Here’s the scenario. A bio-tech company will fly to Paris to convince influential French physicians to use their compound-in-development in clinical trials. The company has invited the French doctors to a nice meeting room in a nice hotel and plans to tell the doctors all about the compound.

When asked, “What is the purpose of the presentation?” they say, “To tell them about the drug.” I say I see it differently. I say it’s to help the French doctors come to the conclusion that the bio-tech company would be a great company to partner with, and that the drug is a versatile powerhouse that will almost certainly make it to market and get their names in the best peer-reviewed journals in the world.

When I lay out this plan, they say it is not scientific enough. I am sensitive to that. I like and respect the traditions of science. But I say, “This is not a scientific presentation. This is a business presentation. Science plays a part, but the goal is a business goal. You need these people to believe in your company and your compound. Our job is to induce belief in them, and raise that belief to the level of action.”

We take the scientific and corporate information they already have and restructure it to make a strong argument for partnership. There is some resistance holding out in the recesses of their scientific hearts.

I persist. This is a “decisional” presentation, I say. The French doctors will say, “Yes, No or Maybe.” There are risks for them. They could miss out on a good thing if they say no. They could miss out on better opportunities if they say yes. There are rational calculations to make, including the fact that they have practices to run, assistants to pay, and time to manage.

There are also non-rational issues. They would love to get their names on an important study. They would hate to work for years on a trial of a compound that never gets to market. Should they say no? Should they say yes?

In reality, I would guess their decision will hinge on what the most influential physician in the group decides.

This was a lesson in knowing the audience–in targeting their rational and non-rational needs. The bio-tech firm was relying on the science to do the job. It seemed to me the calculation was broader than that. For the doctors, the decision would be psychological as well as scientific.

Stay tuned.

In the Jobs section of the New York Times, on Sunday March 30th, Phyllis Korkki has written an article entitled The Adroit Speaker Doesn’t Wing It.

That’s true and not true. I believe wholeheartedly in preparing, rehearsing, getting feedback, even scripting a speech or presentation. But then, once I have internalized the content, I boil my talk down into bullets and let myself wing it.

Rehearsal enables spontaneity. Jazz musicians work on their riffs, (their chops) in rehearsal so that they can improvise in performance. But much of that improvisation has been grooved into their muscles during hours of practice.

I don’t want to be married to a script, and I don’t think audiences want us to be married to scripts. They appreciate the fact that scripts can keep us on point, but they do not like the fact that scripts force us to read to them.

Ms. Korkki quotes Linda Blackman, founder of Executive Image in Chicago on the causes of stage fright. She says we get stage fright because:

1. We’re afraid we will look foolish
2. We’ll make a mistake (?)
3. We will disappoint the boss
4. Our expertise will be questioned
5. We may not have prepared properly

There are other reasons as well. We may have had a traumatic experience in childhood associated with humiliation, such as answering a question in class and hearing the entire room erupt in derisive laughter. Such an experience opens a pathway in the brain that makes it more likely we will experience the flight or fight syndrome.

The ancient Greeks called this dreadful sensation glossophobia. Glossa is Greek for tongue, and phobos means fear.

The Greeks also had another word that could describe stage fright: agoraphobia, which is the fear of crowds. Agora is the Greek word for marketplace.

According to some surveys, public speaking is the number one fear in America, followed by the fear of illness, heights, deep water, snakes and bugs, financial problems, and death.

Death is number seven, which means that most people would rather die than give a talk. Seinfeld once quoted this fact on his show and quipped, “That’s why, when you go to a funeral, you’d rather be in the box than deliver the eulogy.”

It has been shown that the blood chemistry of a soldier about to go into battle is the same as that of a speaker about to go on stage.

Overcoming stage fright is a multi-channel enterprise. Ms. Korkki’s article stresses the importance of preparing your script, but there are tens of thousands of well-prepared speakers who are terrified and ineffective.

