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A step-by-step guide to craft a winning sales presentation outline 

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Anete Ezera February 08, 2023

Creating an effective sales presentation outline is crucial if you want to impress and persuade potential customers to purchase your products or services. Whether you’re part of a small startup or a large corporation, a well-crafted presentation can help you make a powerful and convincing case for your offering.

Crafting a successful sales presentation can be a challenging task. With the right knowledge and tools, you can create a winning presentation that communicates the value of your product or service while saving time in the process. Whether you’re giving a presentation in person or online, the key is to keep your audience engaged and interested in what you have to say. In this article, we’ll go over the basic structure of a sales presentation, offer tips for making as effective a sales presentation outline as possible, and provide some great sales presentation templates and examples you can use for inspiration.

The structure of a sales presentation

• Introduction

The introduction of your sales presentation should grab your audience’s attention. It also should give them a sense of what they can expect from the rest of the presentation. Start by introducing yourself and your company, and then provide a brief overview of the product or service you’re going to be discussing. This is also a good opportunity to establish a connection with your audience by finding common ground or addressing any pain points they may be facing.

• Problem Statement

After the introduction, it’s important to clearly define the problem or challenge that your product or service is designed to solve. This will help your audience understand the need for what you’re offering. It’ll also set the stage for the next section of the presentation.

Now that you’ve clearly defined the problem, it’s time to introduce your solution. This is where you’ll provide detailed information about your product or service, including its features, benefits, and any relevant case studies or testimonials. It’s also the time to address any potential objections or concerns that your audience may have.

• Demonstration

If possible, include a live demonstration or visual aids like images, videos, or diagrams in your presentation. This will help your audience see how your product or service works in action and will provide a better sense of its value.

• Call to Action

The final step of your sales presentation is to ask for the sale. This can be as simple as asking for the order or booking a follow-up meeting. Be sure to remind your audience of the benefits of your product or service, and make it easy for them to take the next step.

Sales presentation outline tips

When crafting your sales presentation outline, there are a few things you have to keep in mind to make the presentation a true success. Take note of the following sales presentation structure tips that’ll help you create a presentation that stands out and makes an impact. 

Start your presentation right

The first impression is everything. Grab your audience’s attention with a compelling start of the presentation – introduce a shocking statistic, tell a story, or display a capturing visual. This way you’ll catch people’s interest right from the start. 

Support your claims

Use data and customer testimonials to support your claims about the key problem or pain point your product or service tackles.

Make an impact with data visualizations

Add interactive visuals such as graphics and charts to display statistics and other data in an engaging manner. Use Prezi Design to create these visuals. Also, use dynamic visuals, images, and videos – that’ll make the presentation more engaging and interactive.

Have a well-defined structure

Make sure to use a clear and consistent structure throughout the presentation, with a clear beginning, middle, and end. You want your presentation to feel like a story that’s well-formatted and thought-out. 

Highlight your USP

Clearly define your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) and highlight it throughout the presentation. Emphasize your USP using bold statements, impactful data, and eye-catching visuals.

Use storytelling techniques

Make your presentation more engaging and memorable by applying storytelling techniques. Swap your slide-based presentation for a Prezi presentation that elevates the storytelling experience. The non-linear format allows you to jump between topics instead of going through slides. This way your presentation will feel more like a conversation rather than a speech, making it a much more engaging and interactive experience.

Practice to make it perfect

Practice your delivery and timing to ensure that you stay within the allotted time and keep the audience engaged. This will help you define your sales presentation structure as you’ll notice what presentation parts take longer to discuss and where you need to add more content or context.

End your sales presentation on a memorable note

End your presentation with a clear call to action that leaves a lasting impact. Apply visuals, like images, data visualizations, videos, and animations to catch people’s attention. Also, remember to include contact information so the audience can follow up with you.

By incorporating the tips outlined above, you’ll be well on your way to creating an effective sales presentation that’ll help you close more deals. Remember that each presentation is unique and needs to be tailored based on the audience and context.

Great sales presentation examples

Developing a powerful sales presentation from scratch can be challenging. Seeking inspiration from existing successful examples can assist in creating a presentation that’ll leave a lasting impression on your audience. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of great sales presentation examples that score in presentation design and structure. 

