Telling a great story in the interview, is the single best thing you can do to improve your odds of landing another interview or offer. Powerfully share a relevant example from your experience that illustrates how you can help them. Go beyond just saying that you are good at what you do. Go beyond telling them “I did this which resulted in that.” Help them to picture your value by painting that picture with words; share the full, interesting story in detail.
Hiring managers who know how to interview will ask you for these examples and have lots of followup questions. Those who are
Whether you’re in sales, business development or a job search, effectively cold-calling “strangers” to get the meetings you seek is a crucial skill. For jobseekers, this is called accessing the “hidden” job market, where you’re developing new long-term relationships that can lead to opportunities.
When you cold-call, you have only roughly 20 seconds to gain their interest. At that point you need to give them an out or you risk making a bad impression; they may be about to run off to a meeting and keeping them on the phone would be a no-no. So if you haven’t interested them enough by then, you’re done. That’s why you need a 20 second pitch.
Bring the element of surprise into your presentation to make it memorable and powerful. Humans evolved to remember the unusual and the shocking; use this knowledge to your benefit!
For example, I coached one client to begin his presentation (to an executive audience at a Fortune 500 company) with a slide that had one single large number on it. Then he said:
I once went to a seminar where the presenter was sharing some leadership development ideas with the audience. At the end of the presentation, we were all left with the same question— What do we do with this information? In fact, someone asked this very question (“what is our next step…”), and the presenter’s response was “That’s a good question, I’m not sure.” BIG mistake, and it was the key reason his presentation was a fail.
The number one question any audience member has is “how does this help me?” For your presentation to have any chance of achieving greatness (or even goodness), you must answer this question.
How you present yourself or your work can determine a potential promotion, sale, or job offer. These three simple ideas, from my book, Peak Presentations, can go a long way towards helping you achieve the outcomes you want.
Make it Useful: Focus on their Bottom Line
It’s easy to talk about what you know. It’s harder to apply your knowledge to the specific issues of the audience members before you. Every audience member wants to know “how can this help me?” Taking steps to keep the focus on your audience’s bottom line is key to winning them over.
Here’s an example: I facilitated a meeting between David, a business owner with a client-relationship-management (CRM) software product, and Julie, a potential client for David, whom I knew and thought could benefit from David’s product. I had both worked with David before and used his software, so I could vouch for him and his product.
About five minutes into David’s initial presentation to Julie, however, I began to see that David was not going to get the sale. The reason: he went right into the features and the bells and whistles of his software, instead of keeping the focus on Julie’s specific problems, and how he could help solve them! In short, he took the easy route, instead of the harder route which would have involved seeking to understand Julie’s issues, and then translating his product’s benefits into solutions for Julie.
Following this non-event, I worked with David on his sales presentation. The next time around, he did his homework about what problems his software could solve for the prospective client, and what opportunities it could open up. He also made sure to ask a few key questions early in the meeting which further identified CRM-related issues the prospect was facing. This time, he got the sale.
PowerPoint Slides: Don’t Compete!
When using PowerPoint slides to support a presentation, make sure the slide content doesn’t compete with what you are saying.
Often this can happen when the presenter places too much content on the slide, so the audience has to decide– read the slides, or listen to the presenter? Think back to a recent presentation you attended, and you’ll know what I mean. That’s why you need to keep the slides simple– relegate them to a true supporting role. They should enhance your words, not compete with them; people are there to listen to you. The handouts, on the other hand, are a different story– that’s where you can give them details.
Have an on-the-job pitch at the ready
Having a very short, “five second pitch” at the ready for unexpected encounters can turn a mundane situation into a career-enhancing opportunity. The following client experience illustrates how this “mini-presentation” can help you.
Mike was in an elevator at work. The doors opened and in walked a more senior executive, Andrea, with whom Mike had little interaction. She said, “Hi Mike, how are you?” Mike could have made small talk, but instead, he used his five second pitch: “Well, we’ve just rolled out the new workflow-management platform, so things are great!” ”Oh you’re involved with that?”, asked Andrea. Mike’s response: “Actually, I’ve been leading the effort for the past three months!” Now they were having a conversation about this big triumph in Mike’s career.
Andrea ended the conversation with “Given your leadership role, we may want you for our cross-functional task-force for company-wide workflow management– I’ll talk to your boss about it.” The result? Mike transformed a potentially trivial encounter to a possibly significant career-enhancing opportunity.
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When you are giving a presentation, look to actively engage your audience right from the start. Don’t assume they are paying attention; they may be thinking about their last meeting or the next one! So go beyond the dry and conventional; Capture their imagination, make them part of the show. Use any of these six approaches to hook your audience, so you can then reel them in with a memorable, powerful presentation.
Many clients tell me that they really dislike the process of calling people they don’t know to get meetings, interviews, or new business opportunities. By following these tips on how to present yourself on the call and adopt the right mindset, you’ll get better results, and feel better too!
Presenting Yourself – Rehearse your “20-second pitch.”
How do you get them to stay on the phone, or want to speak with you? The key is your 20-second pitch. When someone takes your call, they
Whether your goal is to sell, inform, or land a job offer, telling engaging, relevant stories can turn even a so-so presentation into a great one. Illustrating your points with the right stories will have a far stronger impact than many other things you can do, including slide design, body language, eye contact, and so forth.
Whether you’re in sales, business development or a job search, effectively cold-calling “strangers” to get the meetings you seek is a crucial skill. For jobseekers, this is called accessing the “hidden” job market, where you’re developing new long-term relationships that can lead to opportunities.
Ace Your Interview: Tell a Great Story
by Robert Hellmann • Interviewing, Presentations, Recruiting
Hiring managers who know how to interview will ask you for these examples and have lots of followup questions. Those who are