Storytelling is one of those things that we all know about, but where we could do a much better job of utilising this facility in business. It allows us to engage the audience in a way that makes our message more accessible. In any presentation there may be some key information or messages we wish to relay and yet we rarely wrap this information up in a story. As an audience we are more open to stories than bold statements or dry facts. The presenter’s opinion is always going to trigger some debate or doubt in the minds of the audience. The same detail enmeshed in a story though and the point goes straight into the minds of the crowd and is more likely to be bought as is.

When we are planning our talk, we think about what is the key message? We should get this into one sentence, able to written on a grain of rice. Okay, you are not likely to be able to achieve that any time soon, but the keys are brevity, clarity, focus, conciseness, and paring the message down to its most powerful essence. We build the argument to support our key message, broken up into chapters throughout the talk. We design our two closes, one for before Q&A and one to wrap up the whole talk at the very end. We design our blockbuster opening to pry the phones out of the hands of the audience, to get them to listen to what we are saying and going to say.

We can inject micro stories, by which I simply mean short stories, into every part of this design. The opening could be a short story which grabs the attention of the listeners and primes the room for our dissertation. It might be focused on an incident which relates to the key message of the talk or about an episode from a famous historical figure or about someone in the firm or a client that drives home the message.

Each of the chapters of the talk can rely on micro stories to back up the evidence being presented to justify the conclusion we have come to and the point we are making. These stories bring flesh and blood to the dry facts and details. They can enliven the point we are driving hard on, by making it something the audience can relate to. These facts don’t just appear. They are there because of a reason and there are bound to be stories aplenty attached to them.

Both of the closes can be separate stories that enhance the final messages we are delivering to the room. We keep them short, bountiful, memorable and attractive, such that they linger long in the minds of the audience members. We want our story attached to the inside of the brains of the listeners, so that they remember it long after the event has passed by.

A thirty minute talk would probably have five chapters, an opening and two closes, so at least room there for eight stories. These stories can be our own, garnered from our experiences or they could be folkloric stories from the firm’s rich history or we could be borrowing other people’s stories to make our point.

We all have products and solutions. Where did these come from? How were they created and who created them? What about the firm’s founders’ stories? Why does this company exist and how has it manage to stay in business for so long? Taking the key chapter content, we can inject some life into the data points by looking for creation stories or application tales of high deeds and gloried achievements. Other client’s stories can be some our stories too, as we relate how our solution changed their world. These stories lend themselves for inclusion in the “about us” component of the firm’s website and for placement in the corporate brochure.

The point is we have so many stories to choose from, we have a surfeit of content lapping all around us. All we have to do is collect it. So from now on build a library of stories about the firm, the personalities, the products, the client successes etc. When you are reading about other companies look for their stories that you can borrow to make a point about your own business. Add them to the library so that you don’t have to go scrambling about trying to think of stories. You have them there, ready to go whenever you need them.

We are often good talkers, but poor listeners. We have many things we want to say, share, expound and elaborate on. For this we need someone to be talking it all in. We like it when people do that for us. It soothes our ego, heightens our sense of self-worth and importance. We are sometimes not so generous ourselves though when listening to others. Here are six nightmare listeners you might run into. By the way, do any of these stereotypes sound a bit too familiar to you?

The “preoccupieds” are those breathless types, racing around, multi-tasking on steroids, permanently distracted. They don’t make much eye contact because their eyes are constantly scanning for things other than you in front of them. When we meet this reaction we need to grab their brain. We can say, “Is this a good time to talk?” or “I need your undivided attention for just a moment”. Once we do get their attention, we have to get to the point, because their attention span is fleeting.

The “out-to-lunchers” have the lights on (their eyes are open) but no one is at home. They are thinking about everything else but what you are saying to them. It is a good practice to check in with them to make sure they have absorbed the key points you are sharing. You can ask them a very pointed question about one element to determine if they actually heard you. Closed questions are good because an answer has to be yes or no, they can’t fudge it or fake it easily.

The “interrupters” are ending your sentences for you, jumping in all over you while you are speaking, they are fixated with their important contribution and not much interested in yours. You cannot stop them, so don’t resist. Let them blurt out whatever it is they cannot contain and then interject, “Thanks for that. As I was saying…” And pick up where you were, as if they had not spoken at all.

The “whatevers” are giving off that jaded, bored impression that what you are saying is of little interest or consequence. To grab their attention you have to lift your energy and spice up the content, make it more dramatic. Also, ask them specific questions that will draw them into the topic. Use open questions where they have to use actual sentences rather than monosyllabic responses.

The “combatives” are people with a strong sense of their rights and they are very interested in demanding they be heard and defending those rights. They are quick to call out perceived affronts to their dignity and will readily argue every point. Look for points of agreement and concentrate talking about those or ask to agree to disagree.

The “analysts” are logical thinking, very detailed orientated and are always in fix-it mode. They love handing out advice regardless of whether it was requested or not. You can go around idea generation from them by saying “I just need to bring you up to speed, so you know what is happening. I’m not looking for advice”

By contrast what would a good listener look like? The “engagers” are empathetic listeners who really concentrate on what you are saying. They employ eyes, ears, hearts and minds to absorb your messages. They understand that they already know what they know and can learn a lot more from finding out what you know as well. They let you talk. They make you feel good, because they are obviously following along with you and taking an interest.

When they are your boss, they let you talk and give you the opportunity to self-discover solutions and ideas. “We own the world we help to create” and bosses who listen and give their people the opportunity to speak, to suggest, to innovate are going to have a highly engaged team. That is the team that is going to win against the vast majority of teams who just show up to get paid. So the ROI (Return On Investment) from listening can be huge. Were you listening?

Selling to companies in Japan usually means sitting in a meeting room with a single buyer or perhaps two people. There are occasions though where we may need to present to a larger number of buyers in a more formal setting. It may be a pitch to secure the business, or it may be a means of getting the buying team more easily coordinated on their side.

Before we know how to present to a team, we have to analyse the people in the team. That means we need to know ahead of time, who will be in the room from their side. A team comprises multiple layers of responsibility. We might have some functional interests represented such as the Executive Buyer, Financial Buyer, User Buyer, Technical Buyer and Our Champion. Each one has a different driver for making buying decisions.

The Executive Buyer will have a strategic vision for the organization so they are interested in opportunities and growth. We need to include the big picture here of what our solution will do to position the company into the future, as well as today.

The Financial Buyer is always interested in cash flow, no matter the size of the organisation. They focus on the cost, the terms of the transaction and how much flexibility it can provide for them.

The User Buyer wants to know about the features, how easy is the solution to use, how reliable will it be?

The Technical Buyer is concerned about efficiency, practicality and capacity. Usually we are in that room because of our Champion. They are concerned about their relationships within the company, with having influence over the buying situation and gaining recognition for their efforts.

Just to make it more complicated, there are also the buyer personality styles to contend with.

The Amiable who is focused on relationships and is never in a hurry to make a decision.

The Driver is the exact opposite. They are dynamic, fast movers who just want the facts so they can make a decision and move on.

The Analtyicals want data and lots of it. Three decimal places is fine for them.

The Expressives are bored with the nitty gritty detail, preferring the big picture.

It is possible to focus on just one group but not very wise. The presentation should have a little something for everyone.

There are also going to be attitudinal differences. Some will Hostile, Resistant, Discontent, Ambivalent, Favourable, Supportive and Enthusiastic. We need to get our body language