As a presentation skills expert, I’m often asked, “Where do I find good stories and examples for my presentations?”
The answer lies in our everyday experiences. Here are a couple from my own journey, focusing on the important role of customer service.
Consider this: every interaction your organization has with customers either strengthens or weakens your relationship. This includes every letter, ad, phone call, and especially each employee interaction, from the CEO to the technicians and maintenance crews. It’s a sobering thought, isn’t it?
Do you hold the position, earn the salary, or command the respect you believe you deserve?
If not, I encourage you to dress and speak for the role you aspire to, not merely the one you currently have.
When I was growing up, my mother gave me great advice. “Patricia, of course, it is the inner you that is most important. However, you have to dress up and look good so that you can attract others. They will then discover how nice and smart you are and how you can be of value to them.” This principle, emphasized by my mother and echoed through the annals of Hollywood, remains as relevant today as ever.
Hollywood’s history is rich with icons like Edith Head, an eight-time Academy Award winner for Costume Design. Her work in classics such as The Heiress and All About Eve shaped the visual language of an era. Edith said, “You can have everything you want as long as you dress for it!”
As we stride into 2024, it’s crucial to recognize the impact of recency bias – the tendency to overemphasize recent experiences or the latest information when forecasting future events. This bias can skew our expectations, leading us to believe that the near past is a mirror of what’s to come. However, there’s an alternative viewpoint worth considering, inspired by a memorable experience from my past.
Rewind to my avid running days in the scenic Marina District of San Francisco. One Sunday morning, I found myself jogging alongside David, a psychiatrist, and my running partner. Our route took us from the vibrant Marina Green to the iconic Golden Gate Bridge and back, immersed in the breathtaking beauty of the bay. Just another heavenly day in San Francisco.
Patricia at the time of her first management seminar
As a budding entrepreneur embarking on my journey with my upscale men’s hairstyling salon, I vividly remember attending my first management seminar. This was, of course, many moons ago, yet one statement from that day has stayed with me:
‘Your business is as good as your worst employee.’ Quite the alarming thought, isn’t it?
Fast forward to my days as a keynote speaker, I had the honor of sharing the stage with the iconic broadcaster, Paul Harvey. His words, much like the ones from my seminar days, left a lasting impression. He said, ‘For a company’s advertising strategy to work, it has to be handled both corporately and individually.’
Every member of your team must understand the significance of customer service in your business.
Many of my clients offer complex solutions to solve their customers’ problems, streamline their businesses, and protect their valuable assets.
They engage me to help their technology experts simplify the complexity of their offerings so that their buyers will understand why it is a good investment. I tell them, “Speak to be remembered and repeated. Then your message is not diluted and they can better explain to others what they heard enough to get their buy-in.”
When you count your riches, do you do it in money or memories?
For me, memories win out every time. At this point, most of my friends and I enjoy experiences together instead of exchanging gifts.
Don’t fade into the background
Many years ago, on my first and only trip to speak at a series of events in South Africa, my hosts took their speakers to a game park. A game park is not at all like a zoo, and it was hardly roughing it. By the time we got up for our 6:30 a.m. café au lait, the beaters had been out for an hour. We bundled up in layers of clothes and climbed into big high jeeps. We were all excited to see the animals and they were as magnificent as you would expect.
When I sit down with my clients to discuss their sales presentations, I often ask, “How long is your presentation?”
t used to shock me when they replied, “Twelve slides.” When I inquired, “How do you design your sales presentation?” it was dreadful to hear, “We get the slide deck.”
When you begin the process of designing your sales presentation by organizing your slides, you will sabotage what could be a great presentation. PowerPoint is a valuable visual aid, not a scripting aid.
Creating a compelling sales presentation is a creative process.
Look closely
The technique is often messy and not set in stone until you have completed it. Your finished PowerPoint needs to be tidy and make a logical and compelling case of why your prospect is well served to do business with you.
My suggestion is to begin with a flip chart where you capture all the information you need to include.
Once you have the outline of your new, improved sales presentation structure, you can ask yourself, “Where do I need help telling the story?” How can you visually demonstrate what you’re saying? Charts, graphs, and diagrams are perfect in this medium. However, do not have too many words. This is not your leave behind. You are there to add the context.
If your slides are complex, break them down and reassemble them with “builds” in a way that simplifies and clarifies your message. Now, let’s dive into the best PowerPoint practices for maximum impact:
Use Fewer Words: It’s impossible for your audience to read and listen simultaneously. Consider using more slides with less content. They’ll be more effective if you use the “build” feature when introducing a talking point.
Twelve Years Later: Reliving the Unforgettable Presentation Experience
In 2011, Salve Finance from Slovakia invited Darren LaCroix and me to deliver a presentation skills program in Las Vegas. The audience was their sales winners. Our challenge was… nobody spoke English. As their president, Peter explained, “Our generation grew up speaking Russian. We did not learn English at school.” In advance, we rehearsed our program with our interpreter, and the audience appeared to consider it the reward it was designed to be.
Little did we know that the impact of our presentation would echo through time. Twelve years later, Peter contacted us, and we revisited the experience. He said, “The audience hasn’t forgotten their last experience. We have some of your original audience and many new sales winners.”
Here is how a single presentation became a memorable legacy that continues to influence and inspire, even after all these years.
Advice I learned from past experiences.
Earlier in my career I recorded a video training series for a company that sold the programs in fifty-seven countries. My voice was dubbed into fifty-six languages. That is where I learned to de-Americanize all my examples and remove the names of people, places, books, and companies they would not know.
My friend and collaborator in The Odd Couple seminars, Alan Weiss, PhD told this story in one of his thoughtful weekly messages:
Alan Weiss and Fripp. we agreed and disagreed to help our audience decide how to build their speaking and consulting practice.
“There’s a small tailor shop run by one tailor on Main Street who has been there for forty years. The place is a mess. Everywhere you look there are threads, samples, and tools. He has to clear the counter to write out a receipt. He’s busy and he’s one-of-a-kind.
I brought him a jacket with a small rip on the lapel. Without even looking inside he felt the material and said, ‘This is cashmere and entirely handmade.’
He examined the rip and the fabric, hunted around, sweeping everything out of the way, searching for the right color and size thread, a needle, thimble, and scissors. I thought he’d tell me to leave it with him and get it back in a week.
Ten minutes later there was no defect visible at all. I watched him the entire time and still didn’t understand how he did that. No automation, no machines, just skill.
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How to Present and Teach in the Virtual World…and More
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