From the Editor: In this issue you’ll learn easy and effective strategies to improve your consulting services… some of which are as simple as listening to a tape of your own voice and some skills that you’ll want to develop to compete in this ever-growing consultant marketplace. Special thanks to Mark Amtower and Jennifer Stevens. “There have been volumes of books published about speaking in public - things to do and not do. The best summary I can come up with is this: be confident and be yourself! People can easily tell if you are trying to come across as someone you're not.” By Mark Amtower, ACL Board Member Recently I was asked to speak to two different groups of unemployed executives. I was to offer some brief advice on consulting as an interim position. The first session was a group of unemployed telecom execs, all men, and most over fifty. The second group was a woman’s support group, part of Women In Technology, and they ranged in age from mid-twenties to fifty-ish. If you have never seen me speak, I am slightly different. I am 6’, 225, and I wear all black all the time, with cowboy boots. I no longer wear ties. I also pace when I speak, I walk right up to people, look them in the eye, and ask questions. Some say I am a little boisterous. I like to think of it as enthusiasm, not unlike an evangelical preacher. My first question, to each group was: “Are you any good at what you do?” This was asked in an intentionally loud voice. Nearly all the women shouted, “Yes” with enthusiasm. Nearly all the men looked at me like it was a trick question, closer to deer-in-the-headlights than anything else. It was obvious their collective confidence was shaken well before my appearance. You need to ask yourself on a regular basis, “Am I among the best at what I do?” If you can honestly say yes, the next question should be, “What am I doing to get better?” Then plan exactly how you will get better. Define your niche, and then develop a plan to become well-known within that niche. Confidence is the key to growth, so you must not be shy about saying that you are good at what you do. There are two perpetual tasks you must undertake to accomplish becoming well known in your niche. Communication When I was in graduate school, I worked in a telemarketing firm. Chris Trelease was the manager responsible for training us, and he used a concept I have never forgotten: the word-per-idea ratio. The wider the ratio, the less likely communication occurs. The tighter the ratio, the more likely you will get the desired result. The first time I spoke to a group professionally, I did not make eye contact, “er” and “uh” were frequent refrains, but somehow I got some ideas across. After I spoke, several people actually thanked me for the information. I did make several valid points, I just did so poorly. So I decided I would get better. Fortunately, for me, Maggie Bedrosian (author of Speak Like a Pro) spoke at an event I attended within a month of that first session, and I went. Maggie and I struck a friendship that is ongoing for over fourteen years, and she has coached me occasionally over the intervening years. And I got better, incrementally. One of the exercises I would do on my own involved taping practice sessions before I went public. Using a simple hand-held recorder from Radio Shack, I tape all my seminars well in advance of the first performance. Then I listen to the tape several times: drive time, in the office as background instead of the radio, and then separately, with no distractions, for serious critique and re-write. This allows me to hear me the away my audience hears me. It lets me make certain the material is sequential and coherent (I also read my articles aloud for the same reason). It helps me find areas where I need to bolster a position, or look for better examples. Listening to the tape also helps me identify those annoying idiosyncrasies that pop up. It could be a phrase used too often, overuse of the dramatic pause, anything that might be annoying to your audience. Actively listen to yourself when you are in any social setting. Make certain your are not using too many words to communicate, or your will simply become annoying. Speaking at receptions or any informational setting has different parameters for you. First, eat before you go. Don't overload a plate, and then attempt to have a conversation while eating. Get one drink, preferably non-alcoholic, that you can nurse for a long time. Meet, greet and listen. The better known you become, the more you will be sought out at these venues, so be gracious. Do not look over the shoulder of the person or people you are speaking to see who else is there. We have all had this experience from the receiving end and you know how it made you feel. In a boardroom, or small meeting session, have some agenda (or make certain someone has set an agenda) so those involved will not feel as though they are adrift in yet another meaningless time waster. Keep the meeting moving, covering all points on the agenda, and making certain anyone who wishes to share has the opportunity to do so. If it is not your agenda, you can still try to keep the meeting moving in a positive direction. In the larger setting, larger seminar or keynote, practice makes perfect. Over the past 14 years, I have sought out selected venues, especially conferences, to speak at. Plan ahead, as the conference director will be selecting speakers 8-10 months in advance of an annual event. If I really want to speak at an event, I