The CEO of a new venture capital firm was in the process of merging
two companies. His goal: develop a dynamic sales presentation. His need: combine two
biographical sales presentations, two sets of slides, two distinct persuasive tones into a new presentation.
He emailed one set of slides and faxed another. Then by telephone we devised a fresh format,
cohesive content, unified tone, creating a powerful new sales presentation that reflected the best
of each company.
One bonus he had not expected: through responding to my
“Why?” and “What if?” questions, he came to a clearer understanding
of the two cultures he was merging, including perceived strengths and needs of the new
executive staff.
An attorney was about to begin her first job as a law professor.
Her concern was getting out of the box strongly. We created a powerful opening-day
lecture and a couple of stimulating approaches for covering basic [read
“boring”] material — all via email.
Another concern emerged:
everyone — even court reporters — complained that she talked too rapidly.
I convinced her to view variety in pace as a key to getting listened to, and as the major
controlling device for guiding audiences to her key points. She successfully took it from there,
with no face time needed.
A food administrator had applied for general manager’s
position at a luxurious private country club. Having reached the “final four,”
he wanted to sharpen his job interview skills.
Of particular concern was how to depict
his experience which, while related, was not as closely connected to a GM position as that
of the other candidates. I also prepared him to respond to questions with power while
focusing his responses to toward his agenda. We have never met: all this occurred
with email and over the telephone.
The president of an investment banking firm wants assessment
and improvement in the PowerPoint slides he creates for important speeches. The
fax and the telephone are our tools.
We regularly spend a couple of hours
on the telephone, talking through the slides. Our major goals are improving the flow
of the material and tightening the content of the slides. We drill down to add examples
and anecdotes. We work together to create an effective one-sentence takeaway message
and smooth transitions — all this accomplished on the telephone, not in person.
