Presenting to one person or to a small group is another form of interpersonal relationship. When personal relationships disintegrate, you frequently hear that the ultimate cause was “He/she didn’t understand me.” And when relationships flourish, you hear, with almost equal frequency, a version of “he/she really ‘gets’ me.” What applies in marriage applies in presenting. When clients feel that you “get” them, they want to “marry” you. That sense of understanding frequently comes into play during the give and take conversation around your material. Here’s a creative way to demonstrate that you are tracking with them.
I have little use for most pop culture television, but I admit an addiction to the 2013 Emmy award winning show “The Voice.” Its success formula combines talent, positive energy, and appealing personalities, which draws me (and obviously millions of others) back to the show each week–which leads to the point of this week’s blog. After sitting through two days of presentations from senior executives at Microsoft, Google, Yahoo! and others at a digital media conference this week, I would suggest that there is a three part formula for winning presentations as well.
Like mining for gold, it is often difficult to find nuggets of fresh information that are worth picking up. I found one such nugget I would like to share with you that nails a problem we all face.
Ask sales managers what they look for in a salesperson and inevitably one of the top three responses is some variation of enthusiasm, passion, or energy. But can enthusiasm be a liability?