Expanding your speaking opportunities: part 2 of 2: Pitching without Pitching
Continuing on from “Getting invited,” it is important to make your mark on the hosting organization, the audience, and any prospective clients or customers in the room.
Supporting:
- Once accepted as a speaker, be as low-maintenance as possible. Send in everything you are asked for as soon as you can – blurbs, bios, photos, and equipment requests. Do not make the administrators chase you. A reputation as a cooperative speaker, combined with good evaluations from the audience, tend to ensure repeat offers to present.
- Arrive at least 15 minutes early to your presentation room to make sure you understand the physical conditions and can test the equipment and confer with the tech support and administrative support handling the room. This early time allows trouble to be detected and fixed.
- If there is nothing to prepare, you will have time to personally greet the early arrivals in the audience, which they will appreciate, especially if you ask them about their specific interest in the topic, or any question they might like you to address. Many of the audience are shy in front of presenters, and would not speak with you afterwards. These are particularly appreciative of being welcomed before the presentation.
- When presenting, follow the requests of the organization: make sure audience questions are repeated or are asked into a microphone, so that the recordings are valuable. If you are asked to make announcements (for example, to fill in evaluation forms), comply graciously.
Follow up and marketing outreach:
- Write a thank-you email to the host of the conference, reporting on the success of the presentation, your enjoyment of the event, and your interest in presenting at future events. This should be sent no more than 2 days following your presentation.
- Send a follow up email to your other panel speakers, appreciating their insights. (If you chaired the panel, then thank them for their expertise).
- Send a follow up email to anyone from the audience who gave you his/her card and/or spoke to you afterwards. This email must be sent individually to each person, and you must reference what issues they shared with you, which you should have noted on the card during or after your conversation with each one of them.
- Although you can use standard paragraphs in this email, at least one paragraph must reference that you remember the conversation. Do not send a mass-mail, form email except to those who may have taken your card, left theirs, and did not speak to you. This email must speak to your regret in not having a chance to speak to them directly.
- In the email’s content:
- Reference access to your website.
- Engage them in further conversation about your product or service or consultancy without selling.
- Send a “trinket” – some blog article of yours, or others’, which extends the conversation and will be of use to them.
- If you plan ahead, you will offer your audience access to this trinket if they will give you their card after your presentation. The trinket can be delivered via email or via a link in the email, which drives the audience to your site to access it there with a password, created for this audience.
Much of this is basic etiquette, but it goes far in making your way into new relationships and in creating new loyalties.
Expanding your speaking opportunities: part 1 of 2 – Getting invited
O.k., so you have presented at some conferences and events in your industry, and you’ve discovered how effective your live presence is to your potential clients and customers. You need to expand your network of speaking gigs.
Remember, you only want to speak at events and conferences that will put your targeted decision maker in the room where you are speaking.
Here’s how:
Research:
- List of all the conferences special to your industry.
- List the events and conferences at which your competitors present (search your competitors’ websites).
- Select the ones that put that targeted decision maker in the audience.
- Refine your selection to prefer events that allow you a solo presentation. Panel participation is fine, but often is not as effective due to the limited time to show your expertise, bad moderators, and other conditions beyond your control. Another high priority includes events that allow either solo or panel presentation, but add on a breakout session or workshop as well.
Due diligence:
- Explore each event or conference website to determine if it attracts your target market in its audience. There will be a list titled “Who should attend.”
- Contact the conference (use an email address not associated with you or your company) to send you the promo package for sponsors or exhibitors. This should give you a much more detailed demographic and psychographic description of the attendees, by percentage (10% CxO, 25% VP, etc.) of rank.
Pitch:
- If the conference or the Call for Speakers lists its agenda of panels or speaking sessions, select the one or two that fit your expertise.
- Draft an introductory email (or fill in a Call for Speakers form) pitching the topic(s) you can offer for those items on the agenda. If there is space allowed, drop the names of at least two major conferences where you have presented this topic (or something similar) previously.