Sales presentation on communicating key business elements

This presentation examines how to better define the purpose, vision, mission, values, and key business metrics. It’s a great example of a visually appealing and engaging sales presentation structure that scores in presentation design. It’s easy to navigate the presentation as you can zoom in and out of topics. Also, the visualization of a table as topic placement creates a compelling layout. The overall structure of the presentation has a natural and logical flow, going from background information to an action-based plan. 

Salesforce presentation

If you’ve ever wondered how to turn your workforce into salesforce, this presentation provides a clear guide that makes it easy for you to dig deep into this topic. The visual format clearly represents the topic and captures attention with the highlighted title and topics. 

Also, when viewing this presentation, you can zoom in and out on topics, deciding what you want to read about first. The layout is simple and straightforward, leaving no room for confusion. The presentation is structured to introduce the topic first, then go to 3 main talking points, and finally lead to tips that leave the audience with an action plan in mind. The presentation design also helps to navigate and understand the content better.  

Sales kickoff presentation

What makes a good sales kickoff? This presentation provides a step-by-step guide to having a great sales kickoff using powerful visuals and a well-defined structure. 

The steps are visualized as American football icons and illustrate the order in which they should be discussed. This provides an engaging viewing experience with a clearly defined outline that navigates the audience throughout the presentation

Creating an effective sales presentation outline is crucial for impressing and persuading potential customers to purchase your products or services. Crafting an effective sales presentation involves understanding your audience’s needs and customizing the presentation to suit them. The basic structure of a sales presentation includes an introduction, problem statement, solution, demonstration, and call to action. To make your presentation a success, it is important to start with a compelling introduction, support your claims with data and customer testimonials, use data visualization to make an impact, and have a well-defined structure. By following the tips and using the examples provided in this article, you can create a winning sales presentation that effectively communicates the value of your idea, product, or service and keeps your audience engaged and interested.

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Powerpoint, Keynote, or Prezi? Picking the Right Platform

Hrideep barot.

• Presentation

Do you have an important presentation lined up in front of you? Then, my friend, you’ve got the most dreadful moment approaching you- deciding which presentation software you should use to craft your presentation.

From PowerPoint to Keynote to Prezi and every other presentation software in between, each holds its own share of strengths and limitations. While an old-school PowerPoint Presentation helps you craft a formal presentation for an office setting, Prezi and Keynote give you a platform to bring out that creativity hook in your presentations.

Choosing the right presentation software that fits your needs can be tricky if not done well. In this article, we shall dive into a comparative analysis of PowerPoint Vs Keynote Vs Prezi to help you make the right choice!

With the right set of tips, comparison charts, and a guide on how to use these platforms the right way, this article is your one-stop destination for knowing everything about this topic. So, let’s dive right into it!

• PowerPoint Vs Keynote Vs Prezi: The Best One for You?

From students to working professionals and everyone in between (quite literally!), we all are required to give presentations every once in a while. As Windows Users end up opting for PowerPoint, Mac Users go for Keynote as their first preference.

Undoubtedly, one thing that we blissfully ignore while choosing the right presentation application is ‘the purpose of our presentations’. So, the next time you need to craft a presentation, ask yourself, ‘What is the purpose of my presentation?’ and accordingly, select the platform based on the guidance provided in this guide.

To put the entire guide in a nutshell, here’s a quick table for you to refer-

Want to know more? Read the entire article to know which presentation platform is the best in terms of features like transitions, animations, and much more. Not just that, as a bonus tip, we’ve listed down the pros and cons of PowerPoint, Keynote, and Prezi towards the end, just for you!

Your Guide to Choosing the Right Presentation Platform

1. based on the need, 2. based on the features, 3. based on technological framework, 4. pros and cons of powerpoint, keynote, and prezi, 5. similarities between powerpoint, keynote, and prezi, in conclusion.

The dilemma of choosing the right presentation platform can force you to stand on a fence for a really long time. But, worry not! With the aid of these pointers, this process is gonna become much easier for you-

What’s your TRUE Purpose?

Hold on for a second, take a break from the stress, and ask yourself ‘What’s my purpose behind crafting this presentation?’

Figuring out the purpose for creating a given presentation will help you choose between PowerPoint Vs Keynote Vs Prezi.

A) Game-Changing FORMAL Corporate Presentations

If you find yourself associating with the below-mentioned terms in a presentation setting-

• Crucial Business Pitches
• Rich Presentation Layout
• User-friendly Interface

What to choose?: Then, Keynote gives you an edge over PowerPoint and Prezi for this purpose. Why, you ask?

