I give alot of presentations and about half of them are sales presentations. With the popularity of Powerpoint, everybody expects to sit in a room and watch the projected information. With the advent of the iPad I have abandoned projectors in sales presentations in favor of sitting next to the decisionmaker and showing them the iPad screen. Anybody else in the room can look over my shoulder.
The great advantage of using the iPad this way is that you establish a very personal connection with the audience when everybody huddles around the device. Establishing that personal connection increases trust and credibility and there is an inherent openness through close physical proximity. Also, there is much less tendency for confrontation because most people need distance to argue.
Of course, in such a setting the content becomes even more important. Good presentations today use large images and very little text. This approach is particularly important when the audience is sitting next to you. Nobody expects a lecture from somebody sitting next to them showing them pictures.
Also remember that in such a setting the presentation needs to be shorter. People get uncomfortable sitting close to strangers for too long.
I do not know if this technique works for selling enterprise software, but it works for any product where the customer is emotionally engaged.
Image credit: Amillionlives.net
