Boris Brick cements his point memorable visual aids at presentations

What are the  images that you remember most from the 2014 Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham ?

The Tory Chairman and The Baroness?

The Prime Minister and the faithful? 

Of all the images that have stuck in my memory from the recent Conservative party conference in Birmingham probably the most effective were not the high tech PowerPoint , vox-pop  video trailers, nor the good and the great taking selfies. 

#BoJoBrick

but a certain Boris Johnson brandishing a cored brick.

A simple visual aid linked to his message

The last party conferences before the General Election of 2015 are both a rally for the party faithful and an opening sales salvo to the electorate.

From a selling skills perspective it is worth looking how they attract the attention of the audience and sell their message.  


We can all learn from their efforts during this conference season

The way we can attract attention in our presentations can be reduced to five main ways.

 All were used during the Conferences

1. FACTS and FIGURES

For example Ed Milliband promise to increase health spending by £2.5 billion a year by raining taxes on homes (mansions) worth more than £2 million

2. QUESTIONS

For example Rhetorical Questions posed to the audience as to whether it was fair that benefits should outweigh those who work for low wages

3. VISUAL AIDS

For example London Mayor Boris Johnson and prospective Tory candidate for Uxbridge brandishing a cored brick to illustrate his house building initiatives.

Selfies with ordinary people’

4. REFERENCES

The power of the third party testimonial has been known for years

During the conferences we are shown celebrities attending the conference.

Speeches from various ministers were illustrated with examples the expereinces of ‘normal , ordinary ‘ folk.

Such attention getters have to be tweaked to modern cultural conditions , as Lord Bell ( former adviser to Margaret Thatcher) suggested in a recent  interview on Radio 4 Today programme we have moved from a  ‘Deference to a Reference’ culture.

LINKS

Chancellor of the Exchequer , George Osborne felt duty bound to link back and  mock Ed Milliband’s omission on the deficit - the faux pas of the Leader of the Labour Party in the previous week.

Related Links:

4 Best types of sales aids

5 ways to obtain and sustain audience attention

7 ways to keep them interested

5 Classic ways to grab your Buyer's attention