While PowerPoint slightly lacks behind in providing its users with rich professional templates and advanced settings, Prezi goes a bit overboard with the creativity quotient with its zooming in and out option.

In such a situation, Keynote balances out the overall feel of your presentation and provides you with that needed sense of respite!

B) Basic FORMAL Presentations

Moving forward, are you a Proud Windows User ? And, find yourself in a situation where you need to craft a presentation carrying the following traits-

• Minimalist Professional Layout
• Basic Settings
• Text-heavy Design

What to choose?: If your answer is ‘YES’ to this question, Microsoft PowerPoint is the right fit for you with minimalistic templates to get you started.

C) Creative PERSUASIVE Pitches

Persuasion is an art in itself, it doesn’t come to people easily. One needs to work his/her way out to get the audiences’ thoughts aligned with the speaker’s ideas.

But what if I told you that just by changing the look and feel of your presentation you’re more likely to persuade your audience? Surprising, isn’t it?

Many times, we find ourselves in a setting wherein we need to pitch our ideas. Be it a start-up pitch or ideas to take the existing business forward. To be persuasive, one needs to incorporate the following elements to a presentation-

• Engaging Story
• Hook the maximum attention of the audience
• Aesthetic presentation design
• Appeal to the audiences’ sentiments

What to choose?: Prezi best suits your requirement for a creative and persuasive presentation with its attention grabbing templates, zoom in and out feature to compliment your story and rich typography to get across your key message.

Who’s your Audience?

In order for the audience to understand you, you must understand your audience FIRST!

Understanding your audience not only helps you craft a better presentation but also acts as a guiding light for you to choose the right presentation platform. While getting the audience, one must find answers to a few important questions. Here’s how-

A) What’s their average age?

If your audience members consist of school and college students , you’re required to bring out your creativity quotient in the best way you can to hook them up with your presentation. Given the wide range of artistic choices, Prezi acts as the best choice for you!

While addressing working-age professionals in a serious setting , choose either Keynote or PowerPoint because of its minimalistic and formal layout. But how do you even choose between these two? Reach a decision based on the purpose of your presentation as discussed in the section above.

On the other hand, when you are addressing working-age professionals in a creative setting , you need to narrate your story well and Prezi will help you do that the right way!

Addressing the old age population while sustaining their interest levels and maintaining a minimalist layout so that they don’t get lost can be a challenge in itself but worry not! Keynote will help you out here with its rich yet minimalistic templates to pique the interest here.

B) What’s the work culture they associate themselves with?

Preachers of Creativity? or Followers of Good-old Minimalist Set-up? Which of these two phrases best describes your audience members?

While a firm set-up in new-age era with young creative minds would always appreciate the aesthetics and creativity of a nicely-done Prezi Presentation, a slightly old firm of experienced adults would always get swayed by the charm of a good-old PowerPoint Presentation.

C) What’s their level of knowledge regarding the given topic?

Depending upon the level of familiarity of your audience with the subject in consideration, you need to choose between text-heavy slides and creative slides.

If your audience is at a beginner’s level, consider have elaborate text-heavy slides along with charts and graphs. As here, your primary goal would be to form a foundation of the topic in the audiences’ minds. In such a situation, PowerPoint is your best friend!

On the other hand, if your audience is at an advanced stage of learning, you can incorporate jargon and have creative slides with less focus upon explaining everything in great details from scratch. Here, you can go offer Prezi to level up your creativity game!

Still not sure about audience analysis? Worry not! We’ve written an in-depth article on ‘The Best Guide to Audience Analysis’ Check it out.

Content or Aesthetics? What matters the most?

Most of the presenters fail to ponder over this while crafting their presentations. This is where you can stand out!

Any presentation serves two purposes:

A) Present content to help demonstrate the topic better

If yours is a demonstrative one and you wish for the audience to focus more on the content, always remember to give the slides a minimalist look. Why, you ask?

Going overboard can distract the eye level of the audience and as a consequence, they won’t focus solely on the content. You need to direct the eyes of the audience towards the content with proper formatting.

So, we’d recommend you to use PowerPoint in such a case!

