From The Poker Face to the Just Happy Someone Else Did It

How different types respond to creative presentations.

Over the course of your design career you will make countless client and internal presentations. Here are four general ways individuals or groups may respond.

The Poker Face
This person or group says very little in the meeting. Maybe one question at the end. Other than that, zero commentary. This can be disconcerting. Did I do a good job? Did they like it? Did they understand it? You have to be OK with not getting feedback immediately sometimes. There could be a beneficial reason for this. Some people like to take a bit of time to soak in information. Or, they may plan to get together internally as a group to discuss before giving any feedback. This is a good thing because the group is on the same page.

The Hole Poker
This person or group likes to ask a lot of questions. That’s great. Be prepared. You should have a reason for why you’ve done everything anyway. Could they ask you something you hadn’t considered? Yes. And then you learn something. Occasionally this type can feel a little aggressive as if they’re trying to poke holes in what you’ve done. But stand in your decisions while being open to say you don’t know or need more information when that's the case.

“Wow” / Managing Expectations

Ever had a client or brief that said they want to be “Wowed”? Maybe you’re a client who has told someone this? Nothing elicits an eye roll faster from a designer than that. Heres why: From a designer perspective, that’s an incredibly hard expectation to meet. Not that designers are

Vis CommunicationK. Nicole Stowe

The Toddler
There are sometimes presentations that go badly. I was not personally there, but this one went down in legend. I know the designer who was there. Many, many years ago, she presented designs to a group. The head of the company didn’t like the designs and angrily referred to it as “poo poo.” In addition to this being poor feedback, it’s just downright creepy that a grown ass adult would use that term. It was shocking at the time, but apparently he had a reputation for such outbursts. Sometimes you just have to shake it off and go regroup.

The Happy Someone Else Did It
This can be a really fun one. They love everything you did, and frankly, they’re just happy someone did it, and they can move on to the other hundred things on their list. One word of caution on this type. I tend to make doubly sure that they are really looking over everything carefully to check it’s all correct when approving, because they are busy and tend to move on quickly to other projects. You as the designer may have to be the one asking questions here.

What are some other types have you experienced during presentations?

For the Designer

Presentations can be nerve wracking. Once you get through a few presentations with the same person or group, you’ll get used to their style. But don’t let any of the types above shake your confidence. As designers, we tend to work on all kinds of different companies and industries, and that’s fun because you get to learn things you never would have known otherwise. It also means you can’t know everything about everything. So feel confident in the decisions you’ve made, but always leave room for knowledge and growth.

For the Client

A lot of clients are nervous at these presentations as well. Sometimes there is a lot riding on the outcome, or clients are also trying to impress their bosses in the room. None of these types are bad, except for The Toddler. Please don’t be The Toddler. So do you like to take in the information and think it through while not saying much? Are you a question asker? Questions can be a really good thing. Or just happy it got done? Seeing your type may allow you to see these presentations from a different perspective.