The YouBlog

Dashing Expectations

DINING OUT AND PRESENTATIONS are both multi-sensory experiences. The taste of the food is not all that matters, and the content of your presentation is not all that affects an audience. Here’s today’s parable . . .
        We went out last night, planning to have a modest dinner. We ended up at a place that sure looked modest. That’s when the Good News/Bad News experience started. We were seated at modest tables in the loft area, just under the painted duct work. The menu I got was frayed and had big stains on it (Was this place too modest?), but the descriptions of the menu items sounded fantastic — and the prices were anything but modest. I ordered artichoke soup and some crepe thingy with chicken, goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, and an amazing sauce.
        But the silverware looked and felt like rejects from a soup kitchen. One of the forks I got was bent almost in half. And the feel of those wretched utensils on my lips took a lot of the enjoyment out of those wonderful tastes. Then, someone in the kitchen burned something badly, and the fumes that assaulted us killed any lingering tastes. For all the great flavor of our food, it was a horrible dining experience.
        Similar things happen millions of times a day, in presentations all across the globe. Great content is hampered or killed because the presenter doesn’t take the time or effort to make sure their message is tailored to the needs and interests of his or her audience. Like the server who gave me the warped fork or the cook who sent acrid fumes across the restaurant, too many presenters keep trotting out the same old presentation, loaded with bullets and obtuse graphics. They care more about getting their job done, instead of making their audience’s experience the best it can be.
        You know, every presenter I’ve worked with has had a good story to tell. Most of them just don’t know how to bring it out, or have taken the easy way out by talking all about “Me”.
        Don’t be one of them. Don’t look for the most expedient way to get your slides done. Focus on what your audience needs, then make your story as clear and compelling as possible. Otherwise, you may just scorch your opportunity.

What Does Your Value Proposition Look Like?

GRAPHICS CAN REALLY HELP YOU express your message — provided they are appropriate. But they work against you if the audience or reader is left going “Huh?” And I felt a lot of Huh?s recently when I did a search on Value Proposition images.
        Yikes! What were these people thinking? A graphic should help explain something that otherwise can’t be easily understood, but the majority of these are just visual noise. Worse, most are all about “Me”, which is NOT what a good value proposition is about.
        The “value” in Value Proposition isn’t what you offer, it’s what your customer or client or prospect can gain. In its purest form, a Value Proposition is about them, not you. It’s about what they can achieve.
        A Value Proposition isn’t a thing, it’s an experience or a result or a feeling — something you can’t easily capture in visual form. When you try to draw or design it, you’re putting boundaries on it. Where it should be framed is in the minds of the people you’re trying to influence.
        Painting a mental picture of how your offerings can help them is great. Give them a compelling idea of how their business can be improved and they’ll fill in all kinds of detail that is relevant to them. And that will have much more power than anything you can show.
        (Just don’t use bullet points to paint that picture . . .)

Monkey See, Monkey Do?

HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO to make a sale or influence someone? If your prospect or colleague stood on his head or broke into song, would you join in? Sounds extreme, I know, but “Science” says that might be the winning strategy.
        I’m on this riff after reading an item in the New York Times a few days ago. In an article titled “You Remind Me of Me”, author Benedict Carey cites a number of scientific studies by social psychologists that suggest mirroring another person’s actions and inflections will help them feel more positively disposed toward you, and thus toward whatever you are proposing.
        This isn’t exactly new. Lots of advice on selling, and even NeuroLinguistic Programming (NLP), recommends mirroring those we’re trying to influence. What these new studies show, however, is that timing is a critical element. You can’t just copy what someone else does, you need to delay — by a couple of seconds — before copying a movement or intonation.
        The article is worth reading, and you’ll definitely pick up some clues about how to use this, ahh, tactic more effectively. And I’m not against adapting to someone else’s rhythm or pace — that’s just being attuned to where they are at a given moment.

The Gotcha Moment?
What is suggested in the article is not fool-proof, however. First, if you’re found out by your target, you’re hosed. Any semblance of a relationship or affiliation you might have been building will be gone.
        But even if you’re really good and really subtle at it, is this the best use of your energies and talents? I think not. If you’re watching your subject and matching, ever so imperfectly, their mannerisms and inflections, then you’re not fully engaged in the conversation. It becomes a game of tactics designed to get them to a single “Yes”, rather than building a relationship that will last and be mutually beneficial for both. This kind of subterfuge reminds me of the “Evil Salesman” I wrote about in Another Black Eye?

My recommendation: just be yourself and have an honest, authentic conversation. If you’re speaking from the heart, and you have something they’ll find compelling, then everything else falls away.

The Blindfold Test

IF YOU WERE BLINDFOLDED, how much of your presentation or sales pitch could you deliver? I’m not suggesting you actually do it that way (that’s bizarre even by my standards), but it’s an incredibly effective way to gauge how well you know your material — and where the problem spots may lurk.
        You don’t even need a blindfold; just close your eyes and try it. Stand up if you like, particularly if you’re prepping for a presentation. Once you get past the novelty (and discomfort?) of going through it without engaging your eyes, your efforts are likely to match your probable effectiveness.

        Does it flow smoothly, start to finish? Then you’ll probably sail through it.

        Do you hit snags or forget what’s coming next? That’s where you’re likely to stumble in the “live” version of your presentation or pitch. When that happens, you’ll rely on the text on your slides or the print-out of your script to carry you through — neither of which makes for a compelling connection with your audience or prospect.

        Do you need graphs and charts to be able to tell your story? Then maybe your story is too complex. (I’m not saying graphics are bad, but too often they’re used as a crutch. And overly complex graphics ARE bad — for your audience and your results.)

Give it a try. Closing your eyes could reveal how effective you really are.