You delivered your slides perfectly. Your timing was impeccable. Your audience was fully engaged at all times. Even your old, outdated laptop – which often fails you at the most inopportune times – performed flawlessly. Everything seemed to go as smoothly as possible.

How are you measuring presentation success?

But, can your presentation really be considered a success? Here are some of the best ways to decide:

1. Track Views and/or Downloads
This can be an extremely valuable performance metric if your presentation was made available “on-demand” via the Web. How many times was it viewed, and by how many different people? Those numbers will help you determine whether or not your slide deck, and its key messages, are resonating with your target audience.

2. Count the “Drop Offs”
Every speaker can expect to lose an audience member or two during the course of their presentation, especially if it is being broadcast over the Web, where attendees are subject to countless distractions. But, an unusually high number of “drop offs” is a clear indicator that your presentation, or its central theme or topic, is lacking something, and may need more fine-tuning.

3. The Call to Action – The Ultimate Test
Did your audience do what you wanted or asked them to do after your session was over? For example, if you were conducting a training course for an upcoming exam, how many of your students passed the test? If you were pitching a new product, how many customers requested more information, scheduled a demo, or made a purchase? The actions attendees take immediately after a presentation – and whether or not those were the desired or intended outcomes – is one of the best ways to gauge how successful it truly was.

4. Measure the Business Impact
Although you likely had a specific “call to action” in mind when delivering your presentation, there are also other, secondary benefits that can be achieved – benefits that can have a profound impact on your business. Did you build stronger customer loyalty? Win new business? Generate awareness in your market? Help your audience learn and grow? These factors can also be used to help evaluate the success of your presentation.

If you’re having trouble measuring presentation success you’ll want to take a closer look at SlideRocket’s industry leading presentation analytics to find out who’s watching your presentation, how long they watch it, which parts of your message resonate with your audience and what actions they take afterwards.

Want more valuable tips on effective presentation creation and delivery? Review our archive of presentation tips and check back every week for new posts.

We hear tons of stories from folks (who aren’t using SlideRocket) about how long it takes them to build out their presentations and decided to run a quick poll to get some numerical data.

Thanks for your response. You’ll see the results once you click Vote.

This week’s presentation tip is in the form of a narrated SlideRocket presentation from Kathy Reiffenstin of And…Now Presenting. Kathy is a passionate educator in the art and science of public speaking. With more than 20 years as a business owner, trainer, manager, speaker and published writer, Kathy has what any good decision-maker is looking for in a professional trainer and business partner – practical experience combined with the ability to transfer knowledge, assess skills and coach performance.

Kathy’s assembled a set of best practices and advice for moderating panel presentations that can be used to ensure these kinds of presentations are productive and enjoyable for the audience, the panel and the moderator. Add your own tips by posting a comment below.

Want more valuable tips on effective presentation creation and delivery? Review our archive of presentation tips and check back every week for new posts.

More and more companies are investing in cloud-based solutions, also commonly referred to as software-as-a-service (SaaS) or hosted, Web-based, or on-demand software.  In fact, leading technology industry analyst firm IDC forecasts that worldwide spending on cloud software will top $42 billion by 2012, representing close to 27% compound annual growth over the next several years.

Why should YOU consider taking your business to the cloud?

1. No Capital Investment
Desktop software can cost a lot of money upfront.  You’re not just purchasing the software itself, you’ll often need new hardware to support the application.  And, that can get quite expensive.  As a result, total cost of ownership will be much greater, and it will take longer for you to realize a return on your investment.  Cloud solutions typically offer a much more affordable and budget-friendly “pay-per-use” pricing model.

2. Simplified Licensing
Vendor contracts for on-site solutions can be rather complex, and license allocation can be quite a challenge to track and manage.   Licenses are often used improperly – and in some cases, illegally – distributed, putting companies at risk for fines and penalties for non-compliance or software piracy.   Usage agreements for cloud-based software are far simpler, and therefore, much easier to adhere to.

3.  Rapid Roll-out
Desktop software is often associated with long, cumbersome installations.  Depending on the sophistication of the solution, it could take weeks, or even months, before your users can start reaping the benefits.  But, because cloud solutions are already up and running at the service provider’s site, customers can often begin utilizing the software almost immediately.

