by Tom Marcoux
It’s important to put the investor at ease. We get their permission (when appropriate). It could be as simple as asking, “How about we start with the XY section?”
Hear their leaning this way or that
Several of my clients have been concerned about avoiding the loss of an opportunity. What if you make the wrong guess and you say, “So, you’re going to invest in my company, right?” And, the person is turned off, and they step out of your life.
Here is a solution. You put the choice onto the table in front of the person. You ask, ”So, I’m wondering which way you are leaning—towards investing in our project or being an advisor?”
Invite them to share their take
It can help when you ask, “I’m wondering what your take is on the _____ section?” People like to be asked for their opinion.
On the other hand, avoid using the words, “What’s your opinion?” The word “opinion” sounds like it’s something soft and not built on solid fact. Several people think that there is a disconnect between “opinion” and reality.
However, to ask for someone’s take means you’re looking for their understanding, which is likely based on their experience and wisdom.
With my clients, I talk about structure. That is, we can use the structure of language to set people at ease and to get them to lean in our direction. When you say, “I’m wondering what your take on this is….?”—you are demonstrating that you respect the investor’s approach, intelligence and insights. A classic phrase is: “If you go into a meeting asking for money, you’ll get advice. If you ask for advice, you’ll get money.”
4. Focus on “Forgive Me”
If you’re ready to recover from sounding like you’re pushing, you can feel at ease. Of course, investors expect you to be enthusiastic and passionate about your offering. However, you may cross a line during the conversation. You can use this Recovery Method: Say something like: “Forgive me. I got so excited about the XY part. How about we backtrack a couple steps?”
Target “what is working for you?”
When you work with an investor, you still want to come across as a peer. You might be deeply in debt, and they might have a hundred million dollars. But for the investor to be talking to you, the investor is revealing something. They have an interest because you might be the one. Realize that you have more power than you might think. You hold the prize—that is, you have the idea, and you have the courage and team. You’re going forward, and you have the resolve.
So, be forthright and comfortable as you ask, “I’m curious. What is working for you about ____?”
Nurture and pivot on “I’m curious”
If your pitch falls into an awkward moment, nurture yourself and the developing relationship with the investor. How? Say, “I’m curious. What do you think is most important about _____?”
Open a story
At any time, you find yourself in an awkward moment, you can launch a story. You can say, “This reminds me of the time when I learned …”
Work in the mutual friend
If something is not working in the conversation, you can get yourself and the investor to a comfortable energy by referring to a detail that relates to your mutual connection. You could say something like: “I remember that Sarah mentioned that you thought the ____ was important.”
This process is valuable because you are associating the positive feeling that the investor has for your mutual friend with your currently developing conversation and relationship.
Power Principle: Rehearse ways to shift out of awkward moments and develop the investor’s trust in you.
Power Question: With whom will you practice the following methods?
S – set their permission
H – hear their leaning this way or that
I – invite them to share their take
F – focus on “forgive me”
T – target “what is working for you?”
N – nurture and pivot on “I’m curious”
O – open a story
W – work in the mutual friend
Section Six
How can I experience real confidence
and gain the trust of investors?
(Secrets of Extreme Confidence—and
featuring the Confidence Toolkit
Blueprint)
Countermeasure: Develop Extreme Confidence as you use the Confidence Toolkit Blueprint.
What’s the fastest way for you to gain the confidence of the investor? It’s for you to come across as genuine and truly confident in yourself and your startup business.
Over a span of years, I developed something I call Extreme Confidence. This is a process in which you know deeply that you can perform at your best in the toughest moments. Here I’ll give a brief and to-the-point overview of some essential elements of Extreme Confidence.
We begin with the 3 A’s of Extreme Confidence
Above confidence in the text
Adapt (Recovery Methods)
Align the space with the audience
1. Above confidence in text
Many of us can memorize the words of a text and still feel significant fear. Why? Because we’re afraid that our mind will go blank. It happens.
After more than two decades of being a professional speaker, I do not fear moments of going blank. How? It’s because I’ve developed material, I call Recovery Methods, which keep me in a posture of poise. Then I get back on track.
Additionally, I help clients do what I call, Directed Rehearsal. In another part of this book, I talk about the difference between Directed Rehearsal and Default Rehearsal.
Default Rehearsal is connected to rumination over details that you fear. Research demonstrates that under stress, human beings fall back on their default setting.
All of us fall into Default Rehearsal. The solution is Directed Rehearsal.
Directed Rehearsal includes practicing your Recovery Methods (which I’ll discuss in the next section).
