Making a presentation to a group of prospects who fit your target market can be an effective way to get new business. Speaking to a roomful of people about the financial issues that concern them will probably result in at least a few audience members agreeing to meet with you privately.

Identifying an ideal group of prospects — such as employees of a company or members of a community organization — may not be difficult. The bigger challenge, says Sylvia Garibaldi, founder of SG & Associates in Toronto, is getting permission to address an organization’s employees or members.

You must be prepared to state your case and convince officials that your presentation will be helpful to members of the group in question.

Here are three steps to securing permission to give a presentation:

1. Know your market
In order for a presentation to be effective, it must be customized for a specific audience. Therefore, understanding your target market is vital.

It is helpful if the people you want to address fall into a group you already work with because you will have an idea of what their “pain points” are. In other words, you will know what your audience members struggle with financially.

For example, if many of your clients are personal-injury lawyers, you will understand that cash flow can be an issue for these professionals. Their income, which depends on their success rate in winning cases, can be irregular.

You also need to know where members of your core market congregate. This information can come from talking to current clients or conducting online research. Depending on your audience, you might approach professional groups, community centres, charities, boards of trade and local businesses.

2. Build a customized presentation
Prepare a compelling presentation that touches on the issues relevant to your target market. It should have visual elements, so use presentation software such as PowerPoint.

Have enough content to last 30 to 45 minutes. Make sure your presentation will cover areas relevant to your audience. Avoid referring to products.

“Product push is not even on the radar,” says Garibaldi. “Talk about solutions and needs to help them ease their pain points.”

3. Contact your target organization
The best way to secure permission to speak to a group, according to Garibaldi, is by having someone you know within the organization introduce you to the decision maker.

For example, if you work mainly with engineers, you might ask one of your clients to introduce you to the colleague at his or her firm who would be responsible for clearing such requests. Your client can further help you by vouching for your expertise and professionalism.

If you don’t have such a connection through a client, get in touch with a manager, the communications department, the human resources department or someone who deals with membership at the organization you have chosen.

Send a succinct email explaining why this organization’s members or employees would benefit from listening to you, and include a few slides from your presentation. These items will confirm that you will be addressing issues that directly affect that group.

You might offer to provide snacks or a lunch to make it an even more pleasant experience. However, do not ask for compensation. Instead, your payoff is meeting new people who may become serious prospects.

This is the first article in a two-part series on making presentations. Next: Connecting with your audience.