I had the privilege of helping a young man with a sales presentation.\u00a0 He had already been delivering it for several months on behalf of his investment firm, but he thought we could tweak it.\u00a0 The slide deck introduced the firm and went on to describe an alternative strategy they used to diversify client portfolios.\u00a0 The flow of information was predictable\u2014fact-based charts demonstrating degrees of correlation with other asset classes–and while informative, I suggested that it lacked dramatic structure<\/a>:\u00a0 it didn\u2019t have good bones.<\/p>\n

I videotaped him delivering the talk, then played it back for him.\u00a0 He was unhappy with his delivery and the material itself.\u00a0 He said that he had been traveling with a sales colleague who had put the slides<\/a> together, and he was copying what the colleague did.\u00a0 I asked if he had the license to change the script and he said yes, as long as he got the key points across.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo what are the key sales points?\u201d I asked. \u00a0He told me.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you familiar with the Tell \u2018Em^{3<\/sup><\/em> model of presenting?\u201d\u00a0 He was not.<\/p>\n}

\u201cYou tell \u2018em<\/strong> what you\u2019re gonna tell them, tell \u2018em<\/strong>, then tell \u2018em<\/strong> what you told them.\u201d\u00a0 He didn\u2019t say anything<\/p>\n

I said, \u201cIt\u2019s kind of academic, not very salesy, but it could work here.”\u00a0 We tried beginning the talk this way:<\/p>\n

Thanks very much for having me.\u00a0 I will make three points in my talk this afternoon.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em>Alternative investment strategies have been proven to lower the risk and improve returns in a traditional 60\/40 portfolio.<\/em>
\n2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em>Strategy XYZ provides the greatest degree of diversification of all the alternatives available.<\/em>
\n3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em>Your clients can get the benefits of the XYZ\u00a0 strategy at low cost because we offer it as a mutual fund.\u00a0 Let me walk you through it.<\/em><\/p>\n

He seemed to like the idea so I asked him to try it.\u00a0 We rehearsed and changed it to suit his own style.\u00a0 He had much more authority simply because he began his talk in a commanding manner<\/a>.\u00a0 In fact, his crisp opening improved his image and stature.<\/p>\n

The Tell \u2018Em^{3<\/sup><\/em>} model of presenting<\/a> is at least as old as the written word, and maybe even older.\u00a0 It prepares the audience to listen well, keeps\u00a0 your content crisp and in marching order, and enables you to repeat yourself three times, which is good.<\/p>\n

In sales, you\u2019re always knocking on doors, and when you knock on a door (to an office or a mind), you don\u2019t just knock once.\u00a0 You generally have to knock three to five times to gain admittance.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sims Wyeth & Co.<\/em><\/a>\u00a0provides\u00a0<\/em>public speaking courses<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>leadership skills<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>presentation skills<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>voice training,\u00a0speech training<\/em>,\u00a0<\/em>speech writing<\/em><\/a>, and courses that address stage fright, body language, presentation strategy, persuasive speaking, sales training, and effective use of PowerPoint, all of which contribute to greater executive presence and personal impact.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I had the privilege of helping a young man with a sales presentation.\u00a0 He had already been delivering it for several months on behalf of his investment firm, but he thought we could tweak it.\u00a0 The slide deck introduced the firm and went on to describe an alternative strategy they used to diversify client portfolios.\u00a0… Read More »How to project authority<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","_ti_tpc_template_sync":false,"_ti_tpc_template_id":""},"categories":[144,24,149,1],"tags":[548,39,18,297,145,146,337,904],"yoast_head":"\n