Its not business… It is Personal!
Someone like Gordon Gecko might say “Its not personal… Its business!”. But, for most of us business is personal. Before anybody will do any business with your organisation they need to like, know, and trust the person representing the business.
For a sales presentation scenario this means that the client needs to feel that the person delivering the pitch warrants trust. For the person delivering the presentation this means that the opening part of the presentation needs to be dedicated to getting the attention of the audience AND establishing a rapport with the key members of the audience.
Why making a connection matters
Before you can influence, you must connect with your audience. This has been proven in University studies. At Stanford University students were asked to pair off and discuss a class problem and come to an agreement. 55 percent of the pairings were able to come to an agreement. A second class was asked to do…
Is your elevator pitch missing the mark?
Forgive me while I vent a little. My frustration stems from disappointment. Last night I had a wonderful evening at a NSW Business Chamber networking event where I met plenty of great small business owners striving hard to make their businesses a success. At the event there is a “sixty second soapbox” segment where a…