Speakers always need to listen, assess and calibrate the response of their audience. When addressing a large room, the expectation is that you will deliver a solo, rather than an interactive presentation. It is still your responsibility to read body language, e.g. the positive signals of leaning in, smiling, or nodding in agreement vs. shifting and rustling, checking Blackberrys, or dozing off. And when you assess negative signals, experienced speakers nimbly adjust their presentation to engage the audience.

However, one-on-one or with a small group, speakers must keep the flow of energy and dialogue immediate and constant. Interactivity is particularly critical when pitching for new business. If you talk too long, are unobservant when others want to enter the conversation, or make it about you rather than them, you may well end up with polite, passive receivers. And when a potential client has not participated in the meeting and ends with a cool “thank you”, don’t expect business, referrals or a relationship to ensue.

On the 22nd, Eloqui conducts another public workshop focusing on elevator speeches, client anecdotes and differentiators.

This month, Deborah and David train CPAs in Washington, D.C. for the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts.

In a Harvard Business Review interview, famous choreographer Twyla Tharp said “everyone can be creative, but you have to prepare for it with routine” and ”the best creativity is the result of habit and hard work”. 

Business clients often fall into the ‘bad’ habit of describing their work or opening their presentations exactly the same way. Their material has become stale through repetition. Establish a weekly routine to engage in free-form brainstorming.  This will jump-start your creativity. And if you are willing to risk minor failures, you will spark fresh ideas for your elevator speech, pitch or presentations. Besides, if you bomb, they won’t shoot you! This ‘good’ habit will make it easier for creativity to flow, and audiences or clients will anticipate hearing you.

Eloqui conducts media training for the LFPA (LA Financial Planning Association) at the Proud Bird near LAX.

Deborah and David return to East Aurora, New York to work with the Walmart Sales Team at Fisher-Price. 

A public workshop for professionals on the 8th focuses on differentiators, elevator speeches and how to tell compelling client anecdotes.

Deborah and David train CPAs in litigation support at the NACVA class in Dallas, Texas.

Keynotes this month are delivered at Wells Fargo Insurance on reading your audience and the California Mortgage Bankers Association on becoming a Trusted Advisor and telling compelling client anecdotes.

Eloqui welcomes new client Bench International.

Deborah and David extend their reach at Mattel in El Segundo, coaching key decision makers.

A running theme in Silicon Valley is that the behemoth companies began in a garage.  Although Hewlett-Packard and Apple Computers were formed in garages*, the founders also worked for major corporations and had access to equipment, contacts and funding. This part of the story is conveniently ignored, because the folklore is so appealing. The scenario is visual (we see the founders toiling in a garage) and dovetails with the larger American story, that in this country you can succeed with a good idea and can-do determination.

If you want audiences to remember your product, services or company, go back to the beginning. Carefully craft your story. It may not have begun in a garage, but make your ‘creation myth’ visual. Include the values of the founders. Keep it simple, brief and colorful to establish your place in history.  
 
*A few years after Google was founded, Larry Page and Sergey Brin rented a garage for 6 months, so they could share the garage creation myth.

In their new book Switch, the Heath brothers challenge the old paradigm of persuasion: Analyze-Think-Change. Most speakers believe if they intelligently arrange and present content so the audience fully understands it, they will be convincing and achieve their objective. Not so, say the Heaths, and we fully agree. Your listeners must be able to visualize what you are talking about, and feel that it is the right thing to do. Only then will they completely accept your idea. To change behavior, you must address feelings. The new and more compelling sequence: See-Feel-Change.

Consider this approach when speaking– point to the destination, so that you orient your audience. Outline the critical moves with the use of visual details and vivid descriptions. Say why it is important; that is the emotional element. There is no better way to successfully propel change.

In Chicago, Eloqui trains CPAs in litigation support along with Michael Kaplan at NACVA (National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts).

Eloqui returns to Mattel for training of their customer service division in El Segundo, California.

Eloqui welcomes Warner Brothers in Pasadena and Anderson Kill & Olick in Ventura County as new clients.

Eloqui hosts a business development workshop on June 4th focusing on differentiators, elevator speeches, and client anecdotes.

On June 10th, the level #2 Eloqui workshop features reading your audience, intention and how to close any presentation.

On June 8th, Deborah and David deliver a presentation on Impression Management to Wells Fargo Financial Wealth Advisors at Pepperdine University in Malibu.

Deborah and David present to the San Fernando Valley Executive Forum on June 18th.

Eloqui  trains managers and event specialists at the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network in El Segundo this month and next.

Deborah and David coach Nossaman attorneys in Sacramento the end of the month.

Eloqui conducts a presentation training for the market research firm of Hall & Partners in both LA and Chicago.

Deborah and David conducts a class for UCLA graduate students on May 8th.

The Mattel training held in El Segundo is completed on May 10th.