PowerPoint presentations present unique challenges for lawyers, professional services firms, and marketing departments across industries. They can be time-consuming to create, difficult to present, and, too often, lacking in the power of persuasion. We address the most common problems we see when it comes to developing impactful presentations and pitches.

Too often attorneys allow the perfect to become the enemy of the good, and get so hung up on perfecting the content they write that they run the risk of interminably delaying release of their work to the point that it never sees light of day. Or worse, they get so hung up on trying to conceive of the perfect topic, they fail to put pen to paper at all. We call this content paralysis.

Once a subject matter expert becomes a recognized thought leader, the time commitment required to engage in content development will be better understood and more highly valued. As opportunities flow in as the result of a coordinated thought leadership campaign, the return will become self-evident. But early on, busy lawyers and like professionals struggle with carving out time to create content. What if I told you that you only needed to carve out 60 minutes or less every six to eight weeks in order to establish a well-oiled marketing machine?

There is a danger in conflating sales with marketing, or considering them the same function, when really they are distinct activities and requisite skill sets. But there is an equal danger in keeping the functions entirely separate, which is often where both programs (sales and marketing) come up short, with departments at large companies pointing figures and making excuses.