Beverly Flaxington is a practice management consultant. She answers questions from advisors facing human resource issues. To submit yours, email us here.
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The person who can best communicate thoughts and feelings to an audience gets heard. For financial advisors, effective communication with prospects, clients, centers of influence and peers is critical. I have developed the Six Keys to Confident Presenting™ as a guideline for the best way to deliver a message to any audience.
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Know why: Have a reason beforehand – Before any presentation of material, identify the “Why?” and the desired outcome. Your desired outcome might be to inform, to sell, to persuade, to motivate, to get commitment or something else. There are many possible outcomes – figure out what your desired outcome is for this particular presentation with this particular audience before you finalize your presentation.
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Know who: Connect with your audience – Many presenters work very hard on their message and know their presentation inside and out, but neglect to tailor it to the right audience. This is why the same pitch book can’t be reused in the same fashion with different audiences. Once you know your audience, you'll be able to decide which area(s) to focus on in order to address that audience’s particular interests and concerns. Consider collecting data in advance through interviews or an assessment of their needs. Before you even begin to present, you might re-establish what you learned: “These are the key things I’ve been asked to focus on in this presentation. Has anything changed? Should I add anything else?” Remember, most of us have an all-about-me attitude, so supplying a value to your audience will gain you listeners and probably followers too.
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Create flow – Your subject may be a complicated one for those outside your specific industry or field of expertise. Many presenters try to pack a lot of information and data into one continuous stream. The result is that the listener isn’t exactly sure what fits where or how to assimilate the information. Review all of the information you hope to present and “chunk it” into manageable pieces. As you look at all of your material, what categories emerge? Organize the information in chunks of related ideas. It’s best to keep within the bounds of seven sections or less. If you can break it into “three subject areas” or “four key takeaways,” for example, your audience will focus on listening for these specific areas. Whether you are presenting to one person or a large group, create an introduction. Use it to outline what you're going to present. List the areas you'll cover and refer back to that list each time. For example: “The first of the four key takeaways will cover...” Open each section with clarity. Close with clarity too. Once you've finished the information for a section, wrap it up: “The two key points from this section that may be especially important to you are (a) and (b). Now let’s move on to topic area number three.” That way the listener knows what they are being asked to pay attention to in each segment, and the information doesn’t all roll together as an endless stream.
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Provide context – As an extension of the chunking process, don’t assume that the listener will understand why this information should matter to them. The audience may be thinking, “So what about annuities and why do they matter to me?” Remember how important it was to know "who" you're talking to? Well, it’s just as important to help your “who” know "why" they should care about this information! Keep asking yourself the “why” question. Why does this concern your audience, why does it help them and why do they need to know it?
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Match behavioral style – Most presenters, whether one-to-one or on a stage, are so focused on how they look and sound that they lose the focus on the listener. Particularly in one-to-one meetings but also in small groups, a presenter needs to listen and watch for the other person’s preferred style. What’s style? It’s our tone of voice, our pace, the words we use and our body language. If I am by nature a slow talking and thoughtful person but I'm dealing with someone who is fast-talking and quick to learn, that person will get aggravated by my style. If I am a “results-oriented” person, when I’m working with someone who needs time to think, process and consider what I’ve said, that person may be turned off by what feels to them like a brusque approach. According to research on this topic, when we don’t adapt our style to that of our audience, we lose a degree of effectiveness because the listeners simply can’t hear us as well – they are too focused on the differences in communication style. In order to communicate with impact and be heard the way you want to be heard, stay aware of your style and watch that of others. Excellent presenters will naturally and unconsciously modify their approach in reaction to their audience, but unfortunately most of the rest of us have to work at it. Watching someone else’s style and then modifying your communication approach is a great way to connect with them.
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Bring closure – The last key actually brings us right back to where we started. Once you get to the end, go back to the beginning. Restate what you started with and confirm with your listener what will happen next. Why did you have this exchange or make this presentation? What were you hoping your listener or audience would do as a result of the material you delivered? This key asks you to both recap what you’ve told the audience and remind them of any specific data they need to have as a result of what you’ve discussed. Closure can be a summary of the presentation: “I started out by saying we’d review four segments of information. Let’s review the four segments.” If you wanted something from the person such as a decision, you might say, “I started out by saying I would show you why I’m ready to move to the next position in our company. What other information would you need from me to make this decision?” If you're a motivational speaker, closure can be a nice round of applause. If you’re a trainer, it can be having someone show you his or her ability to adeptly execute a new process. This is where you want to recap any next steps or takeaways for the audience to remember. If you need something from them, be clear what it is you need, when you need it and how you want it delivered. Another example could be as specific as, “Please send an email to this address by the 4th of May with your three requests for the training in August.”
Communicating well, especially when the information is negative (in times of market downturns for example), is critical to success. Each time you communicate, remember to prepare your Six Keys in advance and refer to them throughout your presentation as you deliver high impact content to your audience.
Beverly Flaxington co-founded The Collaborative, a consulting firm devoted to business building for the financial services industry in 1995. In 2008, she co-founded Advisors Trusted Advisor to offer dedicated practice management resources to advisors, planners and wealth managers. She is currently an adjunct professor at Suffolk University teaching undergraduate students Leadership & Social Responsibility. Beverly is a Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst (CPBA) and Certified Professional Values Analyst (CPVA).
She has spent over 25 years in the investment industry and has been featured in Selling Power Magazine and quoted in hundreds of media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, MSNBC.com, Investment News and Solutions Magazine for the FPA. She speaks frequently at investment industry conferences and is a speaker for the CFA Institute.
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