Bibi Beirut Danger Map

The national leader that loves their slidedecks the most was at it again this week.

Israeli PM Netanyahu, nicknamed Bibi, displayed images for his (this year, virtual) UN General Assembly slot.

You get a flavour from the UN’s own snap as above.

An eleven year stint as a country’s leader is, for me, too long.

Especially when you add the extra three year in post from a decade prior.

No-one is so stellar a wonder that they ought rule for so long.

It’s also a damning statement on local political opposition. Both from within their side and any other.

Yet if nothing else, it does allow for the honing of presentation skills I guess.

And he doesn’t half grab headlines with his.

The gist is clear.

He names a ‘threat’. In this case, a “ticking bomb” Beirut missile factory.

Shows its location. Frames it with reference to the surrounding, imperilled, innocent “human shields”.

“Iran and Hezbollah have deliberately put you and your families in grave danger.”

Further slides zoomed out, for the wider area affected by a “next explosion” at the “secret arms depot” which would match the recent port horror. Also pointing out from ground level photos the building’s sinister purpose.

Whatever the facts on the ground, the narrative was owned.

I see a tendency for salespeople to refrain from annotating slide imagery.

Perhaps they think it sullies a decent pic. Maybe they feel it a touch too school classroom. Possibly it’d be a little bit time consuming to produce.

Yet the technique is a winner.

Here, red and blue outline boxes, yellow arrows and overlaid text labels all work quite well.

A design agency would no doubt not only eschew these tactics, but dismiss the format, with all that white border space and to much text.

But it works here.

Whether selling a tangible good or intangible wares, we can still summon our own maps of the prospect landscape. Pictures of where the current state sits. A helicopter view of the broader landscape.

Many can allow us to mark the slide with what we wish to highlight.

How can you do this for your next prospect slidedeck?