Are you ready for the biggest presentation of your life?

Leave a reply

The crowd gathers in the conference hall; the buzz about your presentation is so alive you can feel electricity in the air. Every noteworthy blog, Twitter feed, LinkedIn discussion group and e-mail list has been hyping your presentation as the next big thing.

The front seats fill up within minutes. With five minutes until your presentation, there’s not an empty seat in the hall.

You review the key talking points in your head, while wiping a faint bead of sweat from your head. A last sip of water and a nervous press of your pants steadies you. You are ready for this big moment.

The Master of Ceremonies’ resonant voice fills the room:

“Thank you for coming to this conference. It is wonderful to see a sellout crowd gathered for such an historic occasion. I have heard our keynote speak a number of times, and your life is ready to be changed. Please help me welcome our keynote speaker.”

If you were given this complimentary introduction for your big speech would you be ready? Would you exceed the expectations of an audience already buzzing with excitement?

When it's your big chance to take the mic, what will you do?

When it’s your big chance to take the mic, what will you do?

Here are a few tips to keep your audience talking long after the lights dim:

  1. Talk with your audience, not at them: If your goal is to show how smart or funny you are, you’ll fail miserably. Ask the audience some questions. Get their hands in the air. Make them stand up, sit down, jump around. Make them repeat the key points of your presentation.
  2. Tell stories: Stories make you seem more real, more authentic, more reachable. It’s perfectly fine to add some quotes and facts to help make a point, but stories (the more vivid, the better) are the pieces of your presentation that will be remembered.
  3. Speak from the seats, not the podium: If you’ve done your homework, you intimately know the hopes, dreams, fears of your audience. You know what keeps them up at night. You are well aware of how they are motivated. Being a thought leader means knowing the questions and answers that are always on your audience’s mind.

When you are passed the microphone for the biggest presentation of your life, will you be ready? Follow these tips and you’ll hear that pre-presentation buzz; you’ll feel that electricity and seize the moment.

Until next time,

Dan Naden

I wanted to do business and I got ignored

1 Reply

I recently had some small business owners visit my home to give me an estimate for some yard work. As expected, some were keepers, while others weren’t a good fit.

Within a few days, we started receiving proposals.

I quickly responded with “Thanks for the proposal; I’ll let you know if I have questions after I’ve had some time to review.” A few weeks passed from these initial visits. My wife and I discussed options, plans, next steps.

My yard may look like this one day, but it's been slow going to find a suitor.

My yard may look like this one day, but it’s been slow going to find a suitor.

The 3 proposals that I received were good, not great. They left a few questions that were perfect for a follow up call, or, at the very least an email thread.

Amazingly, it has been nearly 2 weeks since these initial visits, and not one small business owner has followed up with me.

I expected a:

“What did you think of the proposal?”

“Did you have any questions?”

“Can we schedule a time to start the work?”

My hope for these business owners is that they are so floored with business that they don’t have time to respond. Maybe these owners have 50 proposals in flight all at once. This sounds like a good, and avoidable, problem to have. Unfortunately though, as a potential customer, I do expect a response.

If you are bursting at the seams with business, hire someone to follow up with prospects.

I can only imagine what percentage of a small business owner’s business happens through referral. When you refer someone, it is based on ‘out of this world’ commitment to winning your business, overdelivering on your need, making you thrilled that you made the right choice when selecting a vendor.

I want American small business to thrive, yet I am discouraged by a recent experience of feeling ignored, unwelcomed. Let’s hope this is an anomaly; a small blip on the trail of unrelenting focus on the customer for small business owners everyone.

Meanwhile, my yard sits; waiting for an eager and willing small business owner to transform into a garden paradise.

Until next time,

Dan Naden

Don’t Over Engineer Your Elevator Pitch

Leave a reply

You walk into a crowded conference hall. The air in the exhibit hall seems to stand still. If you wanted a breath of fresh air, you came to the wrong place.

People are bustling energetically amongst booths, tables, demo stations, attempting to learn the latest technology, find a new job, or pass the time until the next presentation begins.

You are on a mission to meet new folks, to network, to forge connections.

You show a smile as a young woman approaches. You give yourself an internal pep talk. Good posture. Check. Eye contact. Check.

When it's time to shake hands, what do you say?

When it’s time to shake hands, what do you say?

You outstretch your hand as the woman approaches.

She smiles and says hello as her hand meet yours in a firm, strong handshake.

You exchange names, comment on the conference, and she asks you:

“So what do you do?”

“I work to grow the Agile community through positive online and offline interactions.”

She responds with a half-interested, “Oh, that’s cool.”

“What do you do?” I ask, with hope to keep the conversation going.

“I work as a Business Analyst over the DSM and CSL divisions with dotted line responsibility to the Core Group,” she responds as she glances towards the conference floor.

“OK,” I say, and quickly realize that I have no idea what she just said. She lost me after Business Analyst. Everything else was a jumbled mess of acronyms and confusion.