- If the Call for Speakers is open-ended, and no agenda is offered, then study the audience and mission statement of the conference and pitch a series of topics that they might be interested in considering.
- When offering to present, offer a list of two or three topics that might fit.
- Attach the Speaking page of your website as a PDF attachment.
- In your email, add a link to your speaking page and a link to the home page of your website.
- Your speaking testimonials should be included, usually on the Speaking page of your site. If they are on a separate page of your website, add a link to that page as well.
- Of course, if you know someone inside the organization that is hosting the conference, connect with that person to get any inside information you might use, or ask him/her to get your pitch letter to the best decision maker inside.
If you follow these tactics, you can create a loyal following of organizations offering you exposure to your prospective audience. Check out also Part 2: Pitching without Pitching (will be posted in a few days this week).
Autonomy buys more happiness than money, reports APA
The American Psychological Association (APA) reports that the freedom to express our individuality and to control our choices creates more happiness than money.
As entrepreneurs, this information applies directly to us, as our choices are deeply based in individual choice and self-expression.
This autonomy in our lives can include control over our workplaces, choices of career or entrepreneuring, and pursuit of our dreams, whatever they might be. Although wealth can lead to autonomy, wealth alone does not generate the same level of happiness that this freedom can create. Wealth as an indicator of well-being levels off after personal needs are addressed.
Researchers at the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand asked: What is more important for well-being, providing people with money or providing them with choices and autonomy? Their meta-analysis of data from 420,599 people from 63 countries spanning nearly 40 years was written up in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology published by the APA.
For more details and links from APA:
http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2011/06/buy-happiness.aspx
For the article itself:
“What Is More Important for National Well-Being: Money or Autonomy? A Meta-Analysis of Well-Being, Burnout and Anxiety Across 63 Societies,” Ronald Fischer, PhD, and Diana Boer, PhD, Victoria University of Wellington; Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 101, Issue 1. http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/psp/101/1/164/
Stuck when writing the roadmap? Begin at the end, and write forward, so you can think
Sometimes, a strategic consultant knows the answer to the client’s dilemma before having all the information. Sometimes, what the client needs to do is obvious and driven by the marketplace. The client is waiting for the “expert” to explain (or verify or prove) the details of the solution, and to build the roadmap to the destination that everyone knows the client must achieve.
The rest is all details — how much will it cost, who are the real competitors, are there other approaches (partnering, acquiring, a different revenue model?) that get us there more easily?
Once, working with a partner who was stuck in the writing of a strategic roadmap, I suggested she begin at the end, move to the beginning, and fill in the rest. I am serious and not trying to be glib. Sometimes the straight path in writing gets in our way and we need to scramble our minds a bit to get moving. Sometimes, writing the end first shows us where our thinking is faulty, and leads us to re-examine the premise and all the steps. Other times it anchors us in our vision of the solution.
I want to share with you the message I recently found, that I had written to her:
“I believe you should write the concluding section first –the end, the results, the conclusion. It can be rough writing, but you should spend your time thinking it all the way through. Don’t worry about the details — whom they might partner with, or advertise with, or acquire, or compete with. Those are details. We know the answer, and do not need the details to lead it to it yet.
“Next, write the beginning – the definition of the client’s current condition in the marketplace (and within the larger organization, if political or internal funding issues apply), and why the client has asked you to help. Define in particular the revenue or margin issues, the financial “teeth” of the condition that made them pay you to find the resolution and build the roadmap. This is the only foundation issue (unless there is a political issue).
“If you will anchor yourself and the writing to the roadmap and recommendations (you know what they will be, so start there), you will have your direction and your goal, and the less interesting and less-necessary parts of the presentation will fall away, or be simply written.
“This approach will focus you, begin to structure your time management of the project, and allow you to prioritize the other sections that need writing. Outsource to a trusted adviser any research or data gathering that is not part of the thinking, concluding and writing. Use the gathered information to think more deeply. That is what you are paid to do, after all.