4.  Minimized IT Burden
Ongoing maintenance, troubleshooting, and support are provided by the vendor with Web-based, on-demand software.  Unlike on-premise systems, this frees IT staff from tedious day-to-day monitoring and administration, allowing them to spend time on other important IT projects.

5. More Enhancements
Traditional desktop software vendors only release new versions every one and a half to two years.  Which means, customers must wait that long for new features and capabilities.  However, because cloud solution vendors can more easily rollout new functionality, they tend to do so more often, which allows them to respond much more rapidly to customer feedback and user demands.

6.  Customization
Cloud solution providers understand that the “one size fits all” approach to software is ineffective – a message that some on-premise vendors have yet to receive.  Many experts believe that on-demand systems are much easier to modify to meet specific business requirements, or to satisfy unique end user needs.

7. Go Green
Eliminating the need to operate new hardware will cut down on energy consumption significantly.  This makes cloud-based software the more environmentally-friendly option.

8. Improved Information Sharing / Collaboration
Want to share data with customers, suppliers, and other business partners?  With cloud computing, it’s fast and easy.  All they need is an Internet connection, a user ID, and password to gain access to your application.  Granting them access to your desktop software, however, can be far more complicated, since they will need to connect to your internal corporate network.

9.  Advanced Security
Any software you install on-site will be subject to the same security techniques as your other network systems.  This doesn’t pose a problem if your company is diligent about the policies and tools it uses to protect data from breach – but how many organizations can actually make that claim?  Cloud solution vendors, on the other hand, understand the impact a breach can have on their business.  They can’t afford for customers to lose confidence in their service, and therefore leverage the latest and greatest security features to maintain the full integrity of information at all times.

10.  Disaster Protection
What kinds of mechanisms do you have in place in case disaster strikes?  Chances are, not many.  On-demand solution providers, however, are always well prepared.  Frequent backups, redundant servers set up at off-site data centers, and other techniques are employed to ensure full business continuity and recovery in the event of a hardware failure, natural disaster, or other catastrophe.

To learn more about moving your business communications to the cloud, visit our Web site at  www.sliderocket.com.

Cloud computing has been a term-du-jour for several years now, and proponents laud the on-demand model for its simplicity, cost savings, and technical advances. Those are great benefits of cloud computing, but we believe the biggest benefit of the cloud is choice.

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Choice fuels competition, and competition fuels innovation – and that means better products for customers. For years, Microsoft was dominant in the office applications space, and the company didn’t focus on innovating its Office suite, because it didn’t have to. Companies would buy Office no matter what. Now, however, cloud computing has driven a surge in innovation, with dozens of companies creating new office applications that run natively in the cloud, cost much less than packaged solutions, and deliver better functionality. Companies can pick and choose the cloud-based office apps they need – from Google docs, to Box.Net document management, to SlideRocket for presentations – and quickly assemble their own “suite” of best-of-breed products delivered on demand.

Look at what choice has done for presentations. Here are some of the ways SlideRocket has innovated on presentations – leveraging Internet technology and cloud delivery to make presentations more social, shareable, and interactive.

Centralized, dynamic content and branding control: SlideRocket makes it possible to create a unified presentation that’s on brand, on message, and always up-to-date. Because SlideRocket is “plugged into” the cloud, users can automatically update charts and financial numbers by feeding data from a Google spreadsheet directly into their slides in real time. What’s more, SlideRocket is a native web application, so it’s easy to insert rich media like photos, video, images, Twitter feeds, and real-time stock or information tickers into presentations. Unlike text-based, static slides, SlideRocket presentations leverage the strengths of the cloud – secure collaboration, real-time Web data, and rich media – so that presentations become an extension of your brand.

Analytics: Without cloud computing, you’d never know the answer to important questions like these: How do you know if your presentation was successful? Did your prospects view the presentation? How many times? Did they forward it to other decision makers? How much time did each person spend viewing each slide? SlideRocket leverages the connected cloud model to deliver this level of analytics for every presentation. Companies know immediately which topics are of interest to their prospects and customers and, therefore, can personalize presentations for the best results.

Secure collaboration and sharing: The cloud also makes collaborating and sharing infinitely easier than with desktop-based, packaged software. No more emailing attachments and suffering through version control. Because SlideRocket presentations are fully hosted in the cloud and don’t reside on your desktop, users can collaborate on slides in real time, click a button to share them with colleagues, prospects, or partners, and clearly see what changes other people have made. Of course, often, you don’t want other people to change your slides, so SlideRocket also offers locking and security features.

