Tip # 1: (Within the first 2 minutes) Get their voices in the room. Click here to read more.

Tip #2: (Within the first 5 minutes) Find out what they want to hear from you. Click here to read more.

Tip #3: (At the 6-minute mark) Don’t be afraid to throw out what you had planned based on what they tell you they want. Click here to read more.

Tip #4: (5 minutes before closing) See how well you met their expectations. Click here to read more.

Tip #5: (1 minute before closing) Know where they stand when you leave. Use a One Word Check-out. Ask, “How are you as you leave the room?” You’ll know immediately what impact you had and what your next steps are. This is often a really uplifting experience for everyone involved – including you! It’s amazing how quickly a room can go from “pooped” to “psyched,” especially when you’ve followed Tips 1 through 4. And if the reverse has happened, well, bummer. But wouldn’t you rather know – and know immediately – so you can deal with it … and adjust your approach for the next time?

Bottom line: Being influential comes as a result of listening first, not talking. This is true whether you’re a consultant outside an organization or a leader within one, speaking in a formal setting or gathered casually around a conference room table, delivering a presentation lasting 30 minutes or 3 days. Use all five tips for high impact client presentations.

These tips were originally presented in BossaNova’s TwentyFourSeven newsletter. Click here to see it and find other articles of interest.

Tip #1: (Within the first 2 minutes) Get their voices in the room. Click here to read more.

Tip #2: (Within the first 5 minutes) Find out what they want to hear from you. Click here to read more.

Tip #3: (At the 6-minute mark) Don’t be afraid to throw out what you had planned based on what they tell you they want. Click here to read more.

Tip #4: (5 minutes before closing) See how well you met their expectations. If the venue allows it, ask everyone to share to what extent their interests were addressed. If this kind of one-to-one exchange just isn’t feasible, then summarize what you covered and how you attempted to address what they wanted to accomplish. Refer back to the list you made as part of Tip #2. Ask for a show of hands to indicate how successful you were.

Next up: Tip #5 of 5.

Tip # 1: (Within the first 2 minutes) Get their voices in the room. Click here to read more.

Tip #2: (Within the first 5 minutes) Find out what they want to hear from you. Click here to read more.

Tip #3: (At the 6-minute mark) Don’t be afraid to throw out what you had planned based on what they tell you they want. This is the hallmark act of someone who really knows their stuff – and knows how to connect with people. Trade in a “perfect” pitch for one that’s perfectly in tune with your audience. It doesn’t matter if you stumble and fumble a bit in the process. Let your audience know they are so important to you that you’re willing to forego your put-together image to give them what they want.

Next up: Tip #4 of 5.

Tip # 1: (Within the first 2 minutes) Get their voices in the room. Click here to read more.

Tip #2: (Within the first 5 minutes) Find out what they want to hear from you. How else do you know how to best use their valuable time – and yours? Once again, a simple question will do. One I use often is, “What would have to happen in the next __ minutes/days for you to walk away saying, ‘Wow, this was really valuable’?” If you’re speaking to a room of 10 people, you can afford to solicit an answer from everyone. If you’re speaking to a room of 50, take a random sample. There is always a quick and effective way to get the information you need to tailor your pitch for maximum impact.

BONUS: Record what you hear on easel chart paper or some other medium that can be seen by the whole group. This is another way to help people feel heard. Plus you’ll want to refer back to this list later.

Next up: Tip #3 of 5.

Tip # 1: (Within the first 2 minutes) Get their voices in the room. One of my favorite techniques is what I call a One Word Check-in. Simply ask, “If you had to describe how you are at this moment in just one word, what word would you choose?” (Notice I do not ask how they are “feeling” – a charged word for some people.) Your audience’s answers will give you an immediate sense of how they are doing, and how ready they are to engage with you. As a bonus, they’ll be that much more inclined to engage because you took a moment to inquire about them early on.

What do you do with what you hear? First and foremost, don’t even think about taking their answers personally. I once surveyed a group of 40 people and the majority shared words like “exhausted,” “tired,” “spent.” This had absolutely nothing to do with me. But was I glad I collected the data. Simply asking about – and acknowledging – their collective state immediately boosted the energy in the room. Plus I was able to tailor my presentation to adapt to the group mood. Conversely, if the vibe in the room is upbeat, ready, energized, you can get down to business that much faster and feel confidently you aren’t leaving people behind.

BONUS: Repeat each word you hear before you move onto the next person. This requires all of one extra second per person and you get two important things in return: (1) You help everyone hear how the room is doing (in a large room, sometimes you’re the only one with the benefit of a microphone or a booming presenter’s voice), and (2) You give each and every person the experience of being heard – one of the greatest gifts you can give another human being. All within the first 2 minutes of your pitch!

Next up: Tip #2 of 5.

- People with a best friend at work are seven times more likely to be engaged in their work.

- Close friendships at work boost employee satisfaction by nearly 50%.

- People with at least three close friends at work are 46% more likely to be extremely satisfied their job – and 88% more likely to be satisfied with their lives.

- Employees who are good friends with their bosses are more than twice as likely to be happy with their work.

