Monday, August 6, 2012
COMMUNICATE PAST THE GATE KEEPER
Wouldn't it be great if when we called a business person, we would actually get him/her on the other end of the line?
The reality is that nine times out of ten, we end up talking to the person's voice mail or the administrative assistant. Decision-makers are busy and want their phone systems and administrative people to run interference for them.
Getting past these "gatekeepers" can be tough. Whether talking to voice mail or to the assistant, your challenge is to make yourself important enough to gain access or receive consideration. The following tips should help you to open the gates:
First and foremost, make the gatekeepers your ally. Show them respect. Be overtly friendly and sincere. Be natural and warm as a way to distinguish your self from the many other callers hoping to gain connection with the decision-maker.
Consider the gatekeepers as essential to your knowledge base, not as your enemy. They can help you learn more about key executives, divisions or the company's initiatives. Do everything you can to engage them in conversation so that you can ultimately ask them some questions.
Never try to pretend you are an old friend or family member of the decision-maker because deceptive practices rarely work. If the administrative assistant says the executive is tied up and offers you voice mail, always ask when you might get ten minutes of the executive's time. Typically, this statement will prompt a conversation about why you are calling. If you have done your homework on the company and have identified some of their problems, you should be able to gain consideration with a strong value proposition. You should also be able to ask the person additional questions about your perceptions. The more you know, the more you can fine-tune your communication and sales approach, but be cautious of making people feel like you are interrogating them.
If the administrative assistant still refers you to voice mail, be polite and thank the person.
If this is a repeat call to the executive and the assistant again suggests voice mail, tell the person that you are interested in sending some information to solve a specific / common business challenge. When possible, share a quick testimony of how a similar company benefited by using your business product(s) and service(s).
A simple template to share a quick testimony is:
INCIDENT: What was the specific challenge similar company experienced
POINT: What was the key benefit / outcome having engaged your business product(s) and service(s)
Then, ask a few more questions about the organization. You might also ask if it is possible to have the executive's e-mail address. If the assistant says to send information to his/ her attention, pay close attention to how the company's e-mail system is structured. You may be able to decipher the executive's address from the information the assistant has given you
RELEVANCE: How is your key benefit / outcome relevant to the decision maker you ate trying to connect with
If you are returning a call, be sure to state it. The gatekeeper could give your message priority.
If the gatekeeper does give you valuable information, consider sending the person a small token of your gratitude. If you do so, the next time you call, you may get even more consideration.
If you get the executive's e-mail address and send the person information, ask for verification that it has been received. Place a call to the person as soon as you see the message has been received.
Decision-makers are often at their desks by 8.00 a.m. and rarely leave before 6:00 p.m. so that is a good time for the executive to answer his/her own phone. The lunch hour is another possibility.
Continually, fine-tune your elevator pitch and practice it out loud so that when you do leave a voice mail, it is listener-focused. Also, make sure your message is very concise, under 60 seconds. People rarely listen all the way to the end of a long message. Remember to say your name, company name and phone number both at the beginning and end of the message. Pause for a second or two between each statement so that your enunciation is clear. Make it easy for the person to call you back. Be sure you come across as a strong communicator with a positive, upbeat voice.
Listen very carefully to the voice on the other end of the line before you leave your voice message. Try to get a sense of the person's communication style and emulate it.
Strive to make a positive impression with whomever you communicate with, even if it is a machine.
Gatekeepers can either be your friend or your enemy. If they see you as just another annoying salesperson, you will stand little chance of getting the decision maker to take your call. If they like you and see you as a nice person, they will give you consideration.
Everything depends on your communication approach!
All the best with your future communication and presentations.
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Tuesday, July 3, 2012
What to Consider When You Present Later in the Day!
Is your presentation scheduled for 3 p.m or later?
If so, you're in the Grave Digger's shift. In fact, any time you speak in the afternoon, you run the risk of digging your own grave unless you are interesting and engaging.
People are tired and typically have a lot to do before they end their day. Therefore, you cannot present information the same way as you would in the morning when people are fresh and less distracted. Here are some key things to remember.
Be Animated
In a natural way, amplify your energy. Speak up. With a louder voice, you pull people into your world. With a soft voice, you become background music in an elevator.
Do bigger gestures. They help listeners to visualize your point.
Remember to smile. You will seem more approachable and friendly. Nobody wants a "sour face."
Move toward your listeners if you have the opportunity. The mistake that many speakers make in an afternoon session is to sit down or to stand right next to the podium. That's deadly. When you move, eyes will follow.
Finally, and this is most important, sustain eye contact. You will appear trust worthy and transparent. Also, there is an obligation with eye contact. When you look at people with intention, they respond by smiling or nodding.
