Self Presentation Secrets… How to make good first, last and enduring impressions.

There are very few things that can make or break a deal, a relationship a job interview than first and last impressions.  First impressions are lasting we’ve all heard but last impressions can outlast anything that preceeded them.  In between, there can be hundreds of little sublties and nuances that either help or hinder our efforts to be liked, get our messages across or make the sale.

Without filling you full of statistics about verbal and non verbal communications, let’s just approach this from a common sense perspective.  Let’s look at three areas:  dress and appearance, voice and delivery, posture and demeaner.

First, dress and appearance, though the easiest to fix is often the least attended to. Before you rush out and spend a bomb on a new suit or haircut, think about the most important meeting you’ll have for that day and dress accordingly.  It is easier to remove a jacket, scarf or tie if you’ve over dressed then it is to cover up the fact you are not wearing one.

If you are on a job interview, dress as well as the person conducting the interview.  I remember years ago when I started my business and things were tough, I needed some quick money for some bills so I took applied for a night security guard job.  I went to the interview in a suit and tie, surrounded by folks in “T” shirts and jeans.  Not only was I hired on the spot, but given “hazardous duty”, authorized to carry a gun and get a premium wage for the effort.

A general job interview appearance checklist might include (from the bottoms, up.):

• Shoes polished
• For men, dark sox over the calf so no skin shows  For women, no runs in the hose
• Slacks or skirt are pressed and clean, ideally a dark color which says “stability” and a fine wool, silk or gaberdined, fine leather belt for slacks that matches the shoes
• Suit or jacket of high quality wool or silk (no polyester)
• Cotton or silk blouse or shirt clean and pressed
• Silk tie or scarf.  (If interviewing with a man, wear a stripped tie or darker tie.  If interviewing with a woman, wear a patterened tie and a brighter red.  Studies show you’ll be percieved better.)
• Face clean, extraneous hairs removed, make up for women should be subtle (leave the paint for the discos)  teeth brushed and even the tongue to prevent bad breath.
• Hair well groomed, conservative and up-to-date (Usually women are good about this but men over 30 tend not to change their hairstyle ever again.  Look at top young executives in the magazines and see if your style is current.)

Voice and delivery are much harder to “fix” and may need some practice. For job interviews, before going into the interview, think of the kinds of questions the interviewer will ask. Tons of books are available on the subject and reading up about possible questions and responses looked for can greatly increase your chances for a successful interview and maybe even result in more money for you when you are hired.

Speak up with confidence and pause for a moment before speaking to collect your thoughts.

The Art of Persuasive Communication

Have you ever wished you could share information in a way that really motivates the listener to act, to buy or to use you and your services? It’s not secret. It’s just The Art of Persuasion.

The Art of Persuasive Communication

There are volumes written on the subject, but let’s break it down to 3 basic components.

First, what is your unique proposition or point you are trying to get across? Want a travel agent to carry your package or use your service? You need to prepare some valid reasons why your service, product, package AND why YOU are worth more or will bring a higher return. Do NOT tell the people listening to you all the details or all the facts. EVERY travel supplier will do that and you will just another lump of ‘something’ in the rojak.  Instead, focus on what the listener will get out of using your services or how much more they can make with you; how much easier it will be to resell your product or service. For example:

What can you do that no others can do?

What have other travel buyers loved about what you are offering? Who is paying more for similar offers in the industry but getting less?

How will the listener end up with more money, time, power, love, praise, joy, satisfaction or recognition by listening to you and buying what you are offering?

For example, we worked with Cragun’s Resort and Conference Centre in the USA. Their #1 complaint from travel agents was that they had no golf course while their top 5 competitors each owned a course. We got them thinking and in we determined that guests staying at one of their competitors needed 5 to 10 minutes to drive to the golf club from their lodging. For Cragun’s, it took them 5 minutes to 18 minutes to drive to ANY of their competitor’s club houses.  In an instant, they went from not having a golf course to offering 5 of the best courses at a discount. Their growth was exponential. They now bought out a competitor and built two more Trent Jones golf courses on that site.
Spending a few minutes to several hours thinking about what you have to offer and coming up with tangible answers will help you form a better and more unique proposition. If you can’t think of a unique proposition, you will never be able to persuade an intelligent buyer.