“Try it. Wing it. See what happens. Don’t resist. It is a good experiment, and may be a good solution:
- Start with: the conclusion, the solution…
- Then go to: the definition of the problem, the challenges facing your client, what they need to know and understand and then decide and execute.
- Later, fill in the competitive analysis, the description of the marketplace, the ratatat-tat of research.
Good luck!”
On Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs died yesterday, shortly after stepping down from one of the most innovative technology companies in the world, Apple: a company he founded, and was fired from, and returned to, and then built into a new market standard.
And he built a second company, Pixar, bringing us breakthrough animation. His direction to the team there, “Make it great.”
And he ran both companies simultaneously: Apple Monday through Thursday, and Pixar on Fridays.
Why do we mourn him? Besides our actual feelings about him (whether we knew him or not), and besides all the stories we know about how difficult he could be (and how compelling his courtship of partners could be) — we mourn what he represented: the essential entrepreneur.
Why essential? Because he never quit his dream. Because he succeeded, and failed, and never stopped. That is the definition of an entrepreneur.
Imagine founding a company, relinquishing its control, and being isolated and fired from it. Think about coming back from that experience. Think about moving on and creating a new computer for education instead. Think about returning to your first dream, and re-building your company to a market phenomenon, without becoming bitter.
Consider the joy that it takes, and the stamina, and the perseverance, to keep on keeping on, through the highs and lows, through a lifetime of always envisioning and then creating a next new thing, whether it succeeds or not. And then making the next one.
A colleague of mine wrote me, “…very sad day. He worked right up to the end of his life.”
What a blessing, to work right up to the end of your life, following your passions. You know, we used to say, “He died with his boots on.” Used to be a mark of pride. Who wouldn’t want to “change the world [rather than]…sell sugar water to children”?
Bye, Steve, we’ll miss you. I hope this next adventure is an E-ticket ride too.
Pitching for capital – 10 more tactics
I have been working more on training entrepreneurs to pitch for capital. Here are 10 more behavioral tactics that present you as a winner worth the investors’ commitment.
1. Calm down. Slow down. The investors must come to trust you and depend on you.
2. Take a power position, without ego, bragging or attitude. You can be charming, or serious, or whatever mode is most authentic, but stay grounded. A power position means you do not need this capital from these investors (even if you really do need it), that you are simply offering these nice folks an opportunity to share in and support your mutual future success.
3. Be confident and assertive and show them your commitment to the success of this company in which they may partner, as well as your rational approach to the challenges you will share. This confidence does not have to be noisy.
4. Remember, do not rush when speaking, and get your essential information (name, company, unique value proposition, potential ROI and request for funding) completed as a overview in the first 3-6 minutes. This is an overview — decision makers want to have the whole picture before they consider if you can execute on your promises. Many of them do not really begin to listen until they understand the cost, so tell them upfront. You will dig more deeply into each part of your pitch after the first 6 minutes, either by presenting the details or by answering their questions.
5. Use positive calm language and attitude.
6. Do not apologize for your request for funding. Your position is that this opportunity will be a winner in their portfolio.
7. Be prepared for questions on every aspect of your venture.
8. Abandon your prepared presentation as soon as the prospects indicate they want to talk. Their engagement in getting to know and trust you is more important than your carefully crafted handout. They will look at your materials if you pass the talk-test.
9. When the questioning begins, slow down again, and calm down. Re-establish direct, confident eye contact. This is your moment to create an authentic connection with these potential investors, and to abandon any behavior that might make you look like a vendor trying to sell them something. Settle in and talk to them as if you are about to become their trusted partner for the long run (since you are).
10. Practice and experience build confidence, and confidence is the secret sauce to success. Everybody wants to get on your magic carpet ride, if you look like you will succeed.
Technology in support of our minds and passions
My client told me an interesting story last week. He was boarding the plane in New York to come home to Los Angeles, iPad in hand. He had just spent 2 days in meetings with a new client, clarifying their initial transmedia strategy, so he could continue a long project to build their strategic roadmap for expansion into this world.
