How to present your ideas so that they don’t get rejected?

The one bad thing about ideas is that they need wings and a perfect landing gear to become reality. If you ask me what are the wings that can make an idea fly my answer would be - presentation.

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No matter how great your idea is, if you don’t know how to present it in front of the people who matter it is of no use. This example would help you explain it better.

‘Suppose you are aspiring entrepreneur who has a great idea. But you don’t have the money that is needed to kick start the business. And, before your idea begins to fly you need to present it in front of the investors who are going to give you the money. A poor presentation means the idea is not going to take a flight.’

That’s how important presentation is. Similarly if you compare this to a team scenario - as a team member you might have the brightest of ideas, but unless you are able to present it in the smartest possible manner in front of the managing authorities the idea is going to remain as it is.

All this brings us to the question - How to present your ideas effectively, so that they don’t get rejected? Well, here are some tips that I follow, and advice my team to follow here at ProofHub -

• Know your audience

Most important thing to remember before presenting your idea is to know the people to whom you are going to present. For instance, if you are going to pitch the startup idea in front of an investor do a bit of research about that person. Try and figure out the reasons why previous ideas were rejected? Also, try and find out the possible objections that the investor might have. Prepare answers for those objections before going for the presentation.

Keeping into consideration the temperament and preferences of the decision makers can help you better formulate the presentation. This will help you stay safe from any sort of unwanted circumstance, as you would have already prepared for the possible causes of rejection.

• Keep it simple and fact filled

People don’t like change. Although change is the only that’s constant in life, still nobody is ready to accept it. This is the reason why people make fun of ideas at first. Why? Because those ideas are different from the ordinary. The point is no matter how great your idea is, you cannot ram it through the decision makers to get their acceptance.

You need to present in a subtle manner, with lots of facts to support your idea. Facts will help you gain the confidence of the decision makers. Selling an idea without facts and figures can scare the decision makers away. Be certain to back up your claims with some solid facts before pitching the idea.

• Showmanship

An idea must appeal interesting. This is where having the appropriate showmanship becomes so important. Presenting your idea with easy-to-see illustrations, graphical representations and charts leaves an impression that you have done your homework before presenting the idea. It reflects that you are damn serious about it, and you are ready to take the idea to the next phase.

Efficient showmanship skills can win the heart of decision makers, even if the idea is not so great. Remember it is the small flaws which lead to rejection of idea. But if you are smart enough to assess and evaluate those small things before presenting the idea, you can be certain to give wings to your dream.

Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst

You can never be certain about anything especially when you are pitching an idea that’s completely new. People might laugh at you. Your idea might get rejected ‘n’ number of times. But don’t let that dishearten you. Remember, J.K. Rowling had to face years of rejection before her Harry Potter series got finally published and made her one of the richest authors in the world.

So, think of rejection as part of the process. But, a rejection does not mean you should give up. It only means that you need to prepare better the next time and present your idea in the most efficient possible manner that there is no scope of rejection.

Originally published at Huffington Post.

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Vartika Kashyap runs the marketing team at ProofHub — a project management software for teams of all sizes. She is a seasoned marketing professional who is an expert in digital marketing and entrepreneurship. She’s been featured among LinkedIn’s Top Voices for the year 2016. Connect with Vartika on LinkedIn, Medium and Twitter.

Also follow our company page @ProofHub to get the recent updates about our tool, published articles, motivational quotes & presentations.

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