Podcast Guest Famous!!

Congratulations to Kevin Eikenberry (Eikenberry Consulting) who was quoted in the NYTimes. He’s a friend of ours who has been on our podcast, The Advanced Selling Podcast.

Here’s the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/20/jobs/20advi.html?_r=1&oref=slogin. 

While not a big fan of Times political stance, I do admit I get Sunday version and Kevin’s input was well done. His comment was about “what do you do when you’ve bungled the presentation?” I can’t resist a quick comment:

1. Oh well. The more pressure you feel to do it perfectly, the more likely you are to screw it up. Be in the moment. Get detached from what people do or don’t do with it.

2. Be focused on them, not on you. I see this all the time–the presenter really wants to make an impression on people. So much so that he’s self conscious to the point of ignoring the audience.

3. Know you’re screwing it up as you’re doing it. You should be aware when something’s not going right. If you’re too self-absorbed you won’t be in the moment — and you’ll be blind to the fact that people are falling asleep (don’t laugh, I’ve seen that. And the presenter went right on talking). And if you become aware of it (here’s the $100,000 move), call it. Say, out loud, “I feel like I’m not connected with you. Can we stop and take stock of where we are?” For God’s sake. If it’s not going right, the worst thing you can do is keep digging a deeper hole.

Oh, and 4. If you’re presenting your solution too early in the sales process, then that’s a mistake in and of itself, even if it’s smashingly good.