Tips To Avoid Boring Your Audience

The best lessons I've ever learned in sales were that "Silence is Golden" with the close second, "Stop talking and listen".  In my earlier days of sales, I'd head to a meeting, loaded for bear, with a take no prisoners attitude.  As I've matured, the voice in my head is always reminding me to slow down, be present, and maintain a transparent humility.  Maintaining humility is tough because we are always battling a little thing called pride.  Benjamin Franklin said it best.

"In reality, there is, perhaps, no one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride. Disguise it, struggle with it, beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive, and will every now and then peep out and show itself." 

I find that humility allows me to keep my pride and ego in check.  It's in those quiet, introspective moments, I discover ways to refine and drive personal improvement.  By remaining coachable, I can be receptive to constructive criticism that pinpoints areas I need to fine tune (or eliminate altogether).  My latest epiphany has to do with my tendency to fall back on the excessive use of  acronyms, industry buzzwords, and expressions.  

We all find ourselves using trendy words, slang, expressions and abbreviations in our everyday conversations (i.e. my personal peeve, the overuse of the word "Essential").  Our choice of words and/or expressions are likely a reflection of who we are speaking too.  In business, our language choices can either build credibility or dismiss our audience.    Buzzwords, jargon, and catch phrases are great IF there is a common understanding of the meaning or definition.  

The Term:  "Brand"

I listened to a podcast earlier this week by Pamela Moore of TheMarketingNutz.com entitled, "Your logo is not your brand! Marketing branding strategy in a nutshell" (episode 201).  The crux of her podcast was about the typical misunderstanding of the word "BRAND", which is often attributed to a company logo or tagline.  Moore explained that a brand is far more.  A company's brand rooted in your promise of WHAT your customer's should expect from your product or service.  Ultimately all forms of communication (logo, colors, product sets, website, social networking, digital marketing, sales techniques, storytelling, etc.) contribute to your brand's foundation to build a memorable reputation. 

Buzzwords = Confusion

In the example above, it's easy to see industry terminology can lead to confusion. Unfortunately, the confusion becomes an annoying distraction as the audience fails to connect with your key points you are trying to present.  So how does one maintain effective communication?  In short, I believe it is necessary to qualify your client's understanding throughout your discussion.  Checking for understanding is foundational to guided instruction, as the audience's response provides the presenter with a decision-making point: "Do I need to further unpackage this concept to "set the hook"?  This qualification process is easy in conversations between 2-5 people, but far more challenging when speaking to a large audience.  You'd never get through the pitch attempting to affirm everyone's understanding. 

Communicating in Social Networks

Jargon spills into all B2B conversations including social networks.  Below is a recent Twitter conversation (direct message):

Question:  “I've seen similar (app) platforms like "product-X". What make's this product the best in your opinion?"

Answer:  "So what we do is provide critical business insights into your custom criteria and your engagement with your social leads. This could totally be focused on business owners and managers by targeting them through bio and conversational keywords. You will be able to fine tune your criteria and engagement workflow to get even higher quality leads over time. This a great way to keep up with your followers and gain more business."

The point here is not to discredit the person that took the time to respond to my question.  Let's face it, my question was pretty broad and open-ended.  But the interpretation of a simple question can easily evoke a complicated answer.  Did the individual answer my question?  Well sure,....I guess.  You might ask, "What answer were you hoping to get?"  The lost art of pitching "features and benefits" always seems like a simple way to navigate to an answer.  Here's what I was hoping to hear...

Alternative Answer:  "Our competitive advantage is how we do X, which performs the Y function more efficiently, resulting in Z results driving great profitability to your company."

Language of Business

There's no question, that in order to build credibility with your audience,  one needs to identify "the issue" and the corresponding "solution".  Using industry terminology is a lot like shorthand.  Specific words create images and quickly help you navigate to a point.  I'm not suggesting eliminating all jargon.  The issue is when jargon and acronyms become more of an impediment.

It is imperative to maintain a connection with your audience by observing non-verbal communication.   Have you ever been in a situation where your audience has variable degrees of technical comprehension?  Throwing out buzzwords and technical jargon may set the hook with those more technically acquainted with your subject matter.  But when your audience is more diverse, it's best to limit the technical jargon to drive home your message and maintain a collective understanding.  Instead, consider providing examples and case studies.  Your goal is to persuade the audience.  Firehosing the crowd with facts, figures and pie charts is the fastest way for them to turn on you.  

Story Telling with Visual Aids

One way to bridge the gap for a blended audience is using metaphors and visual cues to establish a common understanding.  What is a metaphor? The Macmillan Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines the metaphor as  

“ a word or phrase that means one thing and is used for referring to another thing in order to emphasize their similar qualities”.

Regardless of your audience technical familiarity, presenting material in story or metaphor, will keep everyone engaged and attentive.  Be creative and vulnerable.  And by all means, don't forget to weave in clever humor to spark people's imaginations.  If done effectively, those stories will resonate with the audience sparking new conversations shortly after you've left the building.  We call this buzz.  

My most memorable metaphor I've heard was during my first job right out of college as an advertising sales executive.  The editor of the business newspaper called me into her office and asked me to sit down.  She asked me if I knew anything about hockey.  I responded, "not really".  She then shared the story that the most successful goalies had one secret.  They all see the puck in slow motion as it comes flying off the end of the offenders stick.  Now at this point, I'm bewildered trying to connect with the relevance of her story.  She then finished by saying, "You Vaughn, are no goalie. You don't see the puck coming in your direction.  You really have no idea what you're doing."  

I was devastated but learned a valuable lesson that there're no guarantees in life or jobs for that matter.  In order to be better prepared, I needed to invest in myself and develop better skills "on and off the court".  And that, my friend, is a the best metaphor I can leave with you today.

Written by Vaughn Berger -Acknowledging greatness in others, diverting negativity towards inspiration, encouraging dreamers and innovators, and always seeking the beauty in every moment.  @vtweet [email protected]