My point here is confidence in the text is not enough. You need to have confidence in your ability to adapt and flow with anything that may arise in the crucial pitch before an audience of investors or the crucial one-on-one meeting. Remember, the investor seeks to protect himself or herself by asking you the hard questions. To have Extreme Confidence you need to identify the 10 Worst Questions. Then you think through and prepare 3 answers for each of the 10 Worst Questions. You’ll be more prepared then many people who attempt to perform at their best with investors.
2. Adapt (Recovery Methods)
How can you adapt if you mind goes blank? I already covered methods to handle that situation in a previous section.
The essential point about Recovery Methods is that you need to customize them to yourself.
For example, you could say, “I need to pause a moment. I want my response to be valuable to you.” However, you don’t know if this phrase works coming out of your mouth—until you try it.
Try it now. Say it aloud.
Did it work for you?
If not, how about this version: “I’m going to pause. I want to get to something that’s meaningful.”
Another way to buy yourself some time is this comment: “I see the value of your question. I haven’t looked at it quite that way before. I’ll take a moment. I want my response to be valuable for you.”
Why does this process work?
It’s because on average, our brains work at 700 words per minute. So, as you say your memorized line, your brain can find the answers you next want to express.
Keep a Progress Log of the session you have (even just 9 minutes) of saying your Recovery Words out loud. Then you will prove to yourself that you can adapt. You have evidence that you’re preparing well. I call this Behavior Change Through Incremental Evidence.
3. Align the space with the audience
Confident people know how to use their body language to communicate, I am trustworthy.
If you're addressing a room full of investors and
one asks you a tough question, you avoid the amateur mistake of taking a few steps backward.
Your mouth could be saying, “I’m confident that our product can solve that situation.” But if you are walking a couple steps backwards, you look like you’re afraid of the question. Additionally, you look like you’re afraid of that particular investor.
It takes practice to walk toward the question. That’s the reason that I have participants in my workshop, Convince Investors to Fund You, rehearse within their small groups.
You practice walking toward the investor who asked the question and say a phrase like, “George, I see that's important to you.” This builds rapport with the investor.
Often someone, who is on the edge of investing, will ask you tough questions because they want to be sure that they’re making the right decision.
So, you need to align this space between you and the investor.
It helps to mention the person’s name. If you don't know the person's name you can say, “I can see that’s important to you. Oh, as you know, I’m [your first name], and you are?”
Confidence Toolkit Blueprint
To create real confidence, you do well to take effective action. Here’s what you get in the below Confidence Toolkit Blueprint
Proven Methods to improve your skills so that you know that you’ll feel confident in a tough situation
Reliable ways to improve how you prepare for any media appearance (videos for your YouTube channel, appearances on others’ podcasts and more)
Truly empowering methods for you to effectively face risk and seize opportunities to be successful
We’ll use the P.O.W.E.R.S. process:
P – place a 9-minute Rehearsal in the morning
O – open with a 2-minute Rehearsal with a friend
W – work on audio recordings (“showtime”)
E – engage Incremental Evidence
R – realize Recovery Methods
S – Set Better Than Zero (Progress Log)
Place a 9-minute Rehearsal in the morning
To make sure that you get the most from your rehearsal, place it in the morning. Your subconscious mind will work on your speech or project all day long. You can use lateral thinking, which occurs as your subconscious mind works on a project, while your conscious mind works on something else. Some of your best creativity will rise from your subconscious mind while you’re taking a walk, for example.
Open with a 2-minute Rehearsal with a friend
When we’re creating, we need support, but we must be careful of not leaning too much on friends. So, break down your project. Develop a circle of friends whom you help and who will help you. Still, be sure to ask them for 2 minutes of their time. Be sure to use a timer and make certain to avoid overstaying your welcome. Then your friends will not dread your phone call. Additionally, they get to enjoy helping you. Be sure to help them in return.
Work on audio recordings (“showtime”)
I often have my clients include audio recording of their material. I’ve taught MBA students public speaking, and it was not my practice to use video in the beginning of that class. Why? We avoid someone becoming too self-conscious of how they move their elbow or how they tilt their head. That makes a person become stiff in their delivery. However, when you turn on an audio recorder, it’s showtime. That’s great because we want to have your adrenaline going—and have you feel that this is important. Using an audio recorder creates urgency and serves powerfully—rather than merely speaking to a wall.
Engage Incremental Evidence
When I say engage incremental evidence, I’m referring to a major, foundational part of Extreme Confidence. You are truly confident because you have witnessed your actual improvements. I have clients practice using Recovery Methods, so they become comfortable in answering tough questions. Reading a book, without actual practice taking tough questions, fails to give the incremental evidence that helps you experience real confidence.
