Death by corporate overview and how to prevent it

As a sales and marketing consultant, I often hear the question, "How much of a company's corporate overview should we include in a presentation?"

It's a good question, and the answer I always give is: as little as possible.

This may seem a bit unfair, since many salespeople and technical staff feel comfortable opening a presentation with a "brief" overview of their company. Unfortunately, this overview often seems ill-placed, and it can quickly become a stumbling block where you lose any momentum from your introduction.

The truth is the audience is only interested in how you, the presenter, can address their wants and needs. I call these wants and needs Critical Business Issues (CBIs). Why make a customer wait and listen to three, six or even 10 overview background slides when they want their CBIs addressed now?

That's why I recommend starting a presentation with what I call a situation slide or multiple situation slides.