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7 Presentation Strategies to Skyrocket Your Career

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If you are a professional working in business today then regardless of your industry, age or position you will be called on regularly to present your ideas to others. If it hasn’t begun yet then be patient, it will soon.

Whether it’s a team meeting, monthly update, a new initiative or project briefing there will be moments when everything you say and the way you say it matters. It is precisely that significance which leaves many professionals dreading the thought of presenting to colleagues and clients.

Instead of letting the prospect of sharing your thoughts and ideas with others invoke such anxiety consider the opportunity and value it offers you.

Many people would agree that far too many business presentations are too long and extremely tedious. With such a perspective being so prevalent in organisations today there is a huge opportunity to challenge the status quo and to stand out from the crowd.

The ability to connect emotionally as well as intellectually with others at work is arguably the most important skill in the world today. Imagine how quickly and how far you could climb the corporate ladder if you presented your ideas with confidence, creativity and impact. Set aside any personal angst you may have about presenting and public speaking and follow these 7 strategies to take your career to the next level.

1. Lose the ‘crystal ball’

As former executive of some of the UK’s most successful brands I was called on to present to colleagues and clients a great deal. After many years of sleepless nights trying to second guess what my audience actually wanted from me and how much they already knew I had an epiphany.

I started to ask them.

I realised that I could craft and deliver what I considered to be the most relevant, powerful and even entertaining presentation but if it wasn’t what my audience wanted or needed I was wasting my time and theirs.

2. Build it like a Tipi

One of the many reasons that so many business presentations aren’t as engaging as they should be is because they lack focus and structure.

The aboriginal tipi is an amazing feat of indigenous engineering. It is constructed using a number of poles but its core strength emanates from the 3 largest poles which provide the support structure.

I often consider a great presentation akin to a well-constructed tipi which has been built using many poles. The 3 largest and most important poles of presenting will determine the impact and memorability of your presentation.

  • What do you want your audience to think?
  • How do you want your audience to feel?
  • What do you want your audience to do?

3. Think like a tweet

Have you ever had someone strongly recommend a book for you to read and when you ask them what it’s about they can’t really explain it. Business presentations can be a little like that as the speaker talks you through 30 slides without clarity of their message.

We live in a world of social media and a great practice to get into is clarifying and writing your key message down in less than 140 characters. That won’t be the way you present it of course but it will ensure that everything you say focuses around that core message.

4. Craft a conversation

Another reason many business presentations are considered tedious is because they are crafted and delivered as lectures. In other words the audience is spoken at for the full 20 minutes.

Craft a conversation instead.

Ask them questions, get them involved and seek their opinion don’t just talk at them.

5. Be different

If the information, insights or ideas you have can be communicated easily in an email then respect your audience’s time and send them one. If however, presenting to them face to face will help you to bring your message to life and really connect with them then make it different.

  • Don’t use bullet points – Use powerful images
  • Make it personal to them
  • Tell them something they don’t know
  • Tell them stories
  • Use video’s, props or get them doing something
  • Ask thought provoking questions

6. Practice

By practicing I don’t mean memorise a script. There are 3 central elements to work on when practising:

  • Content – Get to know your message, supporting points and content inside out.
  • Verbal – Stretch and challenge your voice as much as you possibly can. Try out a few vocal exercises on the internet. Read a few passages from your favourite book in as many different ways as you can. Read with, passion, excitement, as though you were angry, etc. Change your pace, volume, intonation and practice pausing.
  • Move – Practice the way you move. Get some feedback on your eye contact, facial expressions, hand gestures and the way you use the space you have.

7. Have some fun

Unless you are reading a eulogy or making people redundant business presentations don’t have to be deadly serious all of the time. You can deliver a really important and serious message whilst still lightening up a little, adding a touch of humour and making sure that both you and your audience enjoy it.

About the Author

Maurice De CastroMaurice De Castro is a former corporate executive of some of the UK’s most successful brands. Maurice believes that the route to success in any organisation lies squarely in its ability to really connect with people. That’s why he left the boardroom to create a business helping leaders to do exactly that. Learn more at https://mindfulpresenter.com/

The Strategic Leader’s Roadmap

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The financial situation for Japanese automaker Nissan Motor Company could not have been more dismal in 1998. The company had chalked up losses in seven of the past eight years, and it was now paying a billion dollars annually just to service its $19-billion debt.

