Four years ago, almost to the day, my boss and I travelled to Michigan to train a group of sales reps at a food service distributor's regional office. We landed in Traverse City and made the long, dark, snowy drive to the Gaylord Holiday Inn. I'll never forget the fear that I had of sliding to my cold death riding shotgun to a carefree driver on a lonely 2-lane highway in who knows where.
The next morning we were scheduled to present to 30 or so seasoned sales reps. My only responsibility was to tell the story of our company so that they would have a common link; both of us private-family owned, both of us in business for over 50 years, both of us the underdogs against the big, national companies.
Although we practiced my lines, I was so pitiful in execution that I couldn't finish. Lee took over and saved me from utter humiliation. (Thankfully, the audience was merciful and didn't release the trap door!) Leaving that meeting, I knew that I needed help in my presentation skills.
After stumbling through many presentations and speeches with steady but slow improvement, I thought back to some advice that my father had offered. As a young professional, he joined Toastmasters and quickly picked up the skills and practice needed to be a good presenter. For nearly a year, I have been a Toastmaster with a local club so that I might improve my speaking skills. Each week I have the opportunity to speak in front of a dozen or more people and receive feedback based on my performance. Here is one thing that I have learned by practice and observation.
LAD. The measure of success is directly proportional to the amount and effectiveness of preparation. Preparation is multi-faceted but I conclude three parts are critical.
First, collect, summarize and know the data. This may mean selecting a topic and designing a speech to address a perspective on that topic. Or, it may mean gathering historical sales information and preparing PowerPoint slides.
Second, role-play. For example, before negotiations, I prefer to role-play with someone who will ask me tough questions from the opposite seat. This helps me know my position or my topic better by causing me to think through it differently. For speeches, role-playing simply means practicing the speech.
Finally, practice real-life situations. Nothing is as valuable as on-the-job training. Settings like Toastmasters provide real-life opportunities to present. But nothing will substitute for live action. Each negotiation makes us wiser, each training makes us smarter, and each speech makes us more comfortable.