PRO Tip: Use the 10:20:30 technique the next time you give a demonstrative presentation to make your presentation even more engaging and fun to understand. Don’t know what it is? Check out this article to know about this secret hack!

B) An Aid to Complement your Talk and Story

Know how garlic bread complements your pizza party with friends? Well, in a similar fashion, sometimes we use presentation slides as garlic bread to aid our overall talk.

The main goal here is to capture that audience’s attention. Bring out that spark of creativity by incorporating images, videos, music, and essential clip arts to make your slides interesting. But, HOLD ON! Don’t just add any visuals, there can be copyright issues and you can get penalized. Here are Top 7 Resources for you to find FREE Visuals for your Presentation .

But whatever you do here, make sure that you maintain a consistent color scheme for your presentation. Have the layout, text, and visuals designed as per the color scheme. You may wonder why! The fact is while we all appreciate creativity, we look to build an association with the brand and the person. Color will help you build that connection!

Our recommendation here is to use Prezi with its enhances features to support a storytelling narrative!

Now that you have an understanding of ‘when you should use PowerPoint/Keynote/Prezi?’, let’s focus on a comparative analysis based solely on the features of each of these platforms.

In this modern world when we all are running short of time, most of us prefer using templates instead of crafting presentation slides from scratch.

This leads us to the question, ‘Which presentation software has the most aesthetic templates?’

Let’s have a glimpse of the template gallery of each of these presentation platforms.

Microsoft PowerPoint

Apple Keynote

Now that you are familiar with the look and feel of each of the template sections, here’s a table for you to refer to make the right choice-

Transitions and Animations

Just simply moving from one slide to another doesn’t do anyone any good.

Transitions and animations act as essential pre-requisites to help run your slides smoothly without making it boring.

Professional or Peppy? How do you want your transitions and animations to look?

In your mind, prepare a mind map as to how you want your presentation slides to flow and then, refer to this table to choose the right presentation platform-

Formatting and Design Elements

Whether you are designing your slides from scratch or formatting the existing array of elements, the control over formatting and design elements plays a huge role in deciding how much creative and innovation freedom you have.

Given the immense similarities, choosing between PowerPoint, Keynote and Prezi is a tiresome task in itself!

While the basic features remain the same, advancement and addition of certain options act as a game-changer. Here’s how-

Creation of Shapes and Icons

The use of shapes and icons in presentation slides adds value to the viewing experience of your audience.

So, it’s absolutely essential for you to choose the right shapes with right formatting and right placement.

Without any delay, let’s see who wins this round? PowerPoint, Keynote or Prezi?

Cost and Accessibility

In this fiery battle between PowerPoint and Keynote, one of the major hindrance is the accessibility.

While Keynote is exclusive to only iOS users, Microsoft PowerPoint is available to all the users in the browser view.

Moving forward, let’s draw a comparative analysis among PowerPoint, Keynote and Prezi on the basis of their price and accessibility to users.

Admit it or not, a person’s comfort level with technology plays a huge role in choosing of any platform.

The presentation platforms with simple user interface tend to attract more users as platforms with slightly complex interface tend to lose out on its users.

Having mentioned that, in this section, we shall focus on choosing the right presentation platform solely based on the technological framework.

Operating System Limitations

Accessibility to Keynote is a common issue that most of the users face as it is only available on iOS devices.

To the relief of the users, PowerPoint’s browser version and Prezi are not limited to any such restrictions and can be put to use by any user in this world.

User Interface

The user interface with the presentation platform either motivates or pushes away its users to work on it.

A minimalist layout with a clear bifurcation of features motivates its users to work on it. The best examples in point are PowerPoint and Keynote. These two platforms stand to be one of the most popular presentation sites.

On the other hand, Prezi follows a unique and complex interface which makes it a bit difficult for the users to adapt. As a result, most of the users dread using the same.

Just like a coin, even the presentation platforms have two faces: the advantages and disadvantages.

To make an aware decision, one must be aware of pros and cons of each of these presentation platforms (PowerPoint, Keynote, Prezi).

So, without any further delay, let’s dive right into it!

Let’s say, you spent your entire day working on crafting your office presentation. As you get closer to making the final changes, the presentation platform gets crashed and all of your changes get lost.

Tell us, what would you do if you find yourself in such a situation?