He had heard about a new book on strategy that sounded interesting. Of course, as he settled into his seat, he found the book online and pushed his touchpad and transacted his purchase, and there it was — the book and the information his mind wanted to chew on, just that minute.
Now, I’ve been in technology since the dawn of personal computing, and it is not the instant gratification, ease of transaction or immediate delivery that struck me. What I felt was the deeper significance offered by all the brilliant technology we have developed — that when our minds or our passions reach for the next new thought, the next idea, the continuation of our most urgent inspiration — we can continue that idea, that inspiration with tools that can literally “come to hand.” Think what this support can mean to ourselves and the world.
Now, that’s worth the last 30 years of effort!
A tactic for strategic insight: magic wands & genie wishes
When consulting on strategy, I use a special tactic with my clients to uncover often-hidden understandings of the dynamics of the entrepreneur, the team, or the organization.
I ask each of my clients, “If you could wave your magic wand, and get what you really want to achieve these goals, what would the result look like?”
This exercise in lateral thinking (or whimsy) will move those present to dream, and in the dream-state, several things happen:
- the mood in the room lightens and refreshes.
- the team’s mindset shifts from problem-solving mode to creative mode.
- the team reveals ideas and visions they hadn’t considered earlier.
- I learn new insights into where the obstacles might lie (to achieving the goals set).
Here are some of the responses I’ve heard:
- “I want to be the Guru of my field — not just the strategist, or the advisor, and certainly not the implementer of my own ideas. I want to consult to my client’s Board or the executive committee on my expertise, and direct others in their organization to do the work.”
- I want to move all my training from face-to-face to online, automatically delivered to the customer, so I can write about my expertise instead of living on airplanes delivering knowledge.
- I want to work only 2 days each week on work in my field, and the rest of the week to finish my novel, and still earn as much as if I were working full time.
When I am tasked with removing the obstacles blocking my client’s goals, and creating a roadmap to success, this tactical tool often opens the path to new understanding.
When I need further refinement of this information, I say, “O.k. I’m the genie and you get three wishes. Be careful — you only get three, so what are they?”
This deeper dive allows my clients to get quite specific about the steps they envision are most important to continuing the path along our roadmap. This specific information tells me both the obstacles they are facing, and the key initiatives they prioritize as most important.
These tactics are best used in the beginning of new work with a client, and at points in the work when the dynamic of the team and its thinking seems stuck.
For product companies, this approach is useful in CRM tactics online, e.g. “Tell us how to improve our product” or “What other features would you like to see on this website?”
And when creating a strategic partnership, this approach may easily cut through much of the negotiation positions assumed by the partner, and move the deal along more quickly.
Try it.
Defending ourselves against economic downturns
50 years comin’
I read recently that all our current economic troubles, from the Great Recession of 2008 to our tumultuous stock market of these past weeks, stems from debt.Debt in the personal and governmental and worldwide theatres.Debt as indulgence.Debt that began in the mid-1960’s when Bank of America released the first credit card (ultimately, Visa) to young Boomers.So, who wouldn’t spend easy money?
Twenty years later, in the mid-1980s, it became politically and financially important for banks and governments to prevent recessions, so they created low interest rates, creating lots of cheap money.
Twenty years later, mid-2000’s, found us with a debt habit and low interest rates, to which the Banks, seeking their own reward from new “financial products,” added low credit criteria on home mortgages, which increased the wealth of those Banks writing the mortgage papers, as they were paid on volume and not on the quality of the loans.
Without bringing too much drama around these facts that we already understand, here is where we are:the tumble began 3 years ago and continues, with little reassurance that the Wizards behind the Curtain can get us home to Kansas.Poor Toto!
Tactics & Attitudes
So, some ideas and attitudes I’d like to share on a new defensiveness against further and future economic downturns.These might be good tactics for you.
Avoid debt.
