Recently, I was asked to coach the President of a 100,000 person company with a long history for his presentation. What I noticed was how difficult it was to do a good job of promoting the firm, without it sounding like a blatant commercial for the business. Many of us in business are asked to give public presentations and these are excellent opportunities to promote our personal brands, professional brands and company brands. The only problem is that as soon as it sounds like propaganda, the audience just us switches off.
Here are some ideas on how to bridge this tricky divide.
1. Tell Stories
Get straight into a story about the firm and keep sprinkling stories throughout the talk. In the case of the President, he mentioned that the firm was a venture business when it started decades ago with just three people. They came up with a breakthrough technology for the audio business which made this firm a household name and we all owned their products.
He could have done a lot more with this. Why were there three people at the start? Who were they? What did they do to build the business? In particular, we needed to hear about their struggles, which set up the basis for their ultimate triumph. There is bound to be a tremendous amount of drama hidden away in there. We are all trained to absorb drama, which is why we have favourite movies and TV series. The drama remained well hidden by the President, so the opportunity went begging.
Their breakthrough technology was overtaken by new technologies and they had to exit that business. Here is a treasure trove of stories about how they made that pivot, all the problems they faced, and the struggles they went through. Nothing from the President about these details, but this is the type of drama we thirst to hear more about.
2. Provide Insights
As the audience, we are seeking insights and guidance on what to do and not to do. We are seeking hints, lessons and direction on what we can do with our own firms for when we face the same struggles. Yes, the details about what happened in the stories are great, but we have to move things up to a higher level and get into the take aways for the audience. Tell us what we can learn from what they did wrong. Inform us of the pitfalls to be careful about. Warn us about the hidden dangers lurking in the shadows which could bring us down.
3. Provide Valuable Data
Not all data can be shared publicly, but wherever possible, expose the numbers, tell us about the key data and results from the actions which were taken. Even if we can only talk in terms of percentages, rather than raw numbers, these are great indicators for the audience to latch on to in order to add colour to the story.
“Data needs stories and stories need data” is a good mantra to work off. Usually at business talks, all we get is the data and no stories or insights. This tells us that there is a tremendous opportunity to build our brand, because it is so easy to differentiate ourselves from all the other boring, mediocre, unprofessional business speakers.
4. Engage Through Questions
Rhetorical questions are a gold mine for speakers. They allow us to really engage the audience and get them on our wavelength. If their concentration is flagging or they are distracted by their phone, tossing out a question to the assembled masses is a great way to get them back and focused on us. The power comes from the fact that nobody, except the speaker, knows this is a rhetorical question which the audience won’t have to answer and only the speaker will provide the response. That tension acts like an attention magnet for us to grab our listeners and hold them tight
5. Third Party Endorsements
Saying we are great doesn’t fly, but quoting a reputable third party who says we are great is well accepted. We think our Dale Carnegie Course is terrific and if we say that, for the audience, this is a “so what” moment. Instead, we can say, and this is true, that Warren Buffett thinks the course is terrific and it changed his life. This is gold. Warren is the most impressive investor of all time and he is well respected. His endorsement carries a lot of credibility. Who can you find as a third party authority figure to add lustre to your firm’s story?
We should promote our companies when we have the chance to speak in public, but in a ninja way, which doesn’t provoke scepticism or disdain. The line is clear about this and we have to navigate that divide with great caution and be adept at making the most of the opportunity without blowing the chance. Remember, people don’t recall what you said in detail, but they do recall you. Always start your talk design with how you want to be remembered by the audience and go forward from there. The upside is unbounded because the competition is so lacking and unremarkable. Our time to stand tall and shine.