Most of us would search for an alternate platform with similar features. Now, we’re not appealing to the pessimistic side of your brain but it’s always preferred to keep your backup options ready-

So, without any further delay, let’s discuss the similarities between PowerPoint, Keynote and Prezi.

Similarities between PowerPoint and Keynote

If we were to draw an analogy between PowerPoint and Keynote, we would like to refer them as a pair of identical twins. You know why?

Just like any pair of identical twins, PowerPoint and Keynote look similar in terms of their workspace with a range of similarities between its tool bars and menu bars but when you start to navigate between each of these features, you get to see how different they are in terms of their features.

Thus, to list a few similarities-

• The workspace window of both of these platforms share a similar look and feel with closely-related tool bars and menu bars
• Template designs of PowerPoint and Keynote look amazingly similar in terms of its minimalist aesthetic design
• The save and export procedure for both of these presentation platforms are distinctly similar too.
• Animations and transitions for each of these presentation software hold the same aesthetic feel to it

Similarities Between PowerPoint and Prezi

Remember how difficult it is to find a needle in a haystack?

Well, my friend, so is the case with PowerPoint and Prezi!

The only similarity one can draw between both of these platforms is of the typography. Other than that, no relevant similarities can be drawn as PowerPoint and Prezi stick to entirely distinct code of creative freedom.

Similarities Between Keynote and Prezi

When one bears in mind the creativity and persuasive quotient of the work presentations, one can draw the following similarities between Keynote and Prezi-

• Greater scope for slide design innovation
• Multiple collaborations are comparatively easier in comparison to PowerPoint
• A range of rich and classy-looking template designs are available
• Aesthetic library of cliparts, shapes and icons are available at the disposal of the user

In this article, we dived into an in-depth comparative analysis of PowerPoint Vs Keynote Vs Prezi on the basis of

• the requirements of a presenter
• the features of the platforms
• the presenter’s comfort level with technology

We hope that this article helps you reach a concrete decision while choosing the right presentation platform for yourself!

But what after you are done presenting? How do you evaluate your own presentation to get better? Here’s an article that we’ve written that will help you do just that!

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5 Better Alternatives To Google Slides

I f you're looking to create a compelling presentation to showcase a new idea or persuade others, Google Slides may be the first option that comes to mind. But with few built-in templates, basic themes, and a limited graphics collection, you'll likely have a hard time making your presentation stand out against others.

If you want to make your presentation truly stand out, there are several alternatives to Google Slides that offer extra perks and features to give your presentations an edge. While Google focuses on integrating Slides with its other work-based apps like Sheets and Docs, other presentation apps focus more on design elements, transitions, and themes to help you convey your brand or personal image throughout your presentation.

We've tested these Google Slide alternatives to give you an idea of other available options to deliver impactful presentations. If you're looking for a way to make boring information more fun and engaging, here are the best presentation apps to replace Google Slides.

Read more: Major Graphics Card Brands Ranked Worst To Best

Microsoft PowerPoint

There's a reason so many businesses around the globe use Microsoft PowerPoint. Building its reputation as the go-to option for delivering high-quality presentations, the software generated $100 million in annual sales only three years after its initial release in 1990.

Microsoft PowerPoint may be Google Slides' largest competitor, but there are plenty of unique features that can add an extra flourish to your slides. PowerPoint excels in its impressive library of custom animations and slide transitions, which are fairly limited in Google Slides. Another unique feature is its AI-powered Designer tool. This provides professional design schemes that mirror the words used in your slides. For instance, if your title slide is named "Basketball Team 2024," Designer will automatically suggest pictures and slide layouts associated with basketball.

As PowerPoint has been in development longer than Google Slides, it naturally offers more nuanced features if you're looking for something specific. For example, you can save individual slides as an image file (using .png or .jpeg formats) or as a separate presentation file. There's also a large library of free PowerPoint templates designed to speed up your workflow. Moreover, PowerPoint integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Teams with its PowerPoint Live function, allowing you to easily share your presentation with your co-workers.

Prezi offers an innovative approach to showing presentations with its unique canvas feature. Unlike traditional presentation software, Prezi lets you zoom and pan around a flexible canvas. The canvas may feel distant to something of a presentation program, but there is still some linear order provided thanks to the Timeline view.

Finding ways to visualize data is one of the biggest challenges when dealing with presentation software. Prezi resolves this struggle with the help of its Story Blocks: a series of infographics available in multiple designs to visually represent data. You can easily edit infographics and even add animations to individual shapes. This can help add a story to your presentation and help you emphasize key points.