Not that Nissan’s management had not been trying to make the right decisions to staunch the losses. It had earlier set an ambitious target of taking a quarter of Japan’s auto market, but to achieve that, the chief executive had said that the old way of making and selling cars would no longer suffice. A new strategy was required.

The CEO called for a redoubled effort to resurrect its ailing American arm, a market where customers had been flocking to sports utility vehicles. The company, the Nissan chief had urged, must also focus more on earnings than sales, slash its car “platforms,” and close its least profitable models. In short, he had warned, the company could never recover if it continued doing business the same old way. And his new way seemed the right way – providing he could deliver on it. But so far he had not. Nissan’s market share in Japan had stalled at just 16 percent, it was faring little better abroad, and losses were mounting everywhere.

Nissan sought an international partner, finally hooking up with France’s Renault. Renault agreed to infuse $5.4 billion into Nissan, but in return it required more than 36 percent of the company’s ownership and a commitment from Nissan to appoint Renault executive Carlos Ghosn as Nissan’s chief operating officer. With that, Renault inserted a very different kind of leader into the top ranks of Nissan – more confident, more determined, and more resolute.

Carlos Ghosn make clear that he had come to Japan “not for the good of Renault but for the good of Nissan,” and that would entail a new combination of not only a more aggressive execution of the company’s strategy but also a more demanding manager in charge of it. Under his leadership, Ghosn said, the struggling automaker would return to profitability in a year and halve its debt a year later. The company would close three assembly plants in Japan, increase factory utilization from 53 to 77 percent, cut suppliers by nearly half, eliminate 14 percent of the workforce, and reduce administrative costs by 20 percent.

Fifteen years later, Nissan under Ghosn’s strategy and leadership was indeed back on its feet. It had more than recovered to now outperform its industry in Japan, China, Europe, and even North America.

Nissan’s experience reminds us that firms with good strategy but weak leadership can remain rudderless. We also know that firms with good leadership but weak strategy can lurch directionless. Neither a restructuring strategy nor a turnaround leader alone could have engineered Nissan’s historic rebound. It required an individual who could both think and act strategically, a person who brought a strong sense for strategy and a personal capacity to lead its execution.

Becoming a strategic leader is an acquired capacity that can, in our view, be mastered by managers at all levels. As a prerequisite, it is important for aspirants to first appreciate the separate principles of strategy and leadership and then to combine them. We provide a six-step checklist for doing so:

The Strategic Leader’s Checklist

  • Integrate Strategy and Leadership. Master the elements of strategy and leadership both separately as a combined whole.
  • Learn to Lead Strategically. Pursue directed learning, one-on-one coaching, and instructive experience to develop an integrated understanding of strategy and leadership.
  • Ensure Strategic Fit. Arrange a strong match between the strategic challenges of a managerial position and the individual with the leadership skills to fill it.
  • Convey Strategic Intent. Communicate strategic intent throughout the organization and empower others to implement the strategy.
  • Layer Leadership. Ensure that leaders at every level are capable of appreciating strategic intent and implementing it.
  • Decide Deliberatively. Focus on both short- and long-term objectives, press for disciplined analysis, and bring the future into the present.

Adapted from The Strategic Leader’s Roadmap: 6 Steps for Integrating Leadership and Strategy, by Michael Useem and Harbir Singh, copyright 2016. Reprinted by permission of Wharton Digital Press.

About the Authors

Harbir SinghHarbir Singh is Professor of Management, Co-Director of the Mack Institute for Innovation Management, and Vice Dean of Global Initiatives at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Michael UseemMichael Useem is Professor of Management, Director of the Leadership Center, and Faculty Director of the McNulty Leadership Program at the Wharton School.

How To Be More Influential By Negotiating Better and Reading Body Language

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Are you a small business leader or midlevel corporate manager that seeks to advance your business, or your career? Do you find your initiatives challenged by information and resource gaps by those that don’t “get you” at times?

If so, this article will be of value to you as it highlights ways to cast a greater level of influence, gives insight into how you can negotiate better, and raises your awareness per being able to read body language.