Preparing your script is a brain function, but good speaking is not entirely cognitive. It also requires the heart and the body–in other words, your emotions and your spirit.

Dr. Charles Strobel of Yale University offered a more wholistic approach. His research indicated that there are two ways to alter a distressing inner state. One is to include positive self-talk and mental imagery as you prepare. The other is to use your body to impact your inner feelings.

For instance, Strobel proved that smiling blocks the enzyme in the brain that causes us to experience fear. He encouraged deep breathing, which can have the same effect, and showed that the best way to get a deep breath is to yawn–although not in front of the audience.

He also demonstrated that by simply manipulating your posture–by standing up straight and acting as if you were feeling comfortable, you change your blood chemistry.

The power of visualizing the results you hope to achieve is an established psychological technique. The power of using gesture and movement to alter inner states is less widely known, but it is another example of how emotion influences the body, and how the body can influence our emotions.

When transforming your house into a dream home, talk to three architects.

When getting heart surgery to transform the quality of your life, talk to three surgeons.

And to transform your sales presentations, talk to three consultants.

I have three people in mind. The first is Ford Harding, a sales consultant to professional service firms and the author of Creating Rainmakers, (Wiley 2006) and other books on selling professional services. Ford has helped umpteen thousand professionals get over themselves and bring in business.

The second is Suzanne Lowe, a marketing consultant and author of Marketplace Masters: How Professional Firms Compete to Win. As Ford says, she can get a burlap bag full of cats, dogs and canaries to hum the same tune.

The third is me, Sims Wyeth, a presentation coach whose mission is to transform the personal impact of business presenters.

To officiate, we have assembled a panel of fifteen objective judges selected for their diversity along multiple dimensions.

Here are THE FIVE DON’TS OF SALES PRESENTING in no particular order.

Don’t even go to the presentation if the client won’t meet with you ahead of time so you can learn what they want and why they want it. Your time is extremely valuable, as is theirs, and you should not waste either their time or yours by pursuing an opportunity for which you are not suited, or by traveling to recite information they could read in a brochure, e-mail, or website.

Don’t assume that the presentation begins when you stand in front of the room and open your mouth. In reality, you began presenting when the prospective client first encountered you and your team—perhaps months before, on the phone, on the web, or in person, when their search for a provider began. Your behaviors, and your tangibles (including your brochure and office) throughout the preliminary discussions and scheduling of the presentation play a significant role in their ultimate decision

Don’t be late, unprepared, sloppy, rude, poorly dressed, or tense when you enter the meeting room. People want to do business with people they like and trust. A sales presentation is a formal social occasion as much as it is a business transaction. Therefore, be attentive to all aspects of the conversation. Show interest at all times. Do not slouch in your chair, Blackberry under the table, conduct side conversations, scowl, be boring, or dominate the conversation. A bad dinner guest is the same as a bad salesperson.

Don’t elevate prospects to a higher status than yourself, nor should you look down your nose at them for any reason. You do the potential partnership a disservice on both counts. Treat your prospects as equals—partners with whom you can be yourself and speak your mind.

Don’t go there to sell them anything. If you do, they will smell it. Go there to help them. Don’t make the presentation all about you. Make it all about them.

If you would like to submit additional Sales Presentation Don’ts, Ford, Suzanne, and I are glad to pass them on to our totally objective board of fifteen judges for rating.

To see a marketing expert’s choices for presentation Don’ts, go to Suzanne Lowe’s blog:

To see a sales consultant’s, go to Ford Harding’s blog.

You are currently on Sims Wyeth’s Blog.

A friend of mine, who is a very successful consultant, told me that she has lost her confidence as a speaker. For twenty years she has been speaking to large groups of clients and potential clients with success.  Now she feels very unsure of herself.

She reports to me that she’s terrified of going blank.  While she used to trust herself to speak without slides, and instead drew pictures on a flipchart or whiteboard, now she prepares a script and a set of detailed slides.  She says that her voice shakes, her hands tremble, and her eyes dart from side to side as she speaks.