To further enhance your presentation visually, Prezi offers several topic path settings, which let you change how Prezi transitions from one topic to another. These options include subtopics, which are super helpful for breaking large chunks of information down. If you're looking for a unique, modern approach to presenting information, Prezi is a top pick.

If you're looking to create a professional presentation to convince potential clients about your business idea, Slidebean is a popular choice among professionals with plenty of customization options. One of the issues with Google Slides is its fairly limited template library, which is filled mostly with basic designs. Slidebean offers a better alternative with a broad selection of innovative templates split into categories for convenience.

The app's user interface is easy to navigate so that you can create slides in less time. Each slide has a dedicated Design and Outline tab. You can use the Outline tab to quickly edit the information on each slide without being distracted by all the visual elements. Another productivity-enhancing feature is the ability to generate a presentation theme from your website. Simply enter your URL, and Slidebean will automatically apply the theming to your presentation.

Slidebean is another presentation app to take advantage of AI. Using the Auto-Design feature, you can generate recommended slide layouts based on your existing content. It also features AI text suggestions designed to suit different industries. Overall, Slidebean offers a quicker, more efficient method for creating stunning presentations compared to Google Slides.

Canva is a well-known app among graphic designers, but it's also capable of making stunning presentations. The app also has mobile editions, so you can easily create and edit presentations on your Android phone , iOS device, or tablet. As long as you have an internet connection, you can modify your designs wherever you are.

To get started, head to Canva's online presentation maker . Canva offers a vast range of templates categorized by topic, which easily surpasses the simple templates in Google Slides . While some of the templates are only available to Canva Pro members, there is an ample amount of free templates to help you get started. You'll also find a large selection of stock photos, shapes, and illustrations to create beautiful customized slides.

Because Canva is built for graphic designers, you can access several features to give your presentation consistent theming. These include color palettes, font sets, and even a brand kit that allows you to add your company's fonts (available to Pro members only). One time-saving feature is Canva's Uploads tab, which lets you access recently uploaded media files. This offers a convenient way to copy content between different presentations.

Visme is a powerful visual design tool able to create videos, infographics, and presentations. One of the perks of using Visme is the company's free educational content, which offers advice on how to create impactful content to boost your brand. After signing up, the company also asks whether you're using Visme for your business, education purposes, or personal use to offer personalized tips.

In terms of charts and graphs, Visme offers some of the most impressive features we've seen from a presentation app, so you can effortlessly convey important statistics. From the Data tab, you can access dozens of graph styles to visually represent your data. Then, simply double-click a chart inside your presentation to edit the values instantly in a simple table format.

Another area that Visme excels in is collaboration. You can either generate a link to publish your presentation on the web or share your presentation privately with others. For each team member, you can choose who can view, edit, and comment slides for a seamless workflow. There's also a Slack integration that lets you receive messages whenever changes are made to your presentation. Visme is free for all users, with limited features available in its premium plans.

Read the original article on SlashGear .

Victoria Police presentation on youth crime criticised for 'racist' focus on 'African gangs'

The first email landed just after 1:30pm on the final day of May last year.

"I want to provide the feedback that the language, tone, and imagery of the second presentation this morning was very racist," it read.

"I assume formal feedback will be provided to Victoria Police but wanted to flag my concerns."

The internal email from Victoria's justice department was about a recent presentation by police, which had been pitched as a "really impactful" look at the youth gang landscape in Victoria. In the aftermath, attendees complained they should have been warned beforehand they would see "someone get stabbed to death".

Warning: This story contains references to racial slurs.

The presentation followed a three-day conference on gangs which had attracted law enforcement officers from America, England, Italy and New Zealand.

Dozens of public servants from the Department of Justice and some from the premier's department had been invited to take part.

The two-and-a-half-hour session started well, with police staff outlining details of the state's 47 youth gangs and 607 known members and their approach to disrupting them.

But the second half left staff "disturbed", "upset" and "extremely affected", according to more than 200 pages of internal departmental documents obtained by the ABC under Freedom of Information laws.

Police later apologised for the presentation, but denied it was racist.

'Very graphic and violent footage'

The day before the presentation, an email went out warning that Victoria Police had advised there would be "graphic footage that some attendees may find confronting" and that people might want to "excuse themselves" if they found it distressing.