The two of us strained to keep the conversation going for a few additional minutes, but this was a brutal task. She kept looking towards the door; I must have looked drunk on acronyms.

With the past as my guide, I now realize that this conversation could have gone smoother for the young woman and for me.

So what 3 things could each of us have done differently?

Elevator Pitch Tips:

  1. She set the conversation off in the wrong direction by asked the predictable, banal question: “So what do you do?” We all lean forward into a conversation when livelier questions are asked.

    Examples:

        • What brings you to the conference?
        • What has surprised you about the conference thus far?
        • What’s your biggest learning so far?

2. I bumbled and stumbled by replying to her question with the exact same question. How dull and unoriginal can I get? We were both guaranteed to remember nothing from a conversation when it stayed superficial and impersonal.

3. Despite your best intentions, some conversations will inevitably steer towards the basic question: “What do you do?” Give the follow up conversation some sparkle by replying with color, excitement, passion. Make it impossible for this conversation to stop with these elevator pitches:

  • “I build bridges between the development team and management. “
  • “I create atmospheres of innovation and collaboration for my team.”
  • “I turn first-time Web site visitors into life-time subscribers.”

Use these tips to your advantage and make your next conference experience full of exciting, memorable conversations. You’ll be well on your way to turning attendees into lifelong business connections.

Until next time, 

Dan Naden

Saturday Morning Memories Created @Lowes

Leave a reply

It’s Saturday morning; what’s on my schedule?

Sleeping in? Not a chance.

Hungover? Nope. I turned 21 years ago.

What’s a young (and I use that term loosely) father to do with his children when it’s either too cold to go to the park or too hot to brave the sunlight?

Lowe's employs a keen trick to keep parents and kids coming back again and again.

Lowe’s employs a keen trick to keep parents and kids coming back again and again.

I’ve discovered that no one builds anything anymore. Most everything can be bought at a fair price at Amazon.com and the replacement cost makes sense to replace a broken, worn out item and not to repair it.

The sound of a hammer is replaced by the bleep, bleep of a video game.

The jagged tone of metal sawing through wood is usurped by Mickey Mouse Club.

I am not likely to build a clubhouse such as the one that my father built for me years ago (thanks Dad!). My brother and I helped nail a few boards, paint the interior; we were ecstatic that we would have our hideout right in our own backyard. The fort seemed immense, capable of swallowing my brother and me whole.

Today, I am embarrassingly inept with woodworking and machinery. I can pound a nail, saw a board, power drill, but then the list of tasks stops abruptly.

Lowe’s, however, has brought ‘the build’ back into my vocabulary.

The gargantuan store has made it incredibly easy and fun to introduce my children to hammers, nails, screws, measurements.

Over the past few years, my children and I have attended a number of Lowe’s Build and Grow workshops.

What makes these events so special?

1.   It’s easy.

The monster trucks, Valentine’s Card holders, race cars are simple, straightforward, fun for the entire family. No one goes home unhappy.

2.   It gets you in the store.

It’s not complicated. An event like this gets parents in the store to buy fertilizer, flowers, ceiling fans, faucets. And the Build and Grow event’s location is ALWAYS strategically placed in the store so you walk by much of the store’s precious merchandise.

3.   Making things for loved ones.

What Mom, Grandmother, Grandfather or friend wouldn’t like a kid-crafted touch of love in the form of a picture frame complete with stickers? The Build and Grow experiences build memories for a lifetime.

Next Saturday, don’t hit the snooze button; get up early and bring the family to Lowe’s.

Until next time,

Dan Naden

Coffee Bean: Customer Focused every day

Leave a reply

I have high expectations for new businesses.

I have an expectation when entering a new store that I’ll be treated like royalty. I want that business to do everything they can to show me that I am a valued customer.

Frequently, this lofty ideal is crushed, leaving me departing the venue dejected, despondent; a new business’ worst nightmare.

I’ll tell my friends about my miserable experience, enlightening them about all that went wrong.

Coffee Bean's not just serving coffee, but memories.

Coffee Bean’s not just serving coffee, but memories.

On a sunny Monday morning in Austin, Texas, a shining, triumphant new business star was born. Nothing went wrong.

A new Coffee Bean Tea & Leaf store opened in our neighborhood, and my wife and I were eager to give the store a try.

Opening the door for my wife, we were serenaded with welcomes from the staff: “Hello, how are you today? Welcome, it is great to see you.”
We may have come in strangers, but we felt welcomed within an instant.

What store makes this a common practice? In most in-store experiences, it’s tough to get eye contact with an employee. This interaction, though, was authentic, engaging, breathtaking, refreshing.

After ordering our drinks, we relaxed in soft, cushiony chairs; the sunlight threw long shadows across the spotless floor.

Nearby, a young woman looked frustrated at her laptop. Within seconds, a Coffee Bean employee appeared: “Are you having trouble connecting to the WIFI? Let me help you.” The woman’s scowl disappeared; a fresh, surprised smile grew across her face.