The second point is that communication is about both listening and presenting. Talking too fast, too slow or too much, can ruin a presentation. Likewise, emphasizing the wrong points or not emphasizing the key points can be disasterous. If you want to persuade others to use your service, work with you, support your team or follow your lead, think SET: Show – Emotion – Tell.

SHOW what you want to get across visually. PowerPoint®, posters, pictures, props, brochures, video. ANYTHING visual. 35% of the population are visual learners and will be persuaded if you can show them visually what you want them to agree to.

Then TELL the listener the reasons why it makes sense. Explaining every slide, graph, prop in detail, but not minutia. 25 % of population are persuaded in auditory terms.

Connect the SHOWING and TELLING with EMOTIONAL stories or reasons to trigger a response. “The last person I shared this with ended up with a nice ang bao to bring home to his family because…” Catch the drift on emphasizing some personal profit someone else received and if visuals and the words support the EMOTION, you have a pretty good chance of persuading the listener.

The third point, in ‘sales terminology’ is simply to, “ask for the order.” Never say, `What do you think?` That is cerebral. You want them to act. Best: “Then, with your approval, I will go forward with this so we can begin making you money; improving your selection; helping you win market-share; improve team morale as soon as possible.” It is assumptive and closes the communication.

Caution: Do not accept, “Let me think about it.” or “I will take it under consideration.” These are the same as NO! If someone wants to think about it, say, “Wouldn’t it be better to think about it while I am here so if you have any questions, I can share the reasons why you should…?”  or, from my friend Jeff Thull, “In other words, NO!” It is usually as hard for someone to say `no` as it is to say `yes`. If they say `no`, always ask `why` and push for specifics. If they have a valid reason, at least you know why. If not, it gives you another reason to push again for their agreement.

Learn the secrets of argumentation and persuasion to ensure results.

How to give a great presentation every time…

A funny thing happened to me on the way to this presentation.  Sorry, in over 28 years of being a full time speaker, NOTHING ‘funny’ ever happened to me on the way to a presentation. Instead of opening up with a trite line and throwing in a joke that chances are, many in your audience have heard, here is a really simple formula we use in our Public Speaking as Easy as ABCD! public seminar to ensure your next presentation is magical.

It’s as easy as ABCD…

A stands for Attention. Get their attention by calling to mind a significant even in their recent past or one they experienced just that day. At a recent speech, I waited and waited for my spot to speak after what seemed like 100 awards were being presented. Also, about 6 people received over half the awards. I threw out my planned opening and started with, Next time you all could save a lot of time by just having (naming those 6 people) sit at a table right on stage. You’d save all that time of coming and going!  It got a huge laugh and then applause. Then I added,  If you ever need a fund raiser, just start an awards factory. You’d make a fortune just supplying your own awards!  Again, a lot of laughter and a second applause…great way to start a talk.

B stands for Blueprint.  The Blueprint is the plan or pathway you are leading them through. You have to tell them after you get their Attention, what they will learn, hear, experience. It puts their minds at ease and makes the rest of the talk understandable, even if you digress or get into a long story.

C stands for Coaster, the roller coaster ride of emotional ups and downs you put them through during the talk. A friend and man I really admire never does this. He’s a really good speaker. IF he did it, he would be a FANTASTIC speaker. His methodology is just FAST, LOUD, HARD all the time. He wears people out after 15 minutes. Instead, lift them up and then slow it down. Get them up with laughter and fun and then get serious. The HIGHS are what help the LOWS sink in.

D stands for Destination. Ya gotta bring them to a definite Destination at the conclusion of your talk. This is when they can say, having reached the Destination, THAT’s what it was all about. Your Destination may be a repeat of what you shared earlier, a surprise ending, an incredibly moving or emotional story or a rousing, Let’s all stand and shout together… kind of ending.  I remembered at IBM in Malaysia, I concluded with a story about spending a weekend with Steven Seagal, the movie actor and martial artists. It involves a true story of a six-year-old boy with cancer who asked Steven Segal, How can I have the courage not to die?  By the time I concluded the story and applied it back to them at work and what we just learned, several people were crying, including the MC. Not tears of sadness necessarily, but tears of hope and realizing, they, like that boy, CAN have the courage to live right and to give it their best.

If you learn and apply your ABCs and D to speaking opportunities, you can always give a quick, easy to understand and deliver talk that will make a profound impact upon your audience!