In the aftermath, multiple staff said the warning was insufficient for what was shown.

One staff member said to put it "bluntly", police "should have said, 'We are about to show you someone get stabbed to death.'"

Victoria Police told the ABC its warnings gave people "ample opportunity" to leave the presentation.

Internal emails from the justice department said "explicit videos and even CCTV footage of a murder was shown", along with "very graphic and violent footage" from a "range of serious violent incidents including stabbings and still images involving young people and adults allegedly involved both as victims and perpetrators".

On eight separate occasions in the documents, the word "gratuitous" is used to describe the graphic content shown.

In one person's handwritten notes from the session, they questioned why they were watching a murder. The attendee wrote: "Unclear purpose of showing [this] video is." 

Among the audience were people who knew both victims and offenders.

"Some of those in attendance are also members of our vibrant African and South Sudanese Australian communities, including those who personally knew the victims of serious assaults and who were shown video in the presentation of these assaults," one email said.

While several people acknowledged the "traumatic experiences" officers faced, and the need for policy makers to "understand the practical and operational realities" of frontline police work, they didn't think the presentation helped achieve this.

One person commented they were "disturbed" by "the casual way the violent imagery was discussed" and another said the commentary was "upsetting … flippant, and racist in several points."

It is unclear how many of the attendees complained based on the consolidated feedback provided in the emails, but the secretary of the department described it as "significant staff concerns".

Victoria Police says it received "a combination of both positive and negative feedback" following the presentation.

'Utterance of racial slurs' and a focus on 'African gangs'

It wasn't just the graphic videos and photos that left people "disturbed".

Department emails said the second presentation "focused almost exclusively on offending by African background Australian young people and adults", without "any explanation or evidence as to why".

Attendees contrasted that with the first presentation delivered during the same session, which also referenced Caucasian and Afghan-Australian offenders.

One attendee recalled a slide in the second presentation that featured pictures of two young men of African background handcuffed on the ground.

"The presenter went on to say that one of these men had been found to not be involved in the incident at all," they said. "I question why the image of this person's face was kept in the presentation."

Multiple attendees complained that the presenter referred to a 13-year-old as an "offender for life", laughed "inappropriately" when identifying people in prison, made comments "trivialising family violence", and used the 'n-word'.

The slur was reportedly used by the presenter when reading a social media post that wasn't on the screen, "meaning there was a deliberate decision to use that word which would otherwise not have been seen/heard by the audience," one attendee said.

One staff member's notes of the presentation said, "'n-word'… completely gratuitous" and the photos were "all POC [people of colour], no blurred faces" including one of a "bloody wound to face" and one of someone "in a pool of blood".

Police said, "with hindsight" it accepted that "reading out social media posts from gang members containing certain words may have been offensive to a number of individuals and this was not our intent."

Members of the department's South Sudanese Australian Youth Justice Expert Working Group, who were at the session, said the "utterance of racial slurs" needed to be denounced and that the focus on people of African background should be "called out as racist or, at the very least, noted that it was received as racism by many members of the audience".

The Department of Justice refused a request from the ABC to speak with the chair of the working group.

That the presentation was "solely focused on African gangs" was raised during the session, according to one person who emailed their managers.

"One person posted a question asking whether 'youth gangs is an African young people issue only or was this presentation designed to focus on one group.' This question was not answered," another attendee wrote. 

Another person's notes of the session disagreed, they said the presenter acknowledged white gang members, but said "memberships of non-Caucasians is over represented".

A third person said it "bordered on racial profiling" and lamented a lack of awareness "that ethnicity is not the true common denominator".

"We expect that the longer‐term corporate memory of Victoria Police provides ample evidence that the common denominator is poverty, marginalisation, pre‐existing trauma and/or cultural barriers," they wrote. "Accordingly, it is not a surprise that offending may be temporarily elevated amongst ethnic groups associated with recent mass migration trends."

Victoria's Crime Statistics Agency data shows the number of offenders under 24 who were born in Sudan and South Sudan has fallen in the past few years, from 508 in 2020/21 to 258 in 2022/23.

That's compared to the 13,973 youth offenders who were born in Australia.

However, nearly 18 per cent of youth offenders did not have their country of birth recorded, and data on the  ethnic identity of known offenders is not available .

