Creating Stunning Presentations With Emily Hall

Welcome! Can you start by giving us a little overview of your business?

I started Whitespace Presentation Co in 2019, with a focus on helping people build presentations they’re proud of. I wanted to help people move past traditional presentation templates to create something more visually powerful, with an emphasis on educating clients on how to structure their key takeaways more clearly, easily create beautifully designed slides and execute a presentation strategy that moves the bar in their business.

We’ve all been guilty of putting together slides last minute, but I want to help people do better than that by being more intentional and strategic. With a little coaching, I have my clients creating engaging presentations that are on brand and compliment the ideas they are seeking to communicate in a compelling manner.

Has entrepreneurship always been something you thought about pursuing? It sounds like it runs in the family?

A lot of people in my family (on both sides) have owned their own businesses, so I grew up thinking starting a business was just something that you do. As a kid, I would play at opening a business. At one point, I opened a restaurant in our kitchen and my parents were my customers! They didn’t love that one. Growing up in a family filled with entrepreneurs, I picked up a lot of valuable business knowledge almost without realizing it at the time. These are experiences that have helped me along my entrepreneurial journey.

How did you identify this business as an opportunity?

It started when I was fresh out of college, when I began my career working in a larger corporate environment. A central part of my duties was to create presentations for upper management, because they didn’t have time and didn’t love doing it! After creating so many presentations, I discovered ways to help these presenters be much more successful and that my approach was a model that could be repeated for others. I discovered I could help people avoid the internal cringe that comes from not feeling confident about their presentation. This work experience provided the assurance that I could help people get their message out and change their perspective on what a well prepared presentation can do to help them and their audience.

What did you use for your criteria to move forward with your business concept? Were there other ideas you were considering?

I actually started my business with a service providing freelance presentation design. I quickly realized the market wasn’t ready for 1:1 presentation design services, it just wasn’t a high enough priority for people. This experience led me to pivot my service plan to focus on providing coaching, tools and education to help people create impactful presentations on their own. Presentations are typically part of a larger plan, I feel like this new direction allows me to help people on a larger scale.

How did market research factor into your planning?

I did a ton of research! This process included numerous on and offline sources. I looked at many companies that offer similar services to see what geography they operated in, what type of clients they had, etc. Reviewing potential competitors was actually reassuring to some degree, because it helped validate my business model and indicated that there was a demand for my services.

I also interviewed a lot of people and highly recommend this for anyone looking to create a product or service as it helped me identify:

• Who would want to use this service?

• What types of positions do they have within an organization?

• What is a day in life for them like?

• How and why do they use a presentation?

• What type of presentation software do they use?

• What are their pain points?

• How many conferences do they attend?

All of the details that come out of these interviews can really help bring the business idea to life and can lead to some great networking opportunities as well. This process might even help you think about different approaches to your business; like who else can use your service, or how does your company fit within the industry.

What type of clients do you work with?

Often times it’s people who are in early or mid-stage in their careers. Entrepreneurs who need to create strong pitch decks and sales professionals who need compelling sales decks. Presentations are used in lots of different industries, so it’s cool to see the different applications people use them for.

Can you talk about the process or planning you used to successfully make the transition to being self employed?

I’m naturally a little risk averse so I need to do a lot of planning to feel comfortable making the leap to being self employed. I ran the numbers and talked to my husband to determine the amount of savings we would need to provide us the necessary cushion. I’m also fortunate that my job allowed for some flexibility in my schedule, so that I could start taking business appointments on a regular basis. At some point, you just have to go for it and trust the planning that you did to make sure the idea has the potential to be a viable business.

What are your views on hiring? Any interested in having employees?

I could definitely see making hires when the business gets to that point. I value the agility of being a smaller company and the ability to respond to market trends more quickly. There is a lot of value in having employees, peers and others in your network who compliment your strengths and weaknesses. As entrepreneurs, we just don’t have time to learn everything and if you can leverage other people’s talents it can really help you progress faster.

Getting your first clients can be hard, what efforts have worked for you?

Word of mouth has been big and can be really beneficial for your business. When others talk about what you offer it helps create the relationship, so there is a lot of truth to saying “It’s about who you know”. Connecting with the right people in your market and leveraging those relationships can help build momentum for you.

What have been some of your biggest challenges? How have you responded?

Explaining to people what I do has been tough, as it’s not something a lot of people are familiar with. Most people don’t know that presentation companies exist. I’ve had to figure out how to concisely say what I do so people can easily understand and ideally, be able to explain it to others.

What inspires you when the going gets tough and how do you recharge your battery?

I draw on successful projects for inspiration. Going to the times when I helped someone create a big impact helps me recenter and is a reminder that what I do is important.

It’s also important to turn the work off, close computer and spend time with friends and family. It can be hard to turn off with so much going on, but often times the best ideas come from relaxing and not thinking too hard about things. Taking time to unplug is important for staying focused and thriving for the long term.

What are common mistakes that you see people make when presenting?

There are a few big ones:

• Too much happening on slides, too many bullets, images and text. This can create visual chaos and cause an audience to disengage quickly.

• Not having a clear lead into the main point. You need to have a few main ideas and build your content around those. The audience isn’t going to remember everything you say, so it’s important to identify and prioritize your top takeaways.

• Not starting at the level of the audience. There is a natural gap between what your audience knows and what you are presenting - that’s why you’re presenting to them. Be sure to bring the audience along on the journey with you by starting at their level, instead of starting at your expert level and expecting them to follow along.

What suggestions do you have for people to step up their presentation game?

• Remove the clutter.

• One idea for each slide.

• Identity what is the one thing you want your audience to leave knowing.

Are there any trends that you are seeing in your field?

Creative ways to engage with audiences is definitely becoming a priority. We’re seeing speakers wanting to interact with audiences through quizzes, polls and other tech-fueled features that are new and exciting. Overall, presentations fall within a small niche within marketing and graphic design, so our trends follow what is happening in those industries. Like other areas of design, presentations are becoming much more visually rich and people are exploring storytelling as a tool for audience connection.

Is there anything you would like to plug - a helpful resource, book, or something else?

There are so many great resources out there! I recently launched an online shop that has unique and attractive presentation templates for sale. These are great for people who want to revamp how their slides look.

I’m also leading a workshop hosted by the Women’s Center For Leadership. The topic is:

Beyond the Template: Storytelling Through Presentations

Event details:

Tuesday, February 25, 2020
9:00 AM 12:00 PM
CENTRL Downtown
1155 Southwest Morrison Street

Click To Register

What’s your favorite thing to do in the Portland area when not working?

I like to get active with either biking, hiking, yoga or attempting to do house projects!

Where can people connect with you or your business?

Web: whitespacepresentationco.com

FB: @whitespacepresentationco

IG: @whitespace_presentationco

About Emily Hall

I'm Emily Hall, founder of Whitespace Presentation Co. I live in Oregon with my husband and our two completely ambivalent cats. I love coffee, popcorn and fuzzy socks. I started Whitespace as a way to serve speakers, educators and consultants with presentation design, content, and strategy support that enhances their core messaging and drives their business forward!