TWHS#086: Don't Blow Your Big Moment: The 3 Customer Event Mistakes That Kill Your Reputation

Hi Folks 

I've been working with a company that has some super important customer events coming up.  I've been coaching their team on how they make the sessions awesome, not naff.  You know, how they get their message across to people in a memorable and compelling way.  Not a boring, forgettable way.

When you have a lot of customers in one place it can go one of two ways.  Get it right and you've raised your reputation with loads of customers in one go.  Get it wrong and you've reduced your reputation with loads of customers in one go.

So here are some of the key mistakes that have come up in the early session drafts.  I`m pleased to say we’ve got them fixed now:

Boring Content - Use Emotion AND Logic

I'm surprised I hear this so often.  People say to me "I just want to make this as factual as possible".

When I hear that, I think "Oh, you mean boring and forgettable".   What follows is normally a dry and boring first draft.

Imagine you're in a windowless conference room for a whole day.  And not only that, you've been  served dry session after dry session after dry session.  It all becomes one big forgettable mess.

Now compare that to those compelling speakers, lecturers, teachers you had.  They had a way of bringing the content to life with stories, analogies and a bit of fun.

I bet you still remember some of the key things you learnt.

So take the valuable information you have and balance it with something that make it accessible, memorable and engaging.  It doesn't need to be a stand-up comedy routine, but it needs some life to it.

Balance emotion and logic.

Too Much Jargon - Use Simple Benefit Language

Stop using internal jargon to explain topics.  Use simple benefit language.  What the heck does simple benefit language mean?

Instead of creating a section called "The Micro Threshold Architecture" (I completely made that up).  Name the section "Scaling Up Quickly".

Jargon has been replaced with benefit.

You've started with why.  You've got people to buy into why this is important.   It's framed really quickly and simply.

Then you can get into the how.  Talk about what the "Micro Threshold Architecture" is and how it works.

But remember to be audience centric.  If the audience don’t need the details on how, don't waste their time.  If they do, then explain it simply and effectively.

Distracting Visual Aids - Put Less On The Slide

Slides are there to amplify your narrative.  They are not your speaker notes.  They are not a brochure designed for people to read afterwards.  They are there to elevate the impact of what you say.

Less is more.

Get rid of the bullet points.  Get rid of the headings, sub headings and detail.

If you have detailed slides, people will read the slides whilst you're talking.  You're reducing the impact, not increasing it.  It would be better if you had nothing there.  I call it the split brain problem.

Move the bullet points to your notes and put less on the slide.

Well there you go.  Three real world issues I recently faced and three solutions.

Hope this helps.

BenP

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