The new chair of the South Sudanese Community Association in Victoria, Andrew Ohide, said he could not comment on the presentation but that it was difficult for young people who were unfairly judged by police or members of the public when they were with a group of friends, saying it was "rubbish" and "not helpful".

"For a community to be safe, we need to look to each other and see all of us as Australian," he said.

He said if people did the wrong thing, he expected police to act, but he worried the public and the media often focused on offenders from an African background.

"When they're [involved in] positive things, you call them Australian, but when they cause any minor problem, now — it's South Sudanese," he said.

Acting chief commissioner apologised to department secretary, documents show

Just after 6pm on the day of the presentation, senior justice department staff were emailed a summary of concerns and complaints regarding the presentation.

One deputy secretary replied that it was "disappointing and shocking".

Another wrote: "It seems a massive backward step by VicPol. A response is clearly warranted."

They emailed staff who had attended, "to acknowledge and apologise for the distress, anger, and disappointment that the presentation has caused" and tell them the material "did not reflect [the department's] values".

Two days after the presentation, justice department secretary Kate Houghton and then-acting police chief commissioner Neil Paterson had "a few conversations".

If the secretary stuck to the speaking notes prepared for the call, she raised concerns about gratuitous use of graphic and violent footage, unacceptable language and commentary, racial profiling, and the potential misuse of CCTV footage from correctional facilities.

A follow-up email went out to attendees that afternoon saying: "The Acting Chief Commissioner has apologised and confirmed that action will be taken to address the concerns raised. The Secretary would like to thank you for having the courage to raise that this presentation was not acceptable."

Then-acting chief commissioner Neil Paterson also made an apology to a member of the South Sudanese Australian Youth Justice Expertise Working Group, which one working group member described as "both sincere and assuring".

"He apologised on behalf of the VicPol and asked me to convey his apologies to the team," the group member wrote in an email, adding Mr Paterson "said it was inappropriate to give such a graphic presentation" particularly "to those who might know some of those young [people]".

Victoria Police declined an interview with the ABC, but did respond to a series of questions in a statement.

"While everything presented depicted the realities of the job and the youth gang situation, we understand the content may have been confronting for people who do not work in a policing environment," it said.

It said the footage was not "shown to be gratuitous but rather to demonstrate the factual reality" of what "police are confronting on a regular basis".

The statement pushed back against allegations of racism or racial profiling.

"To be clear, there was no racism in the presentation, nor did Victoria Police employees focus on any specific ethnicity or group but rather criminal offending examples."

The Chair of Criminology at the University of Melbourne, Associate Professor Diana Johns said she wasn't surprised to hear about the presentation and the concerns that were raised.

"These are not the everyday things that most of us live with, they're exceptions.

"Yet, the world of policing, very often there's a focus on violence and a normalisation of the things that police see each day, in their working day, that normalises both the violence and the violent response to violence," she said.

She claimed "every city in the world, policing is racialised" and said the community needed to listen to the experiences of young people of colour.

"Police accountability is absolutely critical — police accountability in terms of having independent oversight, in terms of having mechanisms for police to be held accountable when they do the wrong thing, but also to be accountable to their communities they're serving."

Attendees question motivation for presentation

The documents obtained by the ABC suggest some attendees interpreted the presentation as a "scare campaign" attempting to dissuade department staff from supporting a rise in the minimum age of criminal responsibility or bail reforms.

One person was typing notes while the police session was underway.

They started out detailed, but during the second presentation they had largely descended into a serious of questions, including: "What do these phrases mean?", "Rubbish family violence thing?", "Know your audience?", "Bit propaganda-ish?".

The notes finish with one final thought: "What is the purpose of your presooooo"

Another attendee said "there was no constructive discussion of what tools/levers police were lacking other than that we shouldn't be making their lives harder by changing bail, raising the age etc".

The invitation to the session was targeted at people working on raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility, which is currently 10, but is set to increase to 12 by the end of the year.

Victoria Police said the presentation was requested by some Justice Department staff who had attended the international gangs conference.

"The purpose was to give employees an insight into the youth gang environment, including some of the challenges police face, impacts on community, and the considerable efforts being made to manage, engage and divert these young people before they escalate into more serious offending," its statement said.

You can read a letter of complaint to the Acting Chief Commissioner below:

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