Collect Content

Your presentation management strategy is only as good as the content provided.

Systems, protocols, features, functions, cutting-edge technology and good intentions are all great. But content is king! Both U.S. Bank and Cooper Standard introduced slide libraries with the best content – branded, up to date, accurate, well-designed, well-written content. When word got out at U.S. Bank that there was a library that had all the good content, and all you had to do was drag and drop, requests for access increased and the presentation management mentality started to spread.

Content is how you balance the enterprise with the individual – the strategic with the tactical.

You can start from scratch and create all-new content. Luckily, that’s not a requirement. Most of this content, enterprise and tactical, already exists. It’s already saved on your network somewhere, embedded in other presentations, brochures, videos, etc. So it’s a matter of identifying it and then including it in your presentation management initiative. The trick is to make sure that your presentation cloud includes both aspects of your business, the enterprise files and the tactical files, that can then be broken down into pieces where individuals can select and organize a new presentation for their own meeting.

Now you might be thinking something like, “You want me to parse through all of those files on our mess of network? Ugh!” Content collection may seem like a daunting task, arguably worse than spring cleaning. There are probably thousands of files on your network, so where do you start? It’s really not as bad as it sounds. Big tasks are easier to accomplish when broken down into manageable chunks. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to content, but there are a couple of practical approaches we suggest when helping our own clients execute their presentation management strategy.

• The last 50

  • Sort through your network by date, and select the latest 50 presentations (or 100 or 30 or whatever number of files seems right for your organization), and other files that were created. This will give you the most up-to-date content to start with.
  • Review the files.
  • Delete redundant slides.
  • Apply consistent brand standards, i.e., backgrounds, fonts, style, etc., to all files and slides.
  • Organize them into smaller decks based on subject.
  • Include high-level corporate information.
  • Include product and service details.

• Delegate to divisions

  • Ask marketing managers from each division to contribute presentation content for their team. After all, they’re the ones who are closest to their product messaging and to their presenters’ needs.
  • Include corporate marketing and communications as their own divisions. They are great sources for enterprise content.
  • Review for duplication.
  • Delete redundant slides and content.
  • Apply consistent brand standards, i.e. backgrounds, fonts, style, etc., to all files and slides.

Users need slides and files to do their job. The goal of presentation management is to provide that tactical content to them in an easy, effective way. When your team sees compliant, productive content that they need to do their job within their presentation management solution, they will not just warm up to the new solution, they will embrace it. Remember when we talked about starting with “what’s familiar.” Well, your team is very familiar with the content they need to succeed in their job. Give them what they want.