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Home > Michelle's Blog > Previous Postings > 03/02/07
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Previous Postings |
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March 2, 2007:
Fact vs. "Filly"Have you ever had to stand in front of a group of people and do a presentation on something - maybe relay facts or even a corporate philosophy? What happens to your body? Do you get sweaty? Nervous? Want to faint? Wish you could put on a mask?
(picture of me and my brothers and sisters in a parade when we were younger....
I'm the little Mexican Babe!!!)Sometimes it's so hard to talk in front of groups, especially if the topic you are presenting is something "Philosophical", or "Filly". When you are just stating facts, you can fall back on the materials, even when you get nervous, and just work your way through them. But when you're "selling" the group on something "filly", you have to have conviction, charisma and charm, or it doesn't sell.
We just completed our Executive Conference in San Antonio a couple weeks ago. For this conference, we invite the Executives of our customer base to come and join us in presentations of industry experts. One customer, Francis Guidici, spoke on the philosophy of his company, "Customer Service Excellence." It was very good, but very hard to present. Francis told me prior to the talk, "We came up with this philosophy five years ago, but until you had asked me to stand up here and talk about it, I had kind of forgotten about it. This made me polish up our own philosophy and re-commit to it." That's what happens when it's philosophical.
Another customer, Jeff Nielson, spoke on the Ethanol Industry and what affect it has on his Ag-Business, United Farmers Cooperative. Jeff is a very charismatic person and did an outstanding job on this presentation. He was able to state many facts and also, his "filly" on what he has done to continue to be a successful business with the challenges of the Ethanol industry knocking at his door.
In a nutshell, Jeff proposed many questions - What happens if this country actually does continue to build ethanol plants at the rate that is being proposed? There is not enough corn to supply them. And what happens to the animals who get that corn today? To the beef that we all love so dearly? Are we ready to pay ALOT more for our steaks?
We also had a group of industry experts who came to discuss Patronage and Equity. In the ag-industry, this is a very dear-to-the-heart topic. It is about loyalty. It's about small business vs. large business and it really tugs at the heart strings of those that have been in the cooperative world for their whole lives. Cooperatives were the soul of the ag-industry back at the beginning of the 20th century, and when that loyalty is being questioned, people get philosophical and emotional. And rightly so. It's the backbone of the Midwest and of the ag-industry and needs good, open discussions among the industry experts.
So when you are asked to speak in front of people, and you get very nervous, do what I do (and no, I don't picture the audience in the undies...). Start the presentation with a story or a question. If you can begin with a story that is true and real to you, the audience will warm up to you right away, and you will feel more at ease. Asking a question is good too, cuz it takes the attention off of you for a few seconds. If you know your audience, it's much easier. Use them for questions and reference them with answers - again to take the attention from yourself.
It's easier to relay facts cuz you can fall back on them as true. It's more difficult to talk about philosophical topics because, in many cases, it's just your opinion. Either way, the more you get in front of people, the easier it becomes.
Keep Smiling and Kiss a Pig today! Thursday, March 1, was national Pig Day!
Michelle