I respect this person, and feel honored to be trusted with her struggle.  She told me that she has gotten a medication to help her, and it works.  She’s feeling better.

But that solution is not appropriate for everyone.  It’s expensive, might cause side effects, and some of us are opposed to pharmaceutical assistance when it comes to our “valor under fire.”  Plus, it could take the edge off–the edge that makes great musicians play dramatically better when under pressure to connect with a live audience.

What can you do if you lose your nerve, and feel your performance skills deteriorating?

Refuse to speak?  Few of us have that option.

Confess to the client or the meeting host that you are having a crisis of confidence and ask to be relieved of the duty to address the room?  Not a good idea–not unless the client or host is a long-time friend who will keep your secret and cover for you.

Lie, and say you’re not feeling well?    That’ll work.  Once.

Pray?  That could work for some.  After preparing like a maniac, throw yourself on the mercy of your God.  Trust your fate to His/Her guidance.  Give it everything you’ve got and hope that Someone is watching.

Rehearse more than usual?  Prepare so thoroughly that even if you pass out with anxiety you can still get your point across?   Yes!   The knowledge that you did everything within your power to ensure your success will strengthen you.  Anticipate everything that could possibly go wrong and develop a strategy for dealing with each potential disaster.  The performance will probably seem easy compared to the rehearsals.

Act as if you’re confident?  Absolutely!  We know instinctively that confidence is the essential ingredient for our success, and we constantly make every effort to demonstrate confidence to others.  A speaker without confidence does not inspire others to have confidence in her.

As a matter of fact, you can use posture and gesture to alter your inner state.  Just as emotions tend to shape our bodies, our bodies can also influence our emotions.  In private, find a gesture that gives you a good feeling (like Tiger Woods pumping his fist) and do it over and over.  Try it at different tempos.  Then, simply imagine you’re doing it while standing still.  The image of the gesture will inform your behaviors and stimulate a sensation that can help you overcome your negative feeling.

Smile?  Yes, if you can manage to do so.  Anxious speakers tighten the muscles of the face which makes a mask that listeners recognize.  Work hard to smile.  Charles Strobel of Yale University demontrated that a smile literally changes your brain chemistry and diminishes your experience of fear.

Lift your eyebrows?  Believe it or not, yes!  Lifting the eyebrows is a universal gesture that indicates surprise and delight.  It will help you feel those emotions, and it will make the audience respond positively to you.  By the way, raising the eyebrows also brings the voice forward and helps you be more expressive.

Remember to breathe?  Yup, that works too.  As you prepare for the event, and you feel anxiety rising, sit quietly and become mindful of your breathing.  Watch it come in and out.  Try counting your breaths while saying to yourself, “I’m breathing in ONE; I’m breathing out ONE.  I’m breathing in TWO; I’m breathing out TWO,” all the way to TEN.  Then start again.

While you’re doing this, send your mind on an inspection of your body.  Check out your legs, your lower back, your shoulders, your neck, your forehead.  See if any area is experiencing tension.  If so, tell it to relax.  Or imagine that you’re breathing in and out through the tense spot.

Here’s another technique.  Count your breaths from 100 to zero.  The effort to concentrate on your breath while counting backwards takes the mind away from your pre-occupation with your anxiety.

Finally, envision yourself succeeding–over and over again.  Picture it in detail.  What do you look like when you’re succeeding during the speech?  What do you sound like?  What are you doing?  What’s the audience doing?  How do you feel while you’re succeeding in your vision?

Confidence can be defined as the expectation of positive outcomes.  Talk to yourself in a positive manner, so that your subconscious mind absorbs positive messages.  Do that long enough, and your self-image changes.  You begin to think of yourself as, “The kind of person who speaks well in public.”

And that can make a huge difference in your performance.