Let’s examine influence, how you acquire it, why you’re not influential at times, and how to use it once you have it.

What makes you comfortable? What makes those that you’d like to have influence with comfortable? How do they view you in comparison to those with whom they seek comfort when being around those people? All of these and more, are questions you need to pose to yourself to assess where you are in your mind per those questions, and where you might be perceived to be by others. Remember, people like people that are like themselves. Thus, the more you appear to be like those you wish to influence, the easier it will be to do so.

How do we acquire influence and what should we do with it once we have it? Influence is a state of mind whereby you’re able to get people to act on your behest. Take note of what just occurred! I gave you my definition of influence. It may be slightly or drastically different from yours or someone else’s. The point is, once you know how someone views a situation, or the definition they give to a word, you have insight into the way they think and the meaning they assign to aspects in their environment. Then, you need to couple that with their perspective of what value is for them. Once you’ve acquired that insight, genuinely match your request to a goal/quest that they wish to obtain. Let them feel the emotions of your sincerity while showing them the benefits of adopting/addressing your suggestions. That will lead to you becoming more influential and having others readily seeking to assist you in acquiring your goals and theirs.

How do we lose or not acquire influence?

With some people, no matter what you do, it will not be good enough to draw them closer to you. If you identify that you’re in such a situation get away from it, to the degree you can. There will be situations in which some people will not like you. That can be due to their unconscious biases or biases that they’re well aware of. In such situations, sometimes you have to leave an environment to have people appreciate you for the value you possess. The perception of your value is what will allow people to perceive you as being influential.

When it comes to negotiations, the way you set it up and the strategies you employ have a great impact on how successful you’ll be. Remember, you’re always negotiating. Thus, when setting up an official negotiation, take into account the activities you’ve engaged in with the person/people you’ll be negotiating with and the impact that past impressions will have on the current negotiation. As mentioned above with influence, in a negotiation, the more influential you appear to be the more trusting you’ll be perceived as being. Don’t squander that perception. In a negotiation trust is a major factor per how far someone is willing to believe in what you say, compared to what you’ll do. Thus, if you’re perceived as being trustworthy, the opposing negotiator may think that something might not work out, but they know they’ll be able to trust that you’ll make them whole. That one aspect will allow you to gain more from every negotiation than you otherwise would have been able to achieve. There are also negotiation tactics and strategies that go into ways to maneuver in a negotiation to reach more favorable outcomes (i.e. when to concede, how slowly to appear when doing so, etc.), but those purviews will be left for another article to explore.

Now let’s discuss a very small component of body language. Body language and nonverbal signals move us emotionally more than most people are aware. In general, watch for hand movements that are not aligned with the words being spoken (e.g. words-this is going to increase your sales, hand action-pointing downward), pace of speech (i.e. slowing down might indicate one being more reflective, speeding up might be a point of excitement), and when such occurs. In particular, take note of what you said that stimulated the person to perform the mentioned gestures. Therein will lie insight into how well their body language is synchronized with their words.

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

About the Author

Greg WilliamsGreg Williams, known as, “The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert,” is the author of the newly released book Body Language Secrets to Win More Negotiations.

The Wrong Way To Innovate: When Unrealistic Expectations Meet Antiquated Management

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Innovation has always been culturally synonymous with ‘the latest and greatest’, the ‘next big thing’, and on the surface this true. Companies like to rollout their innovations at trade shows and industry events to garner attention and praise for their good work.

While there are a lot of best practices, many companies tailor their efforts to their corporate structure and industry. Innovation luminaries like Coca Cola, General Electric, Shell Oil innovate effectively because they have structural elements in common, and they work to avoid a number of key pitfalls executing innovation work.

Sprints vs. Marathons

Usain Bolt has never run a mile,1 and great innovation centers have similar focus. Innovation initiatives that lack focus will rarely be able to deliver exponential innovation – the kind of output that creates new categories and literally makes steaks from organization’s sacred cow. Phil Swisher, former Global Head of Innovation at Brown Brothers Harriman, told Innovation Leader that “to maximize impact and outcomes, you’re relying on the senior executive sponsor (ideally the CEO) to provide the permission and space for the team to go after the really big opportunities, including the ones which are threatening to the status quo of the company.” Without executive support expect your Innovation initiatives to deliver only innovations like new product features, colors, and line extensions.

