by Tom Marcoux
Often, to get the attention of investors, you might be at a conference, and you have the chance to speak up in front of the room. The question is: “How am I going to say something with great content and also express my confidence?”
We’ll use the W.I.N.S. process:
W – work out the first sentence and last sentence
I – intensify story
N – nurture a catchphrase
S – set a Solid, Fast Ending
Work out the first sentence and last sentence
People remember how you start and end your speech.
Choose your first sentence. Write it down so you can start strong. When you begin your speech with no hesitation, the audience has the subconscious feeling, “I’m in the hands of a pro.”
When you work on both your first sentence and final sentence you can create bookends. It can sound like:
First sentence: “At 10:45 pm, as Sarah arrived home, she heard an unexpected and bad sound from the kitchen.”
Final sentence: “Now, with XY Security System, at 10:45 pm, Sarah feels safe in her own home.”
Using bookends and reminding us of what you started with can give your speech an extra, professional polish.
Intensify story
By intensify story I mean make sure your story has a clear point and that the audience knows the purpose for your story immediately. You can intensify story by saying, “This reminds me of a time when I learned...” Using this structure helps you get straight to the point and to announce that point before you deliver the story.
At the end of delivering the story, you can say, “That was an example of how I learned to...” In this way you have once again emphasized your point.
Nurture a catchphrase
Using a catchphrase can help you make what you say memorable. I have catchphrases including:
To stand out, find out what you stand for.
Keep score and achieve more.
What you dread gets you ahead.
Motion brings clarity.
Use your catchphrase well—that is, repeat it at least three times. You can close your speech by having the audience finish the catchphrase with you.
For example, for one of my speeches, in my final summary, I say: “So, remember … Motion—”
“Brings clarity,” the audience members say aloud.
“Excellent. You got it,” I reply.
Set a Solid, Fast Ending
Sometimes, a big disappointment will give you the final piece of a puzzle. For example, years ago, I felt disappointment crash on my head, while I was giving a speech during a competition. At first, things were going well. I was in the zone providing great, impromptu content. I even created five spontaneous humor bits that inspired the audience to laugh big time.
This completely through off my timing. My speech went on too long, and the speech was disqualified. Oww! It hurt.
After my speech, people came up and said, “Tom, you should have won.”
I know I could have won with that speech, if I had only practiced saying, “That’s what I want to share. Thank you.”
You see that phrase is a Solid, Fast Ending.
I didn’t have that ready. I had rehearsed other patterns that made my speech excellent.
However, I had failed to practice a Solid, Fast Ending.
Make sure you rehearse patterns of a Solid, Fast Ending.
The truth is your speech can be shut down at any time. You want to avoid appearing thrown off balance.
Here are examples of a Solid, Fast Ending:
“Those are my thoughts on this. Thank you.”
“That’s the last thing I’ll share on this. Thank you.”
“With that—I say: Thank you.”
Power Principle:
Use a quick outline based on the W.I.N.S. process.
Power Questions:
When will you apply this W.I.N.S. process?
W – work out the first sentence and last sentence
I – intensify story
N – nurture a catchphrase
S – set a Solid, Fast Ending
BONUS MATERIAL #2
Your Secret Charisma: Hidden Methods
for Influence and Trust
As I delivered my speech, Your Secret Charisma: Hidden Methods for Influence and Trust, in New Zealand, I emphasized that trust is the springboard for getting the support we need. When you want investors to fund your project, you need access to what I call Your Secret Charisma.
We use the A.I.M.S. process:
A – agree and wonder
I – intensify how they convince themselves
M – magnify a story
S – set their permission
Agree and wonder
When I talk about Warm Trust Charisma, I emphasize that we create connection by reducing tension and helping the person feel that we’re paying attention. We demonstrate that we care. How? You find something that you can sincerely point to and say, “I agree.” It could be a simple expression of “I agree that is a vital area to focus on so we can come up with a solution.”
Secondly, we can overcome an important problem. Often, when we’re listening, we naturally judge what the person is saying. If you catch yourself judging something, you can imagine that the person feels judged at least on the subconscious level. The person may feel that something is off.
You can ask, “I wonder what is most important to you about _____?”
This demonstrates that the person’s concerns are important to you.
Thirdly, you can use an alternative: “I’m curious. What is most important to you about ____?”
Intensify how they convince themselves
People do things for their own reasons and not for our reasons or logic that we press upon them. So, the method is to get the person to voice their reasons.