will contact the conference director and offer to be part of a panel, or fill in if someone else is unable to speak at the last minute. I do the same for smaller events, offering to speak at seminars produced by publications or associations. If you can’t find a venue – create one. Since 1991, I have also produced over 50 seminars and 3 conferences. Since 2002, my Government Marketing Best Practices seminar has been produced over 20 times and presented in more than 15 cities around the country. It's a three-hour session that discusses the best marketing tactics for marketing to the government. Three hours is not too much time to ask for anyone, so attendance is usually good. More than three hours of one speaker is a little much, unless the speaker is very good and chock full of information. I am a pretty good speaker, but I wouldn’t listen to me for more than three hours, so why would I ask anyone else to? Communication is king. Those who speak better, regardless of their depth, appear more knowledgeable. If you speak well and present useful information, you will be very well received. If you do not communicate well, you will not be invited to speak at the events that are critical to your niche (and consequently critical to you). Someone else will get those important speaking engagements, and even if they are as knowledgeable as you, they will get more consulting assignments as a result. Press Relations Working with the press is a balancing act of a different kind. Most reporters and editors are not well paid, but they do have egos, especially if they are any good (and sometimes when then are not that good). You must try to be pervasive without being invasive. You need relationships with key reporters and editors. Find out first how they want you to communicate with them: email, phone, whatever they like. Then make sure you don’t send them useless, frivolous, or self-promoting information. It has to be something they will find useful for their publication. If you are dealing with reporters, they have to be able to sell it to an editor. The more pertinent you make it, the more likely you will get coverage. In my case, I straddle two separate markets: the government market and the “marketing” market. Over the years, I have written for several marketing publications, and I have been quoted in many. When I have something useful, I identify several publications that might find it interesting, then I pick one to share it with. The next time I will share it with another. Publications are interested in items that will give them a leg up. They want “exclusives”, scoops. If they identify you as someone who will provide the information to anyone, they will spend less time with you. If they think of you as a good source, they will call more frequently. So I give “scoops” to publications on an alternating basis, because I have relations with several. In part, this is because of my candor. I am fairly well known for speaking my mind, which reporters love. I am always good for a quote, and consequently I have good relationships with reporters from many publications in both markets. Often this means developing a deeper relationship with one publication over another. If this is necessary, so be it. To get on a reporter’s radar, I will read several of his stories, then send an occasional email saying something simple: “Good story on x”, or “That was a well-written article about y.” Something as simple as a compliment can get you on the radar, so when you call, you have a good chance that they will remember you. Quick tips for dealing with the press: Next, have something concrete in mind before you call. Rehearse what you want to say. I usually use the white board, and write three key phrases on it that I want to use (I use this especially when I am being interviewed), and I make certain to use each phrase at least three times. Never lie, mislead or exaggerate. This will come back to haunt you, and reporters especially will remember who gave them bad or questionable information. Things common to both communication and press relations: honesty and candor. Remember: opportunities occur for the proactive. Rarely have I heard instances of reporters or conference directors using Ouija Boards or telephone directories to find speakers or people to interview. It helps if they know who you are. Along the same line, if you bother to learn more about your niche, you’ll find that the more you know, the sharper your focus becomes. You’ll have more to say, and more people will be interested in hearing it. HONE YOUR SKILLS: 12 INSIDER SECRETS TO SUCCESSFUL INTERVIEWS Any article (or sales letter) that you write must have its fair share of facts. And that's where interviews come in. So, let's talk about how to conduct a really productive interview. Secret No. 1: Ask questions that require more than a "yes" or "no" answer. Though a "yes" or "no" answer from the person being interviewed can confirm or discount a statement you've made, such a perfunctory answer won't get you the kind of meaty, quotable information you're after. Instead, ask questions that begin with "the five W's and the H." That's code for "who, what, where, when, why, and how." Secret No. 2: Decide what it is you really need from your interviewee. Whoever you happen to be interviewing, it's always important to keep the reason (or reasons) for the interview in mind so you stay focused on gathering the information you really need. So, ask yourself "What do I want this guy to give me?" Make a "need-to-know" list and keep it in front of you while you're preparing your questions. Secret No. 3: Write down the questions you intend to ask. Having your questions written down is an invaluable safety net. Even if I have my questions memorized, at least I know I can always look at what I've prepared if I'm at a loss for words. And at the end of an interview, I always skim my questions to see if I've overlooked anything. Secret No. 4: Don't hesitate to ask for interviews. You should never hesitate to ask for an interview. People like to talk about themselves and their own experiences, and they are flattered that you're interested in their opinions. Secret No. 5: Set up your interviews in advance. It's usually wise to set up formal interviews in advance. You can usually do this over the phone or via e-mail. And it's smart to give folks a sense of what you're interested in learning and how long your interview will likely be. (I've found it makes sense to schedule at least half an hour.) Secret No. 6: Arm yourself with the right equipment. If you're interviewing somebody face-to-face, be sure to bring along a notebook and a pen or two. You may also want to buy one of those tiny tape recorders to make sure you have an accurate record of quotes. But make sure you take detailed notes as well. Those little machines malfunction and get lost. And, what's more, it takes forever to transcribe an interview from tape. Secret No. 7: Approach your interview like a conversation. Pay attention to the person you're speaking with and react to his or her statements as you would in a normal conversation. You can comment here or there, nod your head, indicate you understand. Ask follow-up questions. And rephrase your question if you didn't get the full answer you were looking for. Secret No. 8: Remain flexible during the interview. The person you're talking with may take a subject and run with it, and you may find yourself pursuing an interesting angle you hadn't thought of or even known about when you made up your list of questions. Secret No. 9: Establish immediately what's "on the record" and what's "off the record." Start the interview by saying "I'll assume everything we talk about is 'on the record' unless you tell me otherwise." That way, you don't risk gathering a lot of great information only to have your interviewee tell you, as you walk out of the room, "Oh, by the way, all that I said about XX . . . that's off the record." Secret No. 10: Ask if you may follow up should you think of anything else. It's not unusual, especially when you're starting out as an interviewer, to find that when you sit down to write your piece you're missing some information. Don't worry. Just remember to ask the person you're interviewing, before the end of the interview, if it's OK to call him or her back should you think of any additional questions. Most interviewees have no problem with your doing so. Secret No. 11: Get your contact information right. Either at the start of the interview or at its close, make sure you have the correct spelling of your interviewee's name and up-to-date contact information for him or her. Secret No. 12: Write a thank-you note. You don't have to write pages and pages, but always write at least a few lines to thank an interviewee for taking the time to speak with you. Ed. Note: The above article was excerpted from "Passport to Romance," the travel-writing course written by Jen Stevens for AWAI. For information about the course, visit: http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/etr1 CONSULTING RESOURCE OF THE MONTH: Periodically, the editors of Consulting Tips will make recommendations on books or other resources that we believe would be of interest to our members. This month, we’re recommending: Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan. RSVP: Send us your comments and suggestions to: American Consultants League, c/o Early to Rise www.earlytorise.com or email us at: support@earlytorise.com American Consultants League Consulting Tips NewsletterThe American Consultant's League
Consulting Tips Newsletter
Ideas, strategies, and tips, far growing your consulting business
-- Maggie Bedrosian
WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO BE A BETTER CONSULTANT?
The first task is communication. You must continuously strive to improve your skill in one-on-one, one-on several, and one-on-many communications. Regardless of your current level of skill, everyone can improve in this area. There are books, tapes, coaches and more. Decide you want to become better at speaking in any venue, from receptions to keynotes. Then develop your plan.
The second task is identifying and penetrating the right publication(s) for your niche. You must know which editors and reporters influence your market, and then make certain they know you. Being written about provides more credibility for you than most other marketing activities.
First, read the publications. Understand several things before you call a reporter: who is the audience, what are they interested in, and what are their hot-buttons. Hot-buttons could include controversial topics, something truly new and unique, trends, and a variety of things. But know what the reporter has written about so you understand what his hot-buttons are.
By Jennifer Stevens
245 NE 4th Ave Ste 102
Delray Beach, Fl 33483
Ph: 866-344-7201/ FAX: 561-278-5929
Editor: Denise Ford
Contributing Board Members: Mark Amtower, Ilise Benun, Bob Bly, Tony Narinesingh, Ruth Stevens, Valerie Young