Winning Business - pitching to clients

Many companies and individuals stand or fall on their ability to win business in pitches.
It's a high pressure situation: you've done all the hard work when you prepared the tender document, so it's got to be a foregone conclusion when you actually get in front of the client...surely.
But if you're thinking that, then you can be sure the other 3 or 4 companies in the running will be thinking just the same thoughts, and they probably need the business just as much as you do.
So how do you get an edge?
You've already set the price when you submitted the tender. Same with the operational aspects: deadlines and so forth. So what's left?
YOU!
You've probably heard that people buy from people they like, so if you and the others who are pitching are pretty much on a par in terms of price etc. then the differentiating factor is you. Your attitude; your confidence; the clarity of your communication; your preparation...even your voice. All those tiny and seemingly insignificant aspects of your character that shine out in your non-verbal signals too. They are all going to come together as deal makers or deal breakers.
So...what are you going to do about it?
Of course, we'd love you to talk to us here at Profile Training where we specialise in getting you in the best possible shape for pitches, presentations, interviews, auditions...whatever your particular need might be, but we know that that may not be possible right now, so here's a thought:
Start pitching a day early!
Have everything in place in your mind and in your notes at least 24 hours in advance of your appointment, and start talking to yourself, or anyone else you can get to listen. Ask yourself - or have others ask you - tough questions about the pitch. Have them put you on the spot. Make yourself work for the work. By the time you get in front of the client you're going to have a lot more confidence in yourself and in the pitch you're delivering!

Move your Audience

When you make a presentation - whether it's formal or informal, spontaneous or carefully planned and prepared - you need to jump in the swimming pool!

When you jump in, the big splash is ALWAYS the first thing that happens.

What I mean is that you need to make your splash up front - right at the beginning - don't hold back, just jump in and make everyone from the front row to the back wake up and pay attention.

Starting your presentation with a few mumbled housekeeping notices and throat-clearing won't hack it. You need to be big, bold and maybe a bit brave!

It's my practice to keep a note of ideas for openers that come to me at odd times. Some of them may never see the light of day, but others can become the springboard for a speech, a presentation or a seminar.

I'd suggest that you do the same, and you'll soon find yourself swimming with the big kids!

Presentation Motivation

While working with some very talented people yesterday - all seeking to expand their coaching businesses into the world of professional speaking - there was a fairly heated debate about motivation within a speech or presentation: Are we seeking to motivate ourselves as speakers; our audience as a group; the audience as individuals?

My advice is that we should seek to motivate the audience to help us move towards our defined goals for the presentation.

In other words, we need to have a clear idea of WHY we are making the presentation in the first place, and only then can we find a means by which we can have the audience help us towards that goal.

While this might, at first glance, make the presentation a little self-serving, in fact as long as we are looking for the speech to take the audience towards a beneficial or benign goal, then, since that is our stated aim, there is nothing self-seeking or selfish about having the audience help us - and therefore themselves - towards that goal.

And of course we do this by finding a means of motivating them in that direction.

Robbing a Bank

Today's tip: When you're planning and preparing your next presentation, think of it like a daring bank heist! I don't mean go in waving a gun and wearing a mask - though at least you would get everyone's attention, so maybe...

No - what I mean is that you need to have your exit planned before you think about any other aspect of the 'job'. How are you going to get out?

Think about it, and let me know your thoughts by posting a comment.

Training Historians

I spent yesterday running a workshop on behalf of Unlimited Potential at the National Archive in Kew, Surrey. Working there is always a pleasure, though historians and archivists are rarely the first people one thinks of when considering who would make a great presenter.

Feedback from the day included comments like "This was a great course, and I appreciated that it was made to be relevant to my work outside of presentations" and "This is essential for anyone presenting to any audience. Superb delivery of the day."

It's things like this that make my job so rewarding.

Today's tip for presentation is a rule of three. When you are preparing a presentation, consider your head, your heart and your feet. Your head - what are the facts of your presentation? Your heart - what emotions do you carry into it? Your feet - what's your motivation for making it? For a brilliant presentation you need to have all three aspects lined up and congruent.

Make It About Your Message

When I am in the audience for a presentation I am often struck by how reliant the speaker is on words.
Sounds a little weird I expect - after all, what else is a speaker to rely on but their words?

However, concentrating on content rather than desired outcome; making the presentation about the words rather than the message, makes for a less memorable experience for the audience, and a less successful result for the speaker.

People remember your message if it's delivered with power, integrity and ownership. They will remember few, if any, of the words used to deliver that message.

What X-Factor?

The one thing that most contestants on the X-Factor seem to share is a profound lack of the X-Factor!

Call it what you will: charisma, gravitas, magnetic personality...it's the indefinable something that a select few carry with them, and which makes heads turn.
People who really do have that extra something are often in the public eye: actors, high-profile business personalities, politicians..
But ask yourself - do they have charisma because they are wealthy or powerful, or are they wealthy and powerful because they have charisma?
Whichever way round it goes, the fact is that many charismatic and engaging people are very successful.
So...if you could learn to be charismatic - learn what it is that makes some people shine out when they enter a room - would you be interested?
At Profile Training we teach people to be better presenters. Over the years we've been doing this the training has changed and grown along with our own understanding of what makes a great presentation,and a great presenter. Nowadays something like 80% of a workshop deals with giving people the tools to be the presentation.

If you have ever seen a truly wonderful presenter - or a fantastic stand-up - or a great salesperson at work, then I guarantee that much of what made that person memorable is that special something...charisma, presence, X-Factor.

So if you want to take the next step up in your business or personal life, you might want to think about acquiring some of the skills of the rich and powerful, and if you're planning on auditioning for the X-Factor...talk to me first - please!

Professionals Who Train

When you look for training providers, what do you look for? A professional trainer? Or a professional who trains?

The distinction is an important one:

A professional trainer has learned how to offer training and guidance in a subject or subjects and will give you chapter and verse. In addition, they will be able to replicate that training over and over again without any significant differences between one workshop and the next. This can be a good thing, for instance if you have a large number of people who require training in one field, or when the subject is rule-driven, such as a particular software package or company protocols, but can be a less good thing when the subject is less clearly defined or dictated.

A professional who trains is someone who is or has done what he or she seeks to teach, and therefore trains from personal experience. This too can be a good or a less good thing. On the plus side, you will be trained with a greater degree of empathy, you will not have your training governed by a rule book or a set of instructions, but rather it will be defined more by your specific needs and your training provider can act as a mentor as well as a teacher should that be appropriate. On the less good side, a trainer such as this isn't the best choice for all your training needs.

How do you choose?

Ask yourself this: Is the topic being trained something personal or is it something mechanical?

If it's more to do with the individual, then look for a professional who trains, while if it leans towards the mechanical, then a a professional trainer might be the better option.

Our area of expertise is communication, and is definitely a personal skill-set. We don't train out of instruction manuals, and we encourage questions that often go beyond anything to be found in a textbook. We have all done what we teach, and in most cases are still doing it. We are professionals who train.

If you want to be a great presenter, then who better to train you than a presenter?