Set Some Context
Before you do a deep dive into the details, people need some background on the issue for discussion. Remember your listeners have been involved in other things all day long. Even if you have sent them an agenda, be sure to tell them as you start the criticality of what you are about to discuss and the impact on them personally.
A boring opening, particularly in the afternoon, is one that starts with "Today, I am going to talk to you about...." A lot of people will shut down at this point because you have indicated that the message is all about you and what you want to accomplish.
State Your "Ask"
Hold your listeners responsible. Right up front, tell them what you want them to consider doing and why it would be beneficial. By giving listeners an action step, people listen more attentively, especially if they know you ultimately want a decision.
Tell Your Audience Something They Did Not Know
Not many of us can stay riveted on information we already know or accept. If you are giving an update, tell listeners what's different than last month or last quarter.
Don't waste time going over data or numbers that are not problematic. If you are meeting with a new client, tell your client how your company or product differs from others. At that time of day, that is usually their main concern.
A boring diatribe of the history of your company or your extensive client base falls on deaf ears.
Be A Storyteller
People are easily distracted and pre-occupied as the day intensifies. It is critical to make your points stand out.
What better way than to tell you listeners a story? People love stories because they are entertaining and engaging. They evoke empathy. They help listeners to experience the same feelings for themselves.
Add Appropriate Humor
If used well, humor can boost creativity, initiate conversation and build a trusting relationship according to research by the Hay Group. It can also reduce hostility, deflect criticism, relieve tension and improve morale.
Can you imagine how welcome playful laughter can be when the day has been hectic?
Be Short
William Strunk, the writer, said a sentence should have no unnecessary words for the same reason that a machine should have no unnecessary parts, or a drawing no unnecessary lines.
Don't overwhelm people at the end of the day. Give your listeners enough data or facts so they can make a decision and be done with it. If you have an hour, try to finish in 40 minutes or less.
Presenting an idea or product to an internal or external audience is always a challenge. It is particularly difficult in the afternoon. To insure that you are successful, make the necessary modifications to your delivery and style.
All the best with your future presentations!
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by effectivecommunication.com.au
Monday, June 18, 2012
USE STATISTICS EFFECTIVELY IN ALL YOUR PRESENTATIONS
In our Effective Presentation Skills Workshops, we at EffectiveCommunication.com.au share the dangers of using statistics in a presentation. A main reason is that you can adapt data to make it mean whatever you want it to mean.
There are times, however, when statistics can be used effectively. Those times are when we answer these two questions, “How much?” & “How many?” When you answer those questions, qualify your answers with these three characteristics: Few, Fresh, and Forceful.
Use Few Statistics
Take for example the problem with garbage. Edward Humes in a recent Wall Street Journal article wrote that Americans toss out over seven pounds of trash per person each day.
A single statistic was sufficient to cover “how many.”
Make The Statistics Fresh
Recency is important. Check the internet regularly to find the latest statistics on your topic. Because we all take garbage to the curb each week, garbage is continually fresh—well, the garbage isn’t, but the idea of it is on our minds.
In one town, a huge controversy arose over the need to build a new bridge across the town’s river. The bridge presently in use is old and was never made to handle the amount of traffic that now flows over it.
A column in the local newspaper presented that a billion dollars worth of goods crosses the bridge every week, and each month that construction is delayed the cost of the new bridge increases eight million dollars.
Few and fresh are both inherent in these two statistics. These two statistics are sufficient to answer “How much?”
You Can Make All The Above Data Forceful By Your Delivery
Pause before you speak the statistic and then punch out the number. Perhaps take a step toward the audience as you deliver a particularly powerful statistic.
Don’t make statistics a major part of your presentations. Instead, carefully place one or two statistics in your presentation. Make sure the number you mention is relevant.
Add some drama by pausing and punching out the data. Then you will have answered the two most important questions audience members want answered: “How many?” and “How much?”
All the best with your future presentations!
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Thursday, June 14, 2012
A GREAT PERSUASION TOOL
Groucho Marks emceed a television game show in the 1950’s called ‘Who Do You Trust’.
The contestant had to choose which of three people was telling the truth. On this show, contestants paid close attention to the body language of the three people as a means of determining who was telling the truth.
When business people attempt to sell their ideas face-to-face, their prospect and clients also notice whether body language supports the message. This is not possible on the telephone. Instead of body language, listeners gauge trust by tone of voice.