Dan Heath looks like a buttoned up sportscaster as he sits in front of the New York skyline at a broad cherry desk.  His brother Chip  sits next to him, looking gleefully wonkish, with wire-rimmed glasses and a broom of fine hair combed staight down onto his forehead.

Together, they are the authors of Made to Stick, a business book that attempts to bottle what poets and artists have known since the dawn of time–that when it comes to words, surprising specifics are better than predictable generalizations–that blue butterflies works better than azure-hued insects.

In appealing simplicity, they lay out why this is so, and give examples from the marketing world.  For instance, one of the most successful campaigns in recent years has been Jared, the Subway spokesperson, who lost 245 pounds by eating Subway every day. 

Jared’s ad is simple–a fat guy lost a lot of weight.   It is surprising to learn that one can lose weight eating fast food.  It is concrete, especially when Jared holds up his gi-normous pants.  It is credible because Jared is like us–a regular guy.  It has emotion in it, because it is a story of triumph.  And finally, it works because it’s a story about a fat guy who was on a diet and made it work.

And that’s what you learn in this book.  They have an acronym for it.  SUCCES.  S for simplicity.  U for unexpected.  C for concrete.  C for credible.  E for emotion.  And S for story.

SUCCES helps us remember that simplicity is more persuasive than complexity.   That the unexpected grabs attention more than the predictable.  That the concrete is more graspable than the general and abstract.  That credibility with the audience is essential.  That emotion has to be present.  And finally, that narrational discourse is usually more interesting than rational discourse–in other words, stories hold attention.

All good stuff for presenters.  Now, how do we get this into our data-rich presentations?

I occasionally hear from clients that they don’t want to change their style as presenters.  The implication is that any behaviors I recommend that are outside their range of normal will be artificial and ineffective.  They just want to be themselves.

I know how they feel, and focus them on the flow and logic of their content: they don’t want to be actors.  But eventually their success could come down to being a little more interesting.

So I may ask, in response to their desire to “be themselves,”–”What if “yourself” is distracting, or having difficulty keeping people focused?  Do you still want to stick with it?”

If they let me, I will tell them about Brian Little, a psychologist and Professor at Harvard who does research into human personality.  He says that we have fixed traits–those habits of being we are comfortable living in every day, and free traits, which are those modes of being we are willing to stretch into for life projects that are important to our deepest values.

For instance, Little cites himself–a highly introverted person–who, in order to do his job as a professor, acts like an extrovert in order to deliver his lectures.  He does this because he knows his teaching career depends on his ability to hold the attention of the students in the lecture hall.

He also says that after his lectures, in order to recover from the stress of operating in the zone of his free traits, he retires to his office and lies down on his couch for a few minutes.

He calls this his free trait agreement with himself.

Presenting is the number one tool of leadership, influence, and persuasion.  We will all use the tool in our own unique way, and when we work on our presentation skills, we work on ourselves.

Science is making progress in understanding sexual desire.

Birds Do It. Bees Do It. People Seek the Keys to It by Natalie Angier was published in the New York Times on April 10, 2007.  It’s fun reading, and should provide even greater motivation for men to become more effective presenters.

Stephanie Sanders of the Kinsey Institute and Indiana University compiled a new, female-friendly questionnaire.  They asked 655 women ages 18 to 81 to complete a survey that they had used for men and then tweaked slightly.

It turns out men and women differ in many ways.  For instance, women do not accord so much importance to physical appearance.  In fact, many expressed a greater likelihood of being aroused by evidence of talent or intelligence–say, while watching a man deliver a great speech.

This is very good news for me, since I spend my waking hours trying to convince male executives that their ability to speak well is their greatest professional asset.

Now I can offer scientific proof that, if they work with me and give a knock-out presentation, they will have women fantasizing about them.

And since exaggeration is the backbone of marketing, I could even say, “Women will come up to you after your speech.  They will take off your glasses.  They will remove your pocket protector, undo your tie, and whisper in your ear, ‘I really like they way you nailed that market analysis.’

“Would you like to explore my SWOTs after work?”