PowerPoint is there to provide visual cues to those that learn best visually. Not
to be used as a ‘leave behind’.
A pitch presentation is like an advert; a bold proposition that promises clear benefit.
Then you have to show them where to find it!
© Paul Dowding Training 2010
Sticky. is part of the Paul Dowding Training Group
Given the choice more people would prefer to undergo an operation than would prefer
to present to a large audience!
Clients are often more anxious about pitch meetings than the agency staff that are
pitching to them!
People remember what they felt like rather than what words were said or facts were
given...
Agencies don’t win pitches because they are ‘right’ they win pitches because they
believe they are right.
After three pitches in a row no one remembers what was said but they remember a strong
impression and a strong idea.
Why revisit the brief at the pitch. They know it, you know it (you should if you’ve
been in contact and checked every aspect of it before the pitch...)
If you realise that you are there to be ‘chosen’ not to be the ‘best’ then you will
most likely think about what the client wants to hear not just what you want to tell
them...
Talking to yourself before a pitch is the most effective way to overcome nerves and
anxiety...
Investing in yourself and your career...
Self Awareness... Buzzwords?
24th January 12
The question who am I? Is universal. It is also something of a cliche, yet how well do you know yourself really? We knowour physical being, (how we feel physically) and we know how we feel emotionally (most of the time) so what is self awareness and what has it got to do with your career? Apparently a great deal...
So lets begin with some questions: What impact do you have on others? In fact, write down the names of three significant people (significant in the sense that they are significant in your career - boss, client , colleague etc.). Now write down what impact they would say you have on them. Difficult? Of course it is. We know what impact we would like to think we have (you might have gone that way thinking about the question when we first posed it) but the impact we would like to make may be very different from the impact we actually make. Are we confident and competent or arrogant and cocky? Quiet and thoughtful or ineffective and passive? There are always multiple versions of reality, multiple perspectives depending on where you are looking from and the glass through which you look. Clients look from a place that we really need to understand if we are to gain their respect and been seen as a professional.
Perception is central to your relationships with clients. They are only in contact with you a very small percentage of the time that you are at work so they are relying on snapshots to make their decisions and assessments of you. Also we need to remember that people often recall how they felt more readily than remembering what was said. A sure fire indicator of how well we know ourselves and the impact we have on others is who we ask for such feedback.... no-one? that would be because of what? Not wanting to hear the answer...
The only way that any of us can develop a real sense of self and in particular our impact on others is to undertake a range of different 'calibrations'. In the first instant external calibrations and then slowly developing the skill of internal calibration as we become more confident in our assessment and knowledge of our self.
First calibration: ask the person most likely to give you straightforward, brutally honest and undiluted feedback, and listen to them harder than you have ever listened. What are you listening for? You are listening for the moments when they move in and out of giving you feedback for you and giving you feedback for themselves. Everyone has agendas and they spill into the
things we say and the way we interact with others. If you have a very down to earth, honest friend who is strong enough to give you very direct, no nonsense (and no holds barred) feedback then you are indeed fortunate. The next piece is to assess the feedback and identify what you believe to be true and what you believe to be about their stuff or their agenda interfering. At the same time you need to recognise when you too start filtering the feedback messages. What does filtering mean? When you start dismissing or watering down feedback that you don’t want to be true.
The above takes a lot of practice and a lot of careful consideration without allowing your emotions get in the way of a clear view of self. Another way to develop greater understanding of self is to practice noticing your emotional state throughout your working day or at home. Notice when things change. Notice when you get flustered, notice when you get angry, notice when you get impatient and recognise that these emotions are impacting on the way you speak to others and the overall impact you have on them . Noticing your emotional states will lead to you being able to make better choices about whether you act on the emotion or let it go and that is the start of emotional intelligence.
What impact do you have on clients? We've no idea but you will if you stop long enough to consider it.
Sticky. 2011