Certain researchers/authors came up with a process, which I’ll demonstrate here:
Janet: “I think I should exercise more.”
Marina: “How ready are you to exercise more—on a scale of 1 to 10? 10 is the highest. That is, you’re most ready.”
Janet: “6.”
Marina: “Why isn’t it a 2?”
Janet: “What?”
Marina: “Why isn’t your level of being ready not as low as 2?”
Janet: “I…well, I want to protect myself from getting diabetes. My mother has it.”
At this point, Janet expresses her own reason for exercising more.
In this way, Janet starts to convince herself.
Magnify a story
Telling a story is a powerful way to get a person to experience the value of your idea or proposal. However, many times, a listener is halfway into the story, and they’re wondering: “What is the point of this?”
The solution is to begin with something like: “About a year ago, I learned that the best way to connect with an audience is _____.” Then you tell the story.
You close with “And that’s when I learned that the best way to connect with an audience is ____.”
You mentioned the point before and after you expressed your story.
Set their permission
Some of us are afraid to sell something or make a strong pitch. Here is a solution … Practice this phrase:
“Forgive me. I was just excited about the ____. How about we start over?”
I’ve learned this method from my own coaches. They ask for my permission to cover some material.
They may ask:
“Tom, how about we go back to your experience when you were 22?”
“Tom, you’re okay if we go over that part when you said that ____ was bothering you?”
This process of gaining the person’s permission grants you leeway to explore what will move the process along.
A Great Secret of Conversation
Be sure to help the other person feel comfortable and give the person space to express their self in conversation. I’ve shared this principle with MBA students and my cli
ents:
When you're listening, you're winning.
The power of Soft-hearted Persuasion vs. Hard-headed Convincing
Hard-headed Convincing takes place when someone is when one tries to push their own reasons and logic on to another. They’re trying to get the other person agree. However, the other person has a natural response of resisting.
On the other hand, Soft-hearted Persuasion is a process in which you ask questions to help the other person voice their own personal priorities and values.
Questions for Soft-hearted Persuasion:
What matters to you about ___?
What’s most important to you about ____?
Here is a process* to help someone voice their real and personal reasons to take action:
You ask: “On a scale of 1-10, 10 being the highest, how ready are you to invest in this startup business?”
Investor: “Four.”
You: “Why isn’t it a two?”
Investor: “What?”
You: “Why are you at the level of two instead of zero?”
Investor: “Well, you do have some good traction with your first 10 paying clients. And …”
You notice that the above dialogue is unusual, and it helps the investor voice something positive about your offer.
* Some research about the value of this process is conveyed in the book Instant Influence: How to Get Anyone to Do Anything—Fast by Michael Pantalo
BONUS MATERIAL #3
Power Time Management
for Gaining Funding
In my Power Time Management: More Time, Less Stress and Zero Procrastination workshop (with an audience at the Corporate Innovation Summit in Bangkok, Thailand), I emphasized that we would approach time management in a different way. Much of time management material emphasizes goals and lists.
On the hand, during that workshop I emphasized: “Leverage built on Relationships and Trust.”
Use Questions to Help You Focus
As I work with clients who lead startup businesses in need of funding, I mentioned that Power Time Management includes gaining leverage by using vital questions:
What are your current priorities?
What challenges/problems arose in the recent few days that you want solutions for?
What areas do you need big intuitive solutions for?
What concerns to do you have about the fundraising process in any facet?
What big meetings or pitch opportunities do you need rehearsals for?
Power Time Management is about three things:
More Time – You get more time because you eliminate unnecessary conflict. This is the process when you get the time back that would otherwise lose.
Less Stress – Less stress comes from your having a Personal Energy Buffer.
Zero Procrastination – Zero procrastination comes from intensifying systems and rehearsal. When I say, intensify systems, I mean you design a process so that you consistently get the most vital things done. And, that includes crucial rehearsal.
We realize one powerful action for becoming more confident is to rehearse. Rehearse before difficult conversations. Then you can avoid unnecessary escalation of conflict or misunderstanding.
Use Language to Save Time
I’m still impressed with how my associate art director commented on a book cover idea I had some time ago.
She said, “That’s great art. It won’t sell any books.”
I understood her meaning immediately, and we moved away from my original book cover idea.
It’s an example of great communication. My associate art director comment used what I call CCT—Clarity, Compassion and Trust.
When you can communicate in a similar CCT-way, you can save a lot of time.
