What kind of lighting is available? Are there enough electrical outlets in good locations? Is any equipment you will be borrowing in good working order? Do you know how to work it seamlessly? Try to visit the location ahead of time. If you can't, ask enough questions to satisfy yourself that you are fully prepared for the situation.

3. Choose a presentation method. Based on what you've learned about your audience and the location, it will be easier to choose an appropriate presentation method. If you are presenting informally to a few front-line people, something as simple as a sketchpad or laptop might do. If the situation is more formal, consider using your computer to project ideas on a large screen. Or mount your ideas on boards that are large enough for everyone to see.

4. Tell a story. Before jumping into tag lines and storyboards, take a moment to frame your ideas in the larger context of the assignment. Restate the objective, and discuss briefly how the ideas you are about to present will meet it. In other words, engage your audience by sharing the thought process that led you to the specific ideas you are about to present. According to Jason Oke of Leo Burnett, Toronto, who observed various presenters at one large agency pitch, this approach made presenters "seem smarter, and made the work more powerful by putting it in context."

5. Invite questions. Always allow your audience the chance to react to the material you've presented. If time is tight, say so, but field as many questions as time allows without rushing.

6. Distribute handouts. At the end of your presentation, distribute copies of your presentation to the audience. This will give attendees the chance to review your material and share it with others, if necessary. Do not distribute handouts at the beginning of your talk. You want all eyes on you during the presentation, not on handouts.

References

• The Open University: "Planning for Your Presentation: Location, Location, Location"
• Leo Burnett/Toronto: "Presenting Ideas"

Resources

• Know Your Audience
• Importance of Location
• Toastmasters