Customer: CyberSource

Project: Ignite Presentation script and slides

Ignite presentation

Public speaking can be nerve-wracking enough for some, but when you’re presenting to the Ignite format the pressure is really on.

An Ignite presentation requires the speaker to present for five minutes and not a second more. In fact, a klaxon will signal the end of your allotted time. The pitch can be supported by no more than 20 slides and these advance automatically – relentlessly – every 15 seconds. This format demands focus on crystal-clear messaging and a tight structure if the pitch is to be effective.

This was exactly why CyberSource turned to HN to help them build the deck and the script for an Ignite presentation at the Merchant Risk Council event held in London. Many influential individuals would be in the audience and stumbling through a confused presentation was not an option. The event also followed hot on the heels of a brand new marketing concept – Fuelling Ambition – that CyberSource was keen to use to underpin and distinguish their proposition. Our work was cut out making sure that the position and messaging around this theme was robust before we could work on the presentation itself.

HN worked closely with the marketing team to understand the nuances of the proposition and make sure that these were clearly communicated visually and with the spoken word. The success of the presentation on the day owes a great deal to this preparation , helping the presenter learn the flow of the points he wanted to get across so that his delivery was pitch-perfect.

The presentation went down so well that it has become the foundation for CyberSource’s main sales pitch and has been versioned as a whiteboard session that the entire sales team has been trained to give – for when they have a little more time than five minutes flat to get their message across.