DISQUS

chiropractic · 1 year ago

Good timing for me Ben since I was working on a powerpoint presentation when this post appeared in my reader. The image of the hundreds looks much better 2nd time around and I can see your point.

The slide that shows the girl looking towards the text is good. I read somewhere that eye tracking studies showed users tend to focus where she is looking.

Dexter | Tech At HAnd Dot net · 1 year ago

You gave me new idea on how to present things :)

Mário Andrade · 1 year ago

Altought sex sells some people are still a bit old fashion about certain aspects and can lead to a conflict of interests.

Great article.

peterba · 1 year ago

I respectfully disagree. Any good VC loves money. They don't give a rats ass what your slides look like, how you dress or what watch you are wearing. They care about making 10x to 100x on their investment. If they don't, then they are fucked.

Sometimes your business model depends upon really good design to make it sell (e.g. Apple) and sometimes it doesn't (e.g. Google). If your business depends upon good design, then it helps if it is reflected in things you do (including your slides). Spending time prettying up your slides is useless if you don't have a good revenue story.

I would even argue that sexy slides is (or should be) a warning to VCs that someone is taking their eye off the ball.

Benjamin Yoskovitz · 1 year ago

Peter - If business model was the primary issue for VCs then a lot of B2C plays would never be funded. Lots of companies that are funded are built based off of the "let's build up traction & traffic, and figure out how to make money later." I'm not arguing for or against that approach, but VCs do fund those types of companies. And if you ask VCs in those cases, they would probably tell you, "We don't know yet how they'll make money, but we like a lot about the deal."

Presentation matters. First impressions matter. VCs are humans. You're not trying to pull the wool over their eyes with a well-designed presentation, you're just trying to grab their precious attention.

On top of that, I guarantee you that well-designed slides = a better story -- and I can also guarantee you that if you can't tell a good (or great) story to VCs it will become extremely hard to raise money from anyone.

risto · 1 year ago

Great article.

Brett Tilford · 1 year ago

Good post Ben. I read Guy Kawasaki's book The Art of The Start last year and he was harping on this point as well. Your right, design matters.

Ramunas · 1 year ago

I have to say, i agree about the "sexy" slides. I'm sure this can be explained scientifically. i guess you've all heard about subliminal messaging? Something in the picture that you don't quite understand, but your subconscious mind not only understands it, but puts more effort into remembering it. That's why, I think, everything that's not normal, will attract the human eye.

thespeechcoach · 1 year ago

A few changes are needed to make your visual pitch fruitfull!
Your business is not about sex! It's about people!
So replace the house on a canal by a grey haired man!
And reverse the order of it with the young woman!
Your arrows will serve your meaning!
The retiree leaving and your new staff coming in!
The whole thing will be ATTRACTIVE...
and effective.

Riberdy · 1 year ago

Since most of the VCs are men, that's not surprising. Not the sex, but the visual part. Men are visual creatures. If there are women among the VCs you are presenting to, I would caution you that this will not impress them as much as what you are saying and how you are saying it.

Benjamin Yoskovitz · 1 year ago

Thank you for the comment. Maybe female VCs would react differently, but I think the principles of great design apply no matter what:

* you need to grab people's attention
* you need to tell a great story (which I think great slides support)

I'm not advocating that you focus exclusively on nicely designed slides, but they're still important. Ultimately you can't throw sexy slides on a bad business and expect to raise money. You still need a good business, good metrics, proof points, customers, a business model (maybe?!?!), advisors, a kick-ass team and more.

Raising money is hard and requires a ton of things to go right. Plus some plain old luck.

A great presentation with beautiful slides is one of the easiest things you can do in all of that, and that's my point.

Sayre · 1 year ago

Sex does sell, I am big into psychology marketing and seeing how people view things and using focus groups have seen time after time how people pick the "sexier" image over the originals or defaults.

Content Management System · 1 year ago

This is definatley 100% true and even before the internet it sold

Ed Harris · 1 year ago

Sex and sexy are two different animals. They both are attention grabbers, but have different results.

Rick · 1 year ago

Sometimes people think that they are pitching their ideas to robots. The people judging you are humans, and are influenced by the same psychological factors as you. Therefore, you are 100% correct on this issue.

Rod Hyip · 1 year ago

Great post Ben. Sex certainly does sell. I mean just turn on the tv and nearly every commercial you see is somehow or other related to sex/sex appeal. Attention grabbers are important, even if they are only subliminal

Chris · 1 year ago

You are correct. You have to capture them, get their attention. The look of your presentation is just as important as the product itself.