The relevance of friendship is not new to the world of professional services. David Maister writes about friendship in his article titled Young Professionals: Cultivate the Habits of Friendship . He asserts, “The way most clients choose among professionals is essentially identical to the way people choose their friends. At the point of selecting a professional to work with, clients go with providers who can:

(a) make them feel at ease; (b) make them feel comfortable sharing their fears and concerns; (c) can be trusted to look after them as well as their transaction and (d) are dependably on their side.”

It seems logical to infer that clients who view you, their business advisor, as a friend are at least doubly more likely to be engaged in the work you do and be satisfied with the results you produce.

Take stock: how many clients can you call “friend”?

“TRANSPORT? GOOD PRICE! MAYBE TOMORROW?”

Like the dogs in Ubud, there was one really big down side to tourist beach life: the very persistent vendors. The Balinese could use a lesson from Charlie Green on the value of trading in the hard sell for a more subtle approach. Reallllly got on my nerves after not too long. Very different from anything I’ve experienced in Thailand or Laos. A whole ‘nother level of persistence.

Walking down either the vendor-lined main street or beach walkway (pretty much the only way to get anywhere) routinely went something like this:

Vendor (with big smile): “Hello, how are you?”

Me (smile): “Fine, thank you.”

Vendor (with big smile): “You need transport?”

Me (smile): “No, thank you.”

Vendor (with big smile): “I make good price!”

Me (smile): “No, thank you.”

Vendor (with big smile): “Maybe tomorrow?”

Me (smile): “Won’t be here tomorrow.”

Vendor (with big smile): “You need ride to airport?”

Me (smile starting to fade): “No, thank you.”

Vendor (with big smile): “I make good price!!”

Seems harmless enough, but imagine walking another three feet to the next vendor (there are literally hundreds of them, side by side) … and repeating the exchange all over again. Exhausting. Truly. The resort I initially turned my nose up at became a safe haven after one pass. I actually began to dread going out!

What I later realized after talking to one driver (I succumbed) is that it’s all fear-driven. August is the height of tourist season and the resorts aren’t as populated as usual. Which means they’re clamoring for their survival and the shtick is an act of desperation.

Doesn’t make it any less irritating, but does cast a different light on it.

While I suspect we are all far too “professional” to ever show up like my Balinese vendor friends, I’m going to assert that we have our own subtle ways of being ineffective with our clients when we perceive our survival (emotional, psychological) is at stake. Think back to the last time you could taste a high-stakes deal but were afraid you might not close it.

My own personal brand of fear-based selling is a cat of a different stripe; when I’m confronting my own survival issues, I err on the side of being tentative with/withdrawn from clients. This looks like me not following up regularly, following up late, not following up at all, or following up with worry about being an imposition in the background. None of which serves my clients, as they end up feeling one or more of the following ways: confused, unsupported, irritated, anxious.

The questions for today are: What does your own personal brand of fear-based selling look like? And what’s the impact on your clients?

I’ve got my own love/hate relationship with email. As of the date of this writing, I have steadfastly refused to enable my fancy mobile phone to send and receive email messages (although I will confess that my resolve is weakening by the day). And I seem to be perpetually challenged to lead or facilitate client meetings where participants are constantly distracted by their “Crackberrys” (or actively managing their distraction because of the meeting ground rules that we’ve set). Email mania appears to be especially pervasive inside the large consulting firms who are BossaNova’s clients, where the addiction begs the creation of a 12-Step Program.

Irritation (and my own addiction) aside, I’m fascinated by the email phenomenon as it relates to building trust with clients. It seems to me there are pros and cons of email, as with anything. Using the components of The Trust Equation* as a guide, here’s my take:

CREDIBILITY: On the upside, email makes it easy to share information with clients that demonstrates your knowledge (a white paper can be delivered in the blink of an eye). On the downside, the “presence” dimension of credibility (how you convey what you know) is tough to master over email.

RELIABILITY: On the upside, email makes it easy to schedule (and change) appointments, send messages, and to generally be “in touch.” On the downside, email creates an emotional distance that makes it way too easy to change commitments (kind of like cutting someone off on the highway is easier when you assume he/she is a stranger).

INTIMACY: On the upside, email provides yet another medium for communicating about sensitive topics – some clients are more comfortable sharing thru the written word than through dialogue. On the downside, private information can be too easily shared with others by accident, creating the potential for huge breaches in confidentiality.

SELF-ORIENTATION: On the upside, email makes it easy to show you care – for example, by passing along a link to an article or other helpful resource. On the downside, email is a “cooler” communication medium than phone or face-to-face and leaves lots of room for misinterpretation.

What say you? Is email predominantly a client trust-builder or a client trust-breaker?

*The Trust Equation and other profound insights on building trust with clients can be found in The Trusted Advisor by David Maister, Charlie Green, and Rob Galford. For more information about our partnership with Charlie Green of Trusted Advisor Associates, click here: http://www.bossanovaconsulting.com/about/partners.php

“Early and ugly” is what a prized client said he wanted from his consulting firm. “Our very senior client was telling us he didn’t want to wait weeks or months for a polished deliverable; he wanted to be part of the action every step of the way,” reports Wayne Simmons, managing partner of ICOR Partners , a strategic management consulting firm servicing the public sector. “We were happy to hear it because that’s exactly how we like to work,” he added.

What a great reminder that not only is it OK to be “messy” with our clients, it’s often what they prefer. The Recovering Perfectionist in me needs this reminder repeatedly.

How messy do you dare to be?