The cloud has enabled some amazing advances in office applications, providing people with a choice of innovate applications that help them work more efficiently. We’ve banded together with some of the most innovative cloud companies around – including Box.net, Zuora, Socialtext and more – to support and spread this important message of choice.

What will you choose? We choose the cloud.

No group of professionals is more reliant on presentations than sales representatives.  Day in and day out, the primary job of the sales rep is to deliver pitch after pitch, “wowing” potential customers to win new business and generate new sources of revenue.

The sales pitch is a critical part of any sales cycle.

The sales pitch is a critical component of any sales cycle, giving reps one shot to sway their audience into signing on proverbial “dotted line”.  But, surprisingly, many reps don’t present as effectively as they could.  Here are a few best practices to keep in mind when delivering a sales pitch:

1. Keep It Short and Sweet
Most sales reps want to highlight each and every single feature and benefit of their product or service.  While this may seem like a good approach, most prospects simply don’t want to sit through a 90-minute sales pitch.  Keeping it brief, and focusing primarily on key differentiators and what it is that makes your offering unique, will have the greatest impact.

2. Customize It
When it comes to sales pitches, there is no such thing as “one size fits all”.  Every potential customer will need or want your product for a different reason.  Perhaps they have a challenge they are looking to overcome, or a certain goal they want to achieve.  It is best to gather a little intelligence ahead of time, and structure the presentation in a way that speaks directly to the audience’s specific problems or objectives.

3. Engage Your Prospects
A sales pitch should never be a “one-way” conversation.  During the process, you will need to interact with your audience, to learn more about what makes them tick, and what will compel them to buy.  One of the best ways to do this is to ask open-ended questions frequently throughout your presentation.  This will give them the opportunity to freely share important information that will help you close the deal.

4. Image Is Critical
Of course, you want to present your product or service in the best possible light. But, today’s buyers want not only superior products, but loyal and reliable vendors who will be there to support them throughout its life cycle.  Therefore, it is also important to project a positive image of both yourself, and your company – one that convinces your audience that you will be a trusted business partner.

5. The Proof Is In the Pudding
While hype and marketing-speak are a great way to grab your audience’s attention, you’ll need to back it up with hard facts.  Be sure to sprinkle in as much third-party validation as possible, such as endorsements from industry experts or testimonials from satisfied customers.

6. Save the Demo Until the End
Product demonstrations can be highly effective selling tools, but they work best after you’ve already provided an overview of the solution you’re pitching, and demonstrated the potential value it can provide.  This background will enable the prospect to view the demo in context, with a greater understanding of how they can apply and benefit from it in real-world scenarios.

Find more great tips and resources at the Presentation Skills Launch Pad.

Hi all, my name is Heidi Jackman, I am the new CMO at SlideRocket and I’m thrilled to be here.  I’ve built my career around my passion – the intersection of a problem and the development of a technical solution to address it.  How many times have you thought “there’s got to be a better way!?”  That’s where I want to play and that’s why I’m here.

I can’t believe 2 months have gone by since I started at SlideRocket.  I meant to write sooner to say ‘hi’, but got swept up in the wave up excitement around being part of the Google Apps Marketplace launch, followed immediately by going to SXSW as the official presentation provider. All of this happened within my first week on the job! Talk about trial by fire…

I’m loving every minute as a part of this team, especially getting to know SlideRocket customers and prospects. Including hearing what you love, don’t love and want more of in this product.  I see my role here as much more than marketing.  First and foremost, I am an advocate – which is very easy for me to be when I truly believe something addresses an unmet need.  Today, for me, that need is business communication, specifically in the form of presentations.

Honestly, before I heard of SlideRocket, if you said ‘presentation’, I thought ‘necessary evil.’ But now there’s a different way. SlideRocket brings presentations back from the land of lectures to the land of story telling.  And, how does the best communication happen?  Through sharing stories.

If you can’t tell, I’m pretty pumped to be on board and help introduce SlideRocket to the world. And to continue to get to know you.  So please keep in touch, I want to hear the good and the bad.  I want to hear about the cool ways you are using SlideRocket and the ways you wish you could. I’ll work to stay in touch as well – we have a lot of exciting news and events coming up and I look forward to sharing it with all of you.