Sökoptimering · 1 year ago

LOL - I read somewhere that eye tracking studies showed users tend to focus where she is looking =)

Data Entry Lady · 1 year ago

Hmmm, now if I can just figure out a way to make data entry sexy!!!!???

muratos · 1 year ago

An elegant design is always more attractive for people and a sexy look is an easy way to achieve that elegance if it is used correctly as in your slides example.

Shailesh Ghimire · 1 year ago

As the reiging champ of creating boring powerpoint slides - I specialize in them - I must say I really enjoyed your view here. The problem is it takes so much time getting it right - that it almost feels like you should be focusing on the content. I think it helps to do the design only after you're done with the content part.

Julia V · 1 year ago

Magazines with beautiful face on covers always sell even though the model is a nobody. Humans are always drawn to beauty.

Halloween Costume Ideas · 1 year ago

That's a great analogy, Julia. I've caught myself looking at the magazone's with the most "beautiful" model on the cover while in checkout lines, even though the cover model has nothing to do with the content of the magazine. Hell, I even knew I wasn't going to like the content when I picked it up.

freeladys7 · 1 year ago

thanks ben, you gave me idea to make data entry sexy :D

franco · 1 year ago

great presentation, my wife expects me to be more "sexy" and this is a perfect way to show her that ive changed for the better!

Bill · 1 year ago

Sex and sexy does sell. I did a search for one of my sites for a few states where I searched every county for the "Most Searched" terms in the county. In EVERY one, 100%, the search for escorts was in the top 20, if not the top 10. Don't believe me, do a search yourself and you will find out.

Kim Potter · 1 year ago

Sex always make's people think clearly. Have a good time forget everything and then go back to work.

Tom · 1 year ago

I guess this has to be the oldest concept in the world.
It probably goes back to the cave man, but there are obvious limitations.
It probably won't wash with the girls, unless maybe you use boys LOL !

That's a thought !

I'll try it out and report back.

Frank · 1 year ago

To convince the client a convincing presentation is necessary and choice of good slides helps in it.

Bethany Gifted · 1 year ago

In todays society sex is pretty much the only thing that sells, if you can get it across that your product will make you feel good and sexy and happy when they have it then you are half way there

Daitondimeny · 1 year ago

'm sure this can be explained scientifically. i guess you've all heard about subliminal messaging? Something in the picture that you don't quite understand, but your subconscious mind not only understands it, but puts more effort into remembering it.

Beth Fork · 1 year ago

Some sort of visual aid is definiately needed I think otherwise people lose focus

rese · 1 year ago

what is sex??
i realy like it..
read before..=)

fanav · 1 year ago

Thanks, nothing is worse than a boring powerpoint: lights dim, no visual stimulation = catch up on jet lag! For the seller, nothing is worse than spending a lot on a great product, only to take shortcuts on the pitch. I saw powerpoint used in a religious discussion once, and even having great looking graphics there made for a much more stimulating dialog.

Tom · 1 year ago

Using Powerpoint can work in the right circumstances.
This example is not particularly graphically brilliant but it gets the message across quite well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8zzM1YYOYU

Bethany Moors · 1 year ago

Sex sells because people link sex to feeling good which is ultimately what people want to feel, if you can link your product to sex it has a higher chance of selling.

Dutch Schultz · 1 year ago

I have to admit that I had no idea where you were going with the post when I first clicked on it. I completely get it however, after reading it and completely agree with you point. I can't think of anyone eager to hand out their money after being put to sleep by a bad power point presentation.

Bethany Gifted · 1 year ago

Yeah PowerPoint is great for presentations, it so easy to create and easy to use in the presentation

Rosie McCleaner · 1 year ago

I wonder what it is about humans that are so intrigued by beauty and why we take more notice when something looks good?

Stephon "Phon" Rudd · 1 year ago

I do agree with the sex sells concept. But I couldn't see the pics in this posting...is there a way to post them again so that I can see? Thanks.

Ben Yoskovitz · 1 year ago

@Stephon: Sorry about that. When I moved host environments I lost some images. They're back now on this post...

Let me know what you think.

carhidkits · 2 months ago

Good post Ben. I read Guy Kawasaki's book The Art of The Start last year and he was harping on this point as well. Your right, design matters.

Car HID Kits

Health Insurance Providers · 1 month ago

Sex certainly sells but let's not forget that you have to have the substance to back it all up.