A Kilo of Feathers or A Kilo of Bricks

Insists on using the traditional and standard measurements on innovation projects, and you get standard and traditional outputs. Be purposeful in defining value creation for your innovation practice. Know what kind of value you want and encourage it by design.

Coca Cola’s Vice President of Entrepreneurship and Innovation David Butler provided some insights to Innovation Leader on how he evaluates his center’s activities. David says “We track progress just like a VC does, in this case. We look right at growth metrics, the things that really matter.”2 This is a startup, so financial performance is never the first thing to measure. A sure fire way to discourage innovation is to expect immediate revenue.

Location, Location, Location

Where you locate your innovation center within your organization matters. Some companies like Trek Bicycles locates their R&D Skunkworks directly into their business units to accelerate buy-in. Alphabet (Google) moved their social innovation lab (Jigsaw) out of the organization so that it could operate independently. The American Cancer Society built it’s Futuring and Innovation Center within the organization to maximize connectivity. Avoid creating it under the auspices of a strict operational or financial leader determined to conform the outputs to legacy metrics.

Total Secrecy Is Totally Wrong

An innovation project can energize an organization – so showcase the great work to generate excitement and even a little bit of envy. When a employees see the work they’ll ask how they can get involved. The exponential value accumulates when you generate broad engagement – when your innovation center attracts inputs from across the organization. Diverse minds share diverse ideas that can generate new value. Having confidentiality is expected, but secrecy and needless exclusivity impede value creation.

Opening and operating an internal innovation initiative is a daunting challenge. It requires executive support, careful forethought and a leader with the courage to take risks. But if an organization can methodically plan and execute the stand-up and delivery they can realize exponential value creation.

About the Author

Randal C. MossRandal C. Moss is an award winning marketer who focuses on engaging organizations and applying technology to drive growth. He has over 12 years of experience including institutionalizing innovation development frameworks, and creating consumer engagement solutions for companies and clients across the CPG, Real Estate, and nonprofit sectors. Randal has spoken at conferences such as SXSW (3X), State of Play, National Human Services Assembly National Meeting, Disney Institute’s Digital Now, and the American Marketing Association Hot Topic Tour.

Randal’s first book, with co-author David J. Neff, is The Future of Nonprofits: Innovate and Thrive in the Digital Age (Wiley). Their newest book, IGNITE: Setting your Organization’s Culture on Fire with Innovation was released in August 2016.

References

  1. Usain Bolt Has Never Run a Mile (No, Really), Time, Staff Writers
  2. Innovation Leader Magazine Spring 2016
  3. Under pressure, Lockheed opens up about secret weapons unit, Reuters, Andrea Shalal and Howard Goller

Why the Need to Build Relationships is a Myth

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In 1937 Dale Carnegie published his celebrated How to Win Friends and Influence People – the first book suggesting sellers build relationships. 1937: with primitive transportation, sellers found clients closer to home; telephones were emerging (FYI – Morse Code was preferred for 40 years after the telephone was invented!); marketing avenues were limited, as was advertising (Sears Catalogue, Life Magazine, The Farmer’s Almanac, the local paper or general store). Obviously there was no technology, or global competition.

Selling focused on natural customers – face-to-face relationships with neighbors and friends. And buyers needed sellers for information and relevance. Relationships were vital.

It’s now 2016. We have a plethora of options to present our solutions. Our communications capability is global, cheap, and ubiquitous. With safe payment and delivery options, global competitors are pervasive. And – here’s the big one – our prospects have the ability to receive the information they need to easily choose a solution without us. Buyers contact us only when they’ve done their Pre-Sales change work and are ready. They don’t need a relationship with us.

The Ploy of Building Relationships

So why do we continue to think we must ‘build relationships’?? As a carryover from Carnegie, relationship building has been used as a ploy to manipulate a sale. If buyers like us, the thinking goes, they’ll buy. Here’s the reality:

Everyone knows you’re pretending. Until you’ve known people over time, through the good times and bad, you’re not in a relationship with anyone, especially when you’re trying to be nice so you can meet your own agenda.