I refer to this process as Power Time Management (and I also call it Confident Time Mastery).
We’ll use the R.I.S.E. process:
R – rehearse and listen
I – intensify systems
S – say No with grace
E – energize Good, Excellent and Amazing
Rehearse and Listen
The way to have more leverage is to have better relationships. We do this by rehearsing before we have tough conversations.
What do we rehearse?
We can rehearse ways to defuse a situation and increase listening.
You can say something like:
It sounds like you feel strongly about this. I’m interested in learning how you got to this perspective. Would you tell me more?
Is there anything else you want me to know about this?
We listen because it is a fast way to enhance trust in a relationship—personal or business. (In other sections of this book, I teach methods to overcome Listening Blockers.)
Another form of “listening” is to listen to yourself.
I’ve learned that distilling your own wisdom and understanding is helpful to you can become more productive.
I’ve distilled much of what I’ve learned into catchprhases:
Keep score and achieve more
What you dread gets you ahead
Being prepared for the worst often gets you the best
Systems not willpower
Think it through; rehearse it through
Perhaps, you said to yourself: “Okay. Makes sense.”
Some people view comments like these as: “Too simple. I don’t like formulas.”
I suggest that you read this section through and pick up some method and implement it (or at least rehearse it) within five minutes of reading this section. That’s how you gain the most value. (I use this phrase: “Squeeze the orange and get juice from it.)
Intensify Systems
(Design for Consistency and Trim Schedule)
When I say consistency, I’m focusing on doing certain work daily—and other work on a weekly basis. For example, I have designed my recording of podcasts, so I consistently record a podcast on a weekly basis.
How? I do the following:
Record the podcast for 25 minutes. (I direct the material with myself and my co-host.)
Have the audio editor cut the material down to 17 minutes.
Listen to the first cut and direct the final edits so the material is 11 to 15 minutes in duration.
In this way, I ensure quality and still have a minimum of time invested.
Be sure to look at your weekly tasks from the perspective of Design for Consistency.
For example, you could choose to make your marketing phone calls on Tuesday. Every time Tuesday rolls around, you’re prepared subconsciously to go directly to your desk and make the phone calls.
You could even use a slogan for the Tuesday phone calls. I’ve heard the phrase: 8 before 8 (that is, 8 phone calls before 8 AM) and 5 after 5 (5 phone calls after 5 PM).
A Big Advantage in Using a System
When you use a system, you change your experience of the world. You look upon yourself as more competent. You accomplish what I call Behavior Change Through Incremental Evidence. This process leads to a real improvement in personal confidence.
Trim Schedule
“You can help a thousand, but you can't carry three on your back.” – Jim Rohn
With several clients, I use a process I call A.C.T. Coaching. Assess, Create, Trim. The Trim part is essential. We cannot simply add more to our schedule.
I emphasize “Discover the best results your clients want.”
For your own schedule, ask yourself, “What are the best results I want?”
Use a System to Overcome Procrastination
In my workshops, I use the metaphor CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) as I say, “We often need to use CPR in how we approach our time management.”
In my system, the CPR stands for Cue-->Preset Action
-->Reward.
If you want to accomplish more, think it through while the situation is cool, so you act automatically when the situation is hot.
For example, if you want to consistently do exercise in the m
orning, set out your running outfit on a chair next to your bed. Then, you automatically see the cue (running suit on chair) and go into action. Some people reward themselves with a morning cup of coffee—after exercising.
Say No with grace
One way to recover time is to free up your schedule. How can you do that? You learn to say No with grace.
We use the 3 G’s of Saying No with Grace:
3 G’s
G – get away from the immediate “no”
G – go over your regret in your tone
G – give some “modest help”
Examples:
G_1: “My schedule is rather full. I’ll check. How about I get back to you at 4 pm on Thursday?”
G_2: (express a big sigh) “I’m sad to say that my plate is full, and I can’t be part of that—at this time.”
G_3: “How about we have a 10-minute phone call before your meeting? I could help you prepare. How does that sound?”
(As a side note: In Thailand, I replaced “say no with grace” with “set more leverage.” Why? I was informed that the Thai culture encourages local people to avoid saying no.)
Energize Good, Excellent and Amazing
More than 20 years ago, I purchased a day planner. I found out that listing 20 tasks and carrying over 12 of them every day, turned the day planner into the binder of Guilt Lists.
Instead, we approach making a list with full empowerment. How?