TJ’s Insights

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Most business speakers end their presentations with a sad, pathetic, whimpering thud.

“That’s-all-of-my-presentation-are-there-any-questions?” and then the speaker quickly slithers away from the lectern.

This ending is too abrupt for an audience. Endings of this sort leave an audience cold.

The best endings end with a purpose and with a forceful conclusion. I recommend that speakers end their presentations. Stop. Pause, for at least a few seconds. And then and only then ask for questions.

But great speakers aren’t afraid to break the rules. For example, Winston Churchill would often end his speeches by racing away from the lectern and off the podium. He dashed away the second his last syllable left his lips.

Lack of focus can hurt someone’s ability to run a business, promote an issue or give a speech. Too many speakers finish a presentation and the audience is left scratching their heads thinking “what was this person talking about?”

The best speakers have a specific focus to their presentation. Often the focus is so tight that it can be summed up in one word. When Rudy Giuliani is a keynote speaker, the title of his presentation is called simply “Leadership.” When Jack Welch speaks, he often has the one-word title of “Innovation.”

If you are giving a presentation about your business or are just meeting someone at a business networking event, one inevitable question is “so who is your typical customer?” or “what type of client do you have?”

Here is an answer that I get occasionally from people at business networking events:

“I’m a marketing consultant and my typical customer is any business that wants to grow its revenues and profits.”

“Really?” I think.

Whether you are speaking to 1000 people at a convention or one person at a business networking event, it is critical that you pick one and only one identification for yourself. Of course, we all have different identities and wear different hats in various aspects of our lives. But when talking to a group or an individual for the first time, it ’s too confusing to talk about more than one hat you wear.

It is the high pressure moments that can define a speaker’s identity, often for a lifetime. Rudy Giuliani will be forever identified with how well he spoke during the immediate two weeks after 9-11. But you don’t have to be the Mayor of New York City during a terrorist attack to face your own challenges in the spotlight.

Dan Ponce is a new reporter at WLS Channel 7 in Chicago. He was broadcasting live on August 5, 2006 at the Lollapalooza concert in Grant Park when a young woman from the crowd ran up to him, planted her tongue on his face and licked him—while on the air!

One of the most unpleasant aspects of any sales presentation is when your prospect asks for a discount. I often hear this from my prospects:

“TJ, you and your services sound great and we would love to use you, but your fee of $4000 for four hours and $6000 for 6-8 hours seems too high—it’s around $1000 per hour! Surely you can give us a discount because we are (A. a non-profit. B. the government. C a small company or D. a company so big it will look good on your client list)”

When I am training clients to go on TV, one of the greatest areas of confusion involves where to look during the interview. I urge people to look at the person talking to them, the reporter or host, not at the camera. But about half my clients can’t resist having their eyes and head bob back and forth between the interviewer and the camera.

The result? They look literally shifty eyed and nervous.

There was a time when obnoxious, authoritarian bosses could get away with abusing staff. Acting high and mighty was a perk that went along with a corner office and a nice title—even if you worked for a taxpayer supported institution.

Those days are over!

It’s not that the news media are becoming tougher, meaner or more unethical either. It’s just that now all of your disgruntled employees have a so many more options for trashing you behind your back. If you alienate enough of your staff long enough, some will start to criticize you in a blog. That blog may be read by only two people. But one of the two passes it on to a blog read by 10. And it keeps spreading. The next thing you know, one of your board members is passing it on to the New York Times and you find yourself under fire.

There may be times when your company or organization has to select a new spokesperson to promote a new cause or product. Here are issues you need to keep in mind during the selection process:

1 The media like to talk to the highest ranking person in your organization relevant to the issue. So if you aren’t going to use your chairman, CEO or president, you need to have some excuse.

2 Your spokesperson needs to be knowledgeable about the issue at hand, but not necessarily the most knowledgeable person.