The Movie Trailer Presentation Article originally from July 5th, 2018 FPC Newsletter
Written by Dr. David Adams
The Movie Trailer Presentation
Why is the average length of a movie trailer 114.2 seconds? I want you to think about sitting in your living room and seeing a movie trailer come on TV. What is the purpose of that movie trailer? Why do they want us to spend a minute and 54.2 seconds seeing all the best parts of the movie. Why do they start telling us about the movie a month or two before it is released?
The purpose of a movie trailer is to get us to take an average of $9.16 out of our pocket and put it into theirs. They start a month or two before the release of the movie to build anticipation. They spend millions on advertising and marketing to get us excited enough that we are willing to spend $9.16. By the time we bring our spouse and kids, a date or friends it often turns into $30-40 exiting our accounts and entering theirs. Add on some drinks, popcorn and candy and 2 people can easily spend over $50.00 after watching a 114 second movie trailer. So back to my original questions, What is the purpose of a movie trailer? To get us to want to spend our money to see their movie. And they work, they spend millions on marketing so they can collect hundreds of millions in ticket sales.
Now I want you to think about your presentation. What is the purpose of your presentation? The purpose is not to make friends. The purpose is not to have people like you. The purpose is not even to deliver information. Your presentation is your movie trailer. The purpose is to give your audience enough information that they know you are the expert and they want to reach into their wallet and be willing to purchase more from you. Imagine watching a movie trailer that was 30 minutes long. Would you be more willing to go to the movie because they showed you more of the movie? No, in fact if the movie trailers were longer we would be less likely to spend our money to go see the movie.
I suggest to you that far too many of you are giving too much information and talking for too long at your presentations. More time in a presentation is no more likely to produce more ROFs than having a 30 minute movie trailer will produce more revenue at the box office. You want to give them enough information so they understand that you know your stuff and that they need to come see you to get more information. If your presentation close rate is not where you would like it to be try educating less and connecting more. Remember people buy based on emotions… not facts.