Over the phone, people assess whether the words the person is saying actually match what they hear in the voice. If they do, they trust. For example, if you say you are sorry for the mix-up and you sound very apologetic, the listener is likely to give you another chance. On the other hand, if you ask how you can help the person, but sound very bored, the caller is likely to feel you are insincere. Your credibility will be severely affected. The person may even ask to speak to someone higher up, rather than waste time with the wrong person.
Tone of voice is very important to credibility when speaking on the telephone. In fact, Albert Mehrabian in his book, ‘Silent Messages’, says that if there is a difference between the person's words and tone of voice, 85% of the time, people will trust what they hear in the tone of the voice over the actual words.
Obviously, we want people to pay attention to the things we are saying when speaking to them over the phone. It is critical that we make a strong impression through the tone of our voice.
To keep the tone of your voice sounding sincere, it is important to assess how it typically sounds. By recording your calls periodically, you can gain powerful feedback on how your voice sounds to others as your day progresses.
To maximize the tone of your voice make sure you pause often and take frequent breaths. A voice that is starving for air will be a monotone, or it will sound strident. If you pause for a second or two where you might want to highlight a point or where you would have a comma or a period, you will greatly enhance the tone of your voice.
Also, if you smile, the voice will be much warmer. It is a good idea to have a mirror by your phone so you can watch your lips and mouth. You may notice that you hardly open your mouth, and, consequently, the voice sounds flat.
Trust and credibility is essential for anyone selling an idea. To insure that people believe your words, make sure that the tone of your voice is not an issue - that it supports and matches the words you are saying.
Your voice is a great persuasion tool.
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Monday, June 4, 2012
3 Tips to Better Facilitate Meetings
Facilitating a meeting can be frustrating!
Often, nothing gets accomplished. People start talking among themselves, or they start texting on their phone. No one seems to know where the meeting is going. To get results, you can easily apply the following 3 facilitation principles.
1. Have A Well Planned Agenda
Focus on the topics pertinent to the listeners in front of you.
Don't try to cover too much in one session. As you create your agenda, add a time frame. Ahead, determine how long the group should spend discussing each item and hold them to it. A time frame alleviates people wasting time. Additionally, after each agenda item, list the desired outcomes. This will help attendees stay focused on the end game.
For example:
Agenda
· Current Production Challenges (20-25 min) Desired Outcome: Determine which are under our control and fixable
· Equipment Problems (15-20 Min) Desired outcome: Determine top three priorities for fiscal 2012-2013 budget
· Scheduling (5-10min) Desired outcome: Address re-occurring problems.
2. Ask Questions That Challenge & Make People Visualize
The best facilitators know that the questions they ask are critical.
While they use a whole variety of questions to focus the group, gather information and build consensus, great facilitators kick off each agenda item with a great opening question. For example, "Imagine a week of flawless production. Customers got their product when they needed it. What had to happen before, after and during production to make that happen?"
A question like this quickly gets people involved and prompts more useful answers. A good starter question adds enough detail to make people visualise or revisit the situation. It is much more stimulating than, "What are your current production problems?"
A question like this quickly gets people involved and prompts more useful answers. A good starter question adds enough detail to make people visualise or revisit the situation. It is much more stimulating than, "What are your current production problems?"
3. Keep The Group On Target
Some responses from participants will be right in line with the discussion, but some will veer off track and some may even be unclear. The wise facilitator reacts to those situations with questions. The weak facilitator reacts with a statement.
By asking questions, instead of making prescriptive statements, you encourage participants to seek their own solutions. When a participant keeps repeating the same point, you might say, "Can you tell us what we have left out?" When a participant goes off topic, you might respond with, "Yes, but I am wondering how that affects production numbers."
Being a great facilitator isn't easy. It takes practice and seeking opportunities to practice. We have offered you 3 facilitation principles. Continue to add to your toolbox and facilitate every chance you get. Real improvement cannot come without commitment and opportunities.
All the best during your future facilitations.
All the best during your future facilitations.
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by effectivecommunication.com.au
Monday, May 28, 2012
OVERCOME PRESENTATION NERVES IN FRONT OF YOUR BOSS
Presenting to the boss is a double edged sword!
On the one hand, it is an opportunity to show what you know, to be promoted etc. On the other hand, if the boss thinks poorly of you or dislikes what you say, you may be forever sitting on the sidelines or worse yet, sent home. This conundrum may jar every muscle in your body, leaving you unable to play at your best.
So what’s a presenter to do? There are four simple keys that will support you in stressful times. Embrace all four and you will feel more composed and raring to go. Embrace only some and you won’t!
1. Prepare
The most reliable stress-reducing tonic available to quiet your uneasiness is thorough preparation.
The more you have researched your opponent, built a solid game plan, anticipated their tough maneuvers and gathered the right support, the more confident you will feel that you are ready.