If you are one who craves stuff, this discipline may be difficult.But it can be learned.My father, a successful, self-made entrepreneur, taught me that I couldn’t have something I couldn’t pay for.He didn’t even have a mortgage, buying our beautiful home for cash.Now that may fly in the face of your tax games, but you can adjust for tax shelters.The secret?Don’t go into debt for anything you cannot cover if the loan fails, or that you cannot do without.
Live within your means.
There is a great freedom that comes from owing nothing to nobody.Without seeming either old-fashioned or conservative (I am neither), there is great freedom of choice in not being beholden (now there’s an old-fashioned word!) to the Big Bank, the Government, the landlord, or your brother.
Don’t believe the Big Institutions have your best interest at heart.
Banks, insurance companies, the government don’t care about you or your individual woes.Each is driven by its own bottom line:to make profits, to avoid claims (and therefore make profits), and to get re-elected (and therefore to gain power, for good or no).If you look calmly at the motivation of any institution, you will learn to protect yourself.You will not be indebted to the Bank, because it can call your loan at any moment, and will only lend you money when you don’t really need it and can prove you can pay it back.You will take painstaking steps to document what you own that the Insurance Company claims to be covering (because if the claim comes due, they will want detailed proof you owned it all, in order to pay).When you vote—yes, you should vote every time as you get the government you elect – do not listen to the rhetoric, look at the voting record.Do those votes reflect what you believe in?
Protect yourself from Carpetbaggers and Flimflam men
There will always be cons who want to take you.It’s the nature of some folks.And usually they are charming.And there are always Carpetbaggers, who swoop into a trouble zone or a market sector or a devastated community to take advantage of an easy opportunity, usually to your disadvantage.Try to remember, the most charming person can be a theatrical persona, if you do not know him (or her).And also remember, if a deal is too good to be true, it likely isn’t.
Save for the next crisis
Just like avoiding the credit card interest fees and other kinds of debt, I know it can be difficult to put money aside.It takes discipline, and the understanding that a consistent small amount creates significant accumulation over time.Truth is, you don’t know when the next economic or industry crisis will hit.And if you see it coming, you can do some avoidance or damage control, but you probably can’t prevent it or fix it.You can only take care of you and yours, and a buffer of capital solves a lot of problems, and creates freedom and new options that do not exist without the buffer.Make a simple savings plan and stick to it.
Keep your sense of humor
Now, I don’t mean to say the world is full of bad guys.There are lots of wonderful people and companies and institutions and causes in the world.And there are lots of con men and self-interested players at the world table.The wider world is full of every sort of person.
Keep your sense of humor.A charming flimflam man can be great company, as long as you keep your wallet, or, if working for them, get paid in advance before you begin.Banks and insurance companies and governments serve their purpose, but they care more about their own self-interest than they do about yours.You can make all these factors work for you.Just enjoy your life without inviting control of it from the Others.
Technologies and entrepreneurs who change the world
I have been so enjoying this summer, and the work and appreciation of my clients, that I wanted to share a personal note with all of you who follow these writings (for which I thank you).
I care about emerging technology entrepreneurs and early-stage, risk-taking founders and investors. My challenge is to guide you to success, wealth and the freedom to build the next new thing, again and again.
I am so blessed. I get to do the most challenging work with the best and the brightest of clients who are creating disruptive technologies that change the world. I get to have balance between the professional and the personal. And I live near the beach in the paradise of Southern California. How lucky can a girl get?
Building technology companies from the ground up for the success of entrepreneurs and their investors has been my challenge and my delight since the early days of the PC. I have helped my clients to IPOs, strategic sales, and other creative exits that allowed them a new freedom to live their most creative lives.
Some of life’s most important moments are expressed in creating a new technology, a new company, a new team ~ your first or your tenth. I support my clients to gain these moments.
And the wealth that can be gained from the ongoing business, or its exit, spurs new economies and workforces, and offers new opportunities to everyone involved.
So, to my clients, and those that follow these works, thank you.