Q&A: Meeting planner's guide

At the podium

by Beth Ewen  

Business owners are often tapped to speak in front of groups, whether employees or potential investors or industry peers. Joan Wood Moser, president and CEO of Spoken Impact in St. Louis Park, urges anyone who’s tapped as a presenter to make an impact — otherwise don’t bother, she says.

Moser, a professional speaker, has added three employees since starting her company in 2001. Heed her advice before you head to the podium next time.

Upsize: How should a business owner start when asked to present?

Moser: It’s a lonely place when you have to do a speech or presentation. I have a couple of philosophies about why you wouldn’t just sit down and write vs. having a process.

One, it’s true for all of us: It’s very hard to know how you look to the world. That outside perspective is worth its weight in gold. Two, and here’s my favorite one, if you’re not going to make an impact when you get up and speak, send a memo.

Upsize: Is it hard for people to make an impact?

Moser: We were taught to learn by sitting at a desk, watching someone talk. We don’t have much in our hip pocket except “Let’s do an information dump.” It doesn’t work that way. You really have to change how you do your communications.

Upsize: Why does it matter?

Moser: We know that 75 percent of your success as a leader is communication, 100 percent if you’re in sales.

To make an impact, you have to prepare. When I work with someone I put up two posters. One poster over here is the safe zone. The second poster over there is the impact zone. I run a piece of tape and say it’s a continuum. Way too often people present in the safe zone. They say, they don’t want to look foolish or make a mistake. They say, “What if I did something that was interesting?” People minimize their risk, and in so doing they minimize their impact.

Upsize: How can they maximize impact?

Moser: You have to do the front-end work first. One, what’s your purpose? What do you hope people say or do when they’re done with this? You might say, “I want to make the world a safer place.” But what is it really you want people to do? Volunteer or call their legislators or say “hello” to their co-workers?

Second, you’ve got to have a key message. If you can get them to remember even one thing you said, that would be fabulous. A lot of times the key message is the title, but then nothing in the presentation is about that.

I work with Dorothy Light, a professional speaker and author. She’s working on a presentation for a women’s college, about what it takes to get on a board of directors. So she said her key message is, “You can get on boards.” I said, “Really?” She developed that more: “The purpose is, I want them to see that if they get on boards they can make a change.” The key message became, “You can influence what can be.”

The next step is to answer, “Why should anybody care?” We go through an audience profile.

Upsize: I’ve read your statement that speakers have to tap into the audience’s self-interest. How do you do that?

Moser: You have to do some best guesses. Professional speakers get on the phone and interview people who will be in the audience. Business people don’t have the time to do that. They go by experience. You have to ask the questions: What are their concerns, their views on the subject? Do we really need this background?

Upsize: What types of speeches are people commonly asked to make?

Moser: When CEOs present or conduct inspirational speeches they’re usually focused on employees. They need to incorporate two elements. You need more emotional connection than at any other time, you need to create common ground by sharing stories. And you need to add humor or levity.

One of my all-time favorites was the president and CEO of American Paging, where I used to work. He would come in every day, humphing along, not talking to anyone. He had a massive reputation: Don’t look at him in the morning. He was doing an employee update and we were in turbulent times. How does he start? He shares the fact that even his wife knows not to talk to him in the morning, and pulls out this smile stick that he says his wife gave to him. We all roared.

It’s a wonderful example of how you can create that emotional connection.

Upsize: What about presenting to potential investors?

Moser: An investment presentation is a high-end sales presentation, or a type of persuasive presentation. If you take the inspirational speech down one level, you have the persuasive presentation.

Lee Iacocca was famous for these, in his speeches for changing trade laws. The president of ADC Telecom has taken on the cause of changing industry legislation. For these you need to go to Debate 101. One, what are the issues? Two, what is my proposition? Three, what is my strong supporting proof? Four, what is my counter argument for each opposing idea.

We call it the chain of change. You have to move people through a process before they can accept new ideas.

Upsize: Are you seeing certain kinds of speeches more than before?

Moser: The amount of public speaking is as great as ever. Just like the more technology in people’s lives, the more they’re doing gardening and crafts. The more technology you put in the business world the more need we have to balance it with human interaction. It’s putting more of us on the spot.

Also, companies more and more are using seminars as strategies. Nobody answers the phone; nobody answers e-mail. This is a way to get customers there.

Upsize: And once they’re there?

Moser: The best recipe for a great presentation is add some shortening. It’s lazy on our part when we don’t prepare. Elizabeth Dole is famous for not picking up the phone without writing down what she’ll say. People are winging it all the time, not only what they’re trying to say but how it’s coming across.

Upsize: What’s the quality of speakers you see?

Moser: Our training is to help you be your authentic best. People say, “Make me like Tom Petters,” but you don’t want that. We want never to take away who the person is.

A famous ad man said, “Nobody sold anything to anybody by boring them to death,” and we’re boring each other to death. How can we stop doing that? You’ve got to communicate in the 21st century.

The biggest hint I can give is to make it visual. Great leaders understand the beauty of symbolism. Help people “see” what it is you really mean. That will stop boring them.