The more shortcuts you take, the more insecure you will feel. The rougher the opposition, the more preparation you need.
2. Practice
A professional athlete would never walk on a playing field without practicing. It would be unthinkable.
To be a superstar, you need to practice hard. While you can’t rehearse every move, due to the fluidity of a conversation, you can be flawless on the execution of your opening and closing remarks of your presentation and whatever else you might stumble on.
A presenter gets booed by the audience when he or she reads from notes or slides. The same is true when the person explains a complex idea in a convoluted manner. By rehearsing difficult explanations or multifaceted plans out loud, you can make any necessary adjustments to verbiage and also identify critical spots for an analogy or example.
By rehearsing your transitions from one point to another will become smoother. Lastly, hard-ball questions are the downfall of even the best players if they don’t see them coming. Practice your responses to the questions you have anticipated until your answers are succinct and your voice sounds confident.
3. Picture
Many of us tend to devote our energy to what we fear instead of what we want.
Take for instance Mary who was asked to do a quarterly review of her quality team’s performance for the VP of Operations, the VP of Sales and five other members of the executive team. Although knowledgeable and well prepared, she had a bad attitude and hardly got any sleep the night before her Monday morning meeting. All her self messages were things like, “Don’t mess this up.” “Don’t lose it.” “Don’t sound stupid.” Her negative self talk resulted in poor performance and distracting mannerisms. In fact, one of the VP’s commented to her immediate manager that he hoped she was never in front of customers.
Instead of hoping that you don’t destroy your presentation, have a positive attitude. Keep your focus on sharing your all-important news. It is amazing what positive self talk and visualization can do to quiet the hurricane brewing inside you.
See yourself as a dragon slayer and you will be one. Worry that you will be perceived as a blithering fool and you will surely falter.
4. Pause
In stressful times, pausing is a lifeline. If you pause and take a breath, you can clear your head and think on your feet. You can remember where you want to go next or how best to respond to an objection. You can also eliminate those pesky filler words, “um, ah and you know,” that chip away at credibility.
Pausing is also helpful to decision makers. By giving them some breaks, they can think about what you just said and formulate their questions or concerns. They can also absorb what is on your slides or printouts. It can be your winning play.
Presenting before your boss can be scary. It can leave you whirling like a dervish. To be a peak performer, stay limber by committing to Prepare, Practice, and Picture and Pause. The cheers of the fans will be ringing in your ears.
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Tuesday, May 22, 2012
NEED TO BE MORE INFLUENCIAL?
How often have you thought to yourself, “I need to be more influential?”
If you think this to yourself, often we don’t know how to address the issue. From a communication standpoint, three issues are critical to making a powerful impression on others.
People need to:
1. Understand Your Ideas
2. Accept Your Points as Appropriate
3. Trust You as Being Honest & Credible
1. Understand Your Ideas
When you are presenting your initiative, people have to follow your logic. One point logically has to lead to another.
Ideas have to be well supported. You have to provide the data and analytics to make people comfortable moving forward. Decision makers can be risk adverse; they do not want to make a mistake. Although most of us provide the metrics, we may provide too many details. We may also bury our thoughts in long convoluted sentence structures, leaving executives confused and unable to provide a decision.
If you present a simple, well documented solution, you increase the likelihood of having real impact.
2. Accept Your Points as Appropriate
Leaders accept your points as appropriate if they fit into their identified initiatives.
They expect you to do your homework and know what those key ideas are. For example, if the company’s thrust is to grow business in emerging markets and your idea shows how to do that, it is likely your idea will be considered. On the other hand, if your plan is to develop a marketing campaign around a product that is considering a faltering brand, you probably won’t be successful, unless, for example, you can show a trend among the 35-45 year olds for loyalty to products that they loved in their youth.
Presenters who show influence always connect the dots. They don’t expect their audience to do so.
3. Trust You as Being Honest & Credible
People need to trust a presenter as a “straight shooter.”
Some people are trusted because they have many years of experience and truly understand the business. Their reputations precede them. Others whose reputations are not well known are trusted because they “appear” confident. Their body and voice show that they believe in what they are saying. They stand erect, look people in the eye, gesture in a meaningful way and sound passionate. They easily answer tough questions and sound sure. The speaker who “hems and haws” and reads from notes or slides is not likely to get a positive reception.
While a lot of factors come into play when influencing others, from the perspective of communication, do not overlook the importance of presenting a simple, well supported argument, tying your ideas to the audience’s critical issues and delivering your ideas with confidence and conviction.
People will never give a nod of approval to someone who rambles, hasn’t done his o her homework or looks or sounds tentative.
All the best with your future presentations
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