Your ‘relationship’ will not facilitate a sale. Buyers cannot buy unless they have managed their internal change management journey that

  1. assembles all the people needed to be involved and hears their voices/concerns/criteria;
  2. gets buy-in from the Buying Decision Team that something must change;
  3. figures out how to meet everyone’s needs and make adjustments that fit without internal disruption.

Buyers can’t buy until they’re ready, willing, and able to bring something new into their status quo regardless of how ‘nice’ you are.

Buyers aren’t swayed by your niceness. It will, however, make you a preferred vendor WHEN ALL ELSE IS EQUAL and WHEN THEY HAVE REACHED THE POINT OF CHOICE.

It doesn’t work when your focus is a sale. Here is a real dialogue:

SELLER: HI SHARON! AND how are YOU today?? ?
SDM:[picking up the phone in tears, thinking it was my friend] My name’s not Sharon! And I’m rotten. I just put my dog down!

I offered an ‘authentic’ moment, useful as an opportunity to connect: he should have said ‘I’m sorry that happened. Obviously you can’t speak now. Is there a better time? This is a sales call and I’d like to discuss X when you’re feeling better.’

Whether for a large, complex sale, or a small personal item, buyers cannot buy until they have their internal ducks in a row, and then agree to seek an external solution (Step 10 of a 13 Step process). Because the sales model focuses on placing solutions – possible only after buyers have completed their Pre-Sales change management issues – we can’t discern where buyers are along their Buying Decision Path and buyers show up seeking a transactional connection. Our ‘niceness’ (which I’m differentiating from real customer service) is irrelevant; we just sound like everyone else trying to sell them something.

Differentiation?

I’m told sellers use the ‘make nice’ ploy to differentiate – difficult using the conventional sales route. Following acceptable marketing criteria of the era – words and phrases that are in vogue, graphics and colors that are deemed ‘what everyone is doing’ – it’s hard to be unique. And the myth of being a ‘Relationship Manager’ or ‘creating a relationship’ is supposed to show buyers why they should choose us over the competition. See?? I’m NICE!

Here’s the truth: buyers don’t start off wanting to buy anything whether it sounds like they have a need or not. They merely want solve a problem. But they have work to do before they’re ready. It’s only once they’ve determined their systemic change management requirements that they’ll buy – but by then they’ll haven chosen their list of vendors and solutions from online data or referrals.

By focusing on attempting to influence people to buy because we’re nice, we’re left out of their behind-the-scenes decision process and reduced to ‘being there’ when/if they show up (the low hanging fruit, or 5%). Not to mention chasing bad leads with folks who we think should be buyers (Prospects are those who WILL buy, not those who SHOULD buy.).

We can mitigate this and REALLY be nice by entering enter early and facilitating buyers along the route of their systemic change/Pre Sales path. I’ve coded the steps in their decision sequence and developed a model that facilitates Pre-Sales Buyer Readiness (Buying Facilitation®). You don’t have to use my model – create your own! But entering the buyer/seller interaction as a change facilitator will differentiate you and enable a true relationship.

Buyers would never buy from anyone else when a seller has taught the prospect how to assemble ALL of the folks necessary to be part of the Decision Team, or HOW to get everyone on board for change. Remember: they will do this anyway before they buy – they might as well do this with you.

There’s a way to make money AND make nice. It’s by being a true Servant Leader and change facilitator; by entering into a WE Space in which there is a tracit agreement that everyone will be served. Stop using ‘nice’ as a sales ploy. Stop focusing on the low hanging fruit. Add a change management focus and find real buyers who’ve already recognized a problem, and first facilitate them through their route to inclusive, congruent, systemic change. Then you can become part of the Buying Decision Team, make a difference, close more, waste less time, and act with integrity.

About the Author

Sharon Drew MorgenSharon Drew Morgen is a visionary, original thinker, and thought leader in change management and decision facilitation. She works as a coach, trainer, speaker, and consultant, and has authored 9 books including the New York Times Business Bestseller Selling with Integrity. Morgen developed the Buying Facilitation® method (www.sharondrewmorgen.com) in 1985 to facilitate change decisions, notably to help buyers buy and help leaders and coaches affect permanent change. Her newest book What? www.didihearyou.com explains how to close the gap between what’s said and what’s heard. She can be reached at [email protected]