Realize Recovery Methods
When I have taught MBA students public speaking, including at Stanford University, I begin with Recovery Methods. The reason for rehearsing Recovery Methods is that you quiet down fear.
For example, at IBM while giving a speech, I got stuck. So, I said, “I need to pause for a moment. My brain needs more RAM.” At IBM, they found that comment to be hilarious. Better than that, I came across with poise.
The vital process is to pick your Recovery Methods and then rehearse them with as much diligence as you rehearse the content of your speech.
Here are examples of Recovery Methods:
You can say:
I need to pause for a moment. I want my response to be valuable to you.
At this moment, I want to emphasize …
The second method above helps if your mind gets stuck. You can emphasize anything that you said earlier in your speech.
Recovery Methods help you demonstrate your poise.
Here is a related method that I call Walk and Plant. Walk to a side of the audience and then stand in that spot. In this way you dispel some nervous energy, and you avoid looking nervous with needless pacing. In essence, you walk and then plant your feet.
Set Better Than Zero (Progress Log)
How can you make sure that you feel that you’re prepared to give a speech or make a media appearance?
How can you expand your real confidence?
You log your rehearsals. Even if you just rehearse for 9 minutes a day over two weeks, you have written evidence that you have been rehearsing.
Some may say that 9 minutes is not much. However, 9 minutes each day is Better than Zero. And, for each daily 9-minute rehearsal session, your subconscious mind works on the material. Log your rehearsals in a Progress Log.
Often, I complete a daily rehearsal just for the good feeling of noting in my Progress Log that I completed this action.
When you make incremental progress on a daily basis, you feel proud of yourself. You feel good that you are rising to a higher level of creativity and skill. This is part of a process I call Behavior Change through Incremental Evidence.
Remember, you can develop real confidence when you use the tools in this Confidence Toolkit Blueprint.
P – place 9-minute Rehearsal in the morning
O – open with a 2-minute Rehearsal with a friend
W – work on audio recording (“showtime”)
E – engage Incremental Evidence
R – realize Recovery Methods
S – Set Better Than Zero (Progress Log)
Develop Your Extreme Confidence:
Use the Intrigue Point and the Cool Factor
For years in guiding MBA students and Master’s Degree students (in fields like Communication, E-commerce, Web Design), I’ve emphasized that any story needs The Cool Factor. That’s the moment when the person leans in and says, “This is cool!” We’ve seen early moments in feature films when the audience locks in with the perception—“This movie is going to be cool.”
Working with clients who seek funding for their startup businesses, I’ve brought the understanding of The Cool Factor—plus something I call The Intrigue Point into play.
For example, when working with clients who meet new people at an event, and then want to guide the new people to a specific demonstration, I send an email with material like this:
“1. What is the "Intrigue Point" to get people to
show up for your demonstration?
The Intrigue Point relates to phrasing your invitation, so the person is captivated, and their curiosity compels them to attend.
The Intrigue Point example:
“We’re been in stealth mode. This is the debut for a select group of people, like you—of a revolution in _____.
This solves the problem in ____.
You do not want to miss it. You’ll want to see this.”
2. What is the "The Cool Factor" to get people to
attend your demonstration?
The Cool Factor actu
ally has an element of “this will be fun”—"this will be something to talk about.” Being able to talk about some cool and innovative forms a type of incentive for people to attend. It’s great to be in the know.
The Cool Factor example:
“It’s the Cool Solution to ____.”
“It’s a delightful surprise to ____.”
You can hand out a small card that reads: VIP invitation —Secret Debut for a Select Group. By invitation only.”
3. How will you “close the sale” to be sure that people will show up like they say they will?
Just because someone says, “Yes, I’ll attend your demonstration” does not mean they will go to your booth or to the meeting room you have in the same building.
You need to “close the sale.” I’d rather say, “Set the agreement.” People live up to agreements. Even a simple interchange of “So, I can count on seeing you there in 30 minutes?” “Yes”—will get you more people in the seats. You gave them an agreement to live up to. And, they agreed.
Have fun with it.
Let’s say someone gives you some resistance about attending a meeting with lunch provided. They might say, “So what’s in it for me?”
“You mean in addition to the free lunch?” you say, while giving them a big smile. You demonstrate that you’re not uncomfortable at all with their teasing you.
People who are confident in the value they bring, do not sweat the small stuff. They look unruffled. They’re having a good time, and others often want to bask in that radiating energy of confidence and good cheer.