English Language Resource

Looking for a good read over Christmastime?

Snap, Crackle and Pop

From amazon.com:

In a B2B pitch, you’re not there to close a deal. You’re there to open a relationship. The three objectives of a pitch are therefore to:

• Snap: Stimulate interest. The prospects will be leaning forward, eyes and ears on you. They’ll know you’re there with something directly related to their needs.

 • Crackle: Start a conversation. A customer-focused conversation, mind you. The prospects will be talking openly about their challenges, opportunities and desired outcomes.

 • Pop: Build trust. The prospects will be telling you things they haven’t yet thought of, and they will want more of you. They’ll see you not as another vendor, but as their trusted advisor.

Sales Pitches That Snap, Crackle ‘n Pop shows you how to achieve this in straight-forward and sometimes hard-hitting language.

BRING BACK THE SLIDE PROJECTOR!
In this clip, Don Draper is pitching his firm's "Carousel" campaign to Kodak.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suRDUFpsHus

Besides the brilliance of the pitch, it's his masterful, high-status slideshow that blows the prospects away with no notes and a clear message. But what strikes me most is his arrangement: everyone is looking in the same direction, experiencing the slides as he is narrating his message. He and his audience are one. How cool is that?

Too often we compete with the screen and slides on the same stage; in the worst case, this causes swivel-head. Whenever you can, position yourself behind the audience in a slide show: THEY will have to swivel their heads from you to the slides; you are in command of where they look.

One of the most undervalued roles in Toastmasters is the "Ah-Counter". This person's function is simply to note the number of times speakers use "ah" or "um" in their speeches throughout the evening. Of course, "ah" is a nervous tic and becomes annoying when repeated - often unconciously - several times in a row. But the real issue - once again - is status.

Your voice is an essential tool in communicating in language - as obvious as that sounds, it's equally stunning that so many people neglect it. Voices can be high-pitched and nasal, creating an unpleasant effect; other presenters rarely breathe during speeches, creating a machine-gun effect; others snort, suck in air, or speak too quietly - all variations on the "ah" in speech, for they all exhibit poor personal command, and thus low status. 

Record yourself. Yes, it hurts - but how do you think we feel? Take a text ("elicitation texts" are available online for free: they are created to sample all vowel sounds and consonant clusters to test for regional dialect variation). Keep reading it and recording yourself until you are happy with the way you sound. Remember that the recording hardware will affect your voice - on my cell phone I sound tinny, with better equipment more sonorous.

Professional actors have a stage voice - there is no reason why you shouldn't have a - pleasant, commanding, and intriguing - professional voice.

The Cuban ballet company BalletRevolucion has been performing at the Maag Halle in Zurich this month. A mix of classical and hip-hop style and music, the company is characterized by high energy performances and their passion for movement. I had a slight aftertaste from the choreography, however: the staged poses at the end of each number were highly clichéd and the numbers themselves often lacked any discernible angle. The teaser dance with a mashup of JLo's "On the Floor", though, really brought the house down.

Presenters can also learn a thing or two from dancers: BalletRevolucion commanded the stage, taking it with high energy and passion. A dancer walks with poise and enjoys the applause at the end, an appreciation of the hard work they have invested. Presenters should also take on these high-status behaviors: wait to be announced, walk to the stage with confidence and poise, then deliver their speech with a punch. Most importantly, soak up the applause at the end: many speakers practically turn and run, suggesting that they are only too happy to have the experience over with.

Take the stage; command it with poise; and bask in the applause.