Annual Sales Kickoff Presentation: Dos and Don'ts

An Annual Sales Kickoff event can be a powerful way to educate, entertain and empower sales professionals.  It’s an opportunity to get the sales team in a confident and winning mindset.  I think any of us that have ever been part of an SKO planning effort understand this. We have every good intention of creating a blockbuster event and sending the sales team off supercharged.  The thing is, as common sense as the objectives for an SKO are for those who are involved in making one happen, they are not common sense or common practice for most non-professional speakers.  They are altogether foreign to most breakout presenters, sadly.

The best professional public speakers for SKO events know the audience and understand how to message in a way that creates potent emotions.  Emotions help define what information sticks and what disappears.  Professional speakers know that once you lose the attention of an audience, it’s near impossible to get it back.  Once they grab their phone, a speaker becomes background noise. 

Really impactful SKO events have a good balance of seasoned public speakers and various internal, functional resources. Sometimes (if you really want to up your SKO game) even sales reps themselves will present or speak.  Typically, professional speakers will be on the mainstage. They are effective, they know what they are doing.  It’s the breakout sessions where things start to get sketchy.  

Ideally, breakout sessions are about 45 minutes and should be more workshops than lectures. Go ahead, think about how many breakouts you have sat in that were lecture-ish with little or no interaction.  Lecturing, in general, gets really boring fast. Lecturing to sales professionals is a fool’s errand.  You can’t get through to sales professionals when you are talking at them, as a rule. The real pain comes when the presenter, an internal resource, is lecturing about their content from their own perspective.  How much do you think sales professionals care about an internal resource going on about “their team” and “their role.”  It’s not about “them” it’s about the sales professional, what the content means to them and how they can use it to win bigger. Obviously, right? Nope. Here we go again, with the whole common sense not being common practice thing.  It’s maddening. 

It doesn’t have to be.  First, be very selective of the people and content you allow to be presented at SKO.  This is not a political move, it’s an audience-centered experience.  Decisions on content and speakers (non-mainstage) need to be considered very carefully.  One bad content idea and the credibility of the sales leaders who are hosting the event can take hit. You don’t want sales leaders to seem out of touch with what sales professionals want and need to know.  

"Typically, professional speakers will be on the mainstage. They are effective, they know what they are doing.  It’s the breakout sessions where things start to get sketchy."

As a quick litmus test before even considering someone, event planners should ask themselves: “Will this content help the salespeople to grow or inspire them.”  I can say with near-perfect certainty that sales professionals do NOT get inspired by loads of data and charts, nor do they have much patience for the detailed, tactical processes or information from other departments.  It simply isn't need-to-know content because it has little or no value in the context of the sales professionals’ success.  Even if the speaker is good, delivering bad content will still ruin the session

Once we have decided who will speak and what they will speak of, it is our responsibility as direct sales and sales enablement leaders and event organizers to help those presenters succeed. This means being crystal clear about the context you will build around content to be built around.  You have to help them see the world from the sales professional’s perspective.  That helps ensure that the content is relevant.  The harder part is making sure the way the content is delivered is effective.  

Set an expectation with your breakout speakers that breakout sessions are valuable because they enable interaction and activity.  As I said, lecturers need not apply.  Help the speakers think of ideas to create engagement.  How can the audience participate? What can we get them to do that will help them retain the knowledge we are sharing?   Once you have prepared them, you have to continue to monitor their progress with the content.  Set firm deadlines and have backup speakers and session topics available. This way, if the originally scheduled presenter does not submit their content in time, you can let them know that they lose their spot and there is someone right behind them to take it.  

"The sales professionals’ time is arguably the most valuable resource an organization has control over. Wasting it should feel like a crime."

Once you have set expectations and provided guidelines, you have to inspect the presentations through check-in calls and a “formal” scheduled rehearsal session.  Let them know that you are there to help them. Additionally, it is a good idea to provide your breakout speakers with some best practices and tips on public speaking.  There’s a TON of info out there on this. Here, though, I just want you to learn about some very basic breakout session do’s and don’ts that can be the difference between a memorable presentation and one that is an embarrassment.  

"Lecturing, in general, gets really boring fast. Lecturing to sales professionals is a fool’s errand.

Finally, the sales professionals’ time is arguably the most valuable resource an organization has control over. Wasting it should feel like a crime. Set a standard for your SKO content and speakers and you will be able to deliver consistent results in terms of educating, enabling and entertaining the sales team. How well you do these things will determine not just the success of your event, but how much positive momentum the sales team will have as they start the new year. 

The list of dos and don’ts, later in this article, will help your breakout presenters focus on how to approach their content in a way that will help them, and sales professionals, be successful at this important annual event. Shift the tone and wording to be applicable in your company context (i.e. Charlie Brown may not be a prudent reference in some situations…the kind I hope I never have to be in). Once you share them, reach out to the speaker to make sure they really understand them – you can do that in one phone call. 

Set a standard for your SKO content and speakers and you will be able to deliver consistent results in terms of educating, enabling and entertaining the sales team. How well you do these things will determine not just the success of your event, but how much positive momentum the sales team will have as they start the new year. 

SKO Breakout Sessions – Presenter Dos and Don’ts

Don't cause Death by PowerPoint – you need to energize the sales team, not put them to sleep.  Do make the session interactive by using activities, quizzes, stories, experiences, and role-plays. I am not saying don't use PowerPoint, I know that just won’t fly at a lot of organizations.  Just be mindful: PowerPoint slides with tons of text and a speaker who pretty much reads through the slides are the kiss of death when it comes to engaging the audience. 

Don't forget your audience is the sales team: their time is precious and their attention span is limited. Do ensure your content speaks to the sales team and their specific needs. Never lose sight of the fact that this event IS all about them. It’s a mistake to have cross-functional, internal speakers lead breakout sessions that are focused on sharing their processes or other updates. That can be done easily via webinar.  The sales team has been pulled out of the field for this event, do be sure to educate, entertain and inspire them. You can’t do those things well if a speaker is all about the “me” “my” “we” and “I.”  

Don't try to delay prep to the last minute. Or, worse, try to wing it. Do give ample time and thought to your content. Prep by practicing in front of peers and get their feedback.  I can’t lie, this is a weakness for me!  I rarely get a chance to work on my content far enough in advance. I end up getting consumed at the last minute to make sure I am happy with the final product and confident about sharing it.  I am constantly trying to get better at this. I have a way to go.   Preparation is an antidote to the fear of speaking.  The more the speakers prepare, the better the experience will be for them AND the audience.  

Don't beat dead horses. It's not ok to spend too much time going on about any one concept or idea. Especially one of little relevance. Do #savethehorses. Make each point highly relevant and state it once, in a concise and compelling way. Speakers may think that they have to share a lot of information, for example, in their slides. It’s overkill and the audience rarely can stick with one talk track (unless it’s very engaging) for more than a couple of minutes. There’s so much power in brevity and clarity. Make sure your SKO presenters understand this. 

Don't channel Mrs. Othmore. Charlie Brown’s “wah, wah wah” sounding teacher, is NOT invited to your SKO. Not only will that monotone voice often put the audience to sleep, for many people it will grate their nerves to the point of total distraction.  Do keep your energy high and your voice dynamic. Positive Energy is contagious and will carry your message much further. Low energy, monotony, and the blahs won't let the message go far.

I have a LOT more of these Do’s and Don’ts in my head, but I’ve learned that my audience is not looking for a dissertation in the form of a LinkedIn article, nor would they appreciate one.  There ARE many other things SKO presenters can do to help them perform like professionals. Reach out me if you are interested in getting some guidance on that and want to host a memorable SKO.   

As a company, failing to find and empower excellent resources for SKO breakout sessions means you risk losing the attention of the sales professionals. They will feel it’s a waste of their time.  No one is going to have their best year if they leave the SKO feeling as if their leaders don’t respect the value of their time and/or don’t care what truly matters to them.  After spending so much time and money on this important event, it’s tragic to have it actually backfire.  Don’t. Do. It