Was this really happening? Employees that appeared happy to work there, and happy to please – there is hope for customers.

Our drinks arrived quickly. My wife couldn’t stop commenting on the flavor in her Latte. My coffee tasted fresh, not burnt. A few minutes passed, and a friendly employee asked: “Would you like a glass of ice water?”

If this is the new standard for service, I am a believer. Don’t just give me what I expect; blow me away with kindness; go out of the way to show you care.

Sadly, the day was too nice to stay at the Coffee Bean. The calendar said January, but the weather shouted April. As we left, the manager stopped by our chairs, thanked us for coming, picked up our glasses, and gave a hug to a young woman with her children.

“It’s great to see you again. Thanks for coming back,” he told the young woman.

“It’s great to be here. What a nice day it is today, “ the woman responded.

Another customer dazzled by attention, care, diligence, friendliness.

Give Coffee Bean a try. I hope your experience is a pleasant one. If it’s anything like our recent experience, you’ll come back for more.

Idea for Coffee Bean: Not sure of the return on investment for those loyalty clubs, but how about starting a Coffee Bean rewards club called the Beaners? Personally, I don’t need a program such as this to come back again, but it could help the skeptics.

Check Coffee Bean on Twitter: @TheCoffeeBean

Until next time,

Dan Naden

Coffee Bean: Readying for a Starbucks Fight

2 Replies

I love to see new brick and mortar businesses start.

I get a charge out of seeing businesses do their best to acquire first-time customers and create in-store experiences that keep them coming back a second time.

I also love it when companies put up a fight.

You have to be crazy to compete against Starbucks, right? Starbucks (the Goliath), with over 20,000 stores worldwide, is one of the most recognizable brands. Drinking Starbucks coffee has become as common as brushing one’s teeth in the morning. It takes incredible fortitude and vision to build a 3rd place (after home and work), but Starbucks has done it.

Starbucks may bring the noise, but Coffee Bean may bring the experience.

Starbucks may bring the noise, but Coffee Bean may bring the experience.

Enter David: The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

If there was ever a quantity vs. quality feel between competitors, this is exhibit A.

I vaguely recall seeing Coffee Bean stores in shopping malls in the late 70s/early 80s. These were the days when coffee wasn’t the social phenomenon it is today; Folgers’ industrial blend in the metallic can was considered gourmet.

Surprisingly, Coffee Bean actually was around 8 years prior to Starbucks. Starbucks was founded in 1971; Coffee Bean had arrived in 1963. While Starbucks’ rise has been meteoric in scope and scale, Coffee Bean’s slow, steady growth took plenty of persistence and dedication.

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, headquartered in LA with 900 stores strong, has been ramping up its presence in the Austin, Texas market over the past few years.

I can’t say that I’ll never step foot in a Starbucks again, but a recent experience at a freshly-opened Coffee Bean store in Austin, Texas made me think that Starbucks should put their dukes up; it’s time for a fight.

Thankfully, I’ve secured my ringside seat for this battle.

So what did Coffee Bean do that made me a raving fan?

Stay tuned next time where I share the secrets that made an ordinary coffee experience at Coffee Bean, an extraordinary one.

Until next time,

Dan Naden

Work like a dog today

Leave a reply

Our dog, Ruby is a special girl.

Every morning, I rise before the sun, and jog along the streets of Austin, Texas. The scattered streetlights provide a faint glimpse of our path — speckled grey sidewalks and rock hard ink black pavement.

My knees crack, crumble; voicing their disapproval for the early wake up call, yet I press on into the distance.

Some days, I am the aggressor, dragging her along for the ride.

Most days though she’s the hard charger, pulling Dad for a roller coaster ride of sprints, pulls, lunges, barks. Some mornings, I really think I’ve awakened up the entire neighborhood. Instead of the dog whisperer, I’ve chosen the dog announcer.

Do you have 30 minutes when you work like a dog?

Do you have 30 minutes when you work like a dog?

After our morning sprint, the dog takes it easy. She rests on her soft, brown, round pillow – an occasional sigh is all I hear for hours.

This 30 minute sprint is the dog’s most concerted, best work of the day. She focused her energy, giving it her all (most days) to hunt down that other dog on the trail or that faint scent of a raccoon in the distance. Sometimes it seems she just adores chasing something unreachable, unattainable. The thrill is in never quite reaching her goal.

Did you work like a dog today? What was your 30 minute sprint? Can you say you found a zone to give your best work the most focus?

Am I saying to just work a 30 minute day? No, but wouldn’t that be special?

My message: plan your day to do your most crucial, vitally important work at the start of the day. Make those 30 minutes count.

Have a meeting that you know you need to attend, but it isn’t mission critical? Push to make it happen later in the day.

I’ve always done my best work early, but we are all different, right?. Your 30 minutes may be in the afternoon. Only you know your ‘zone time’.

Now, if only I can figure out how I can curl up on a soft, round, warm pillow for the rest of the day after the morning run. Sigh.

Until next time,

Dan Naden