Eye contact. Voice modulation. Pausing. Energy. More eye contact. Strong intro. Pointing to slides on the screen, pointing to parts of a hand-out. Question solicitation. Listening. Snappy answers and a little back-and-forth.

And finally: "…yeah, that was great… thanks so much for your time."

That pretty much sums up the traditional stand and deliver routine, eh?

You can do it any day without thinking.

The problem is, that’s yesterday’s formula for a pitch meeting, and that routine isn’t satisfying to the customer these days.

Your customers have perfected the art of the "I’m listening stare" when they’re off in space. Your buyers have evolved, so now you have to. It is time to adjust how you run your meetings.

Integrate "conversation into your presentation to the tune of about a 90/10 ratio and you’ve arrived at something closer to what the customer wants.

Everything posted above still stands – eye contact, voice modulation, pausing, questions, listening – but now turn down the salesmanship and you stand a chance at being trusted and remembered.

But instead of obsessing over the color scheme on slide #26, you’ll want to spend time building your question menu* and working on your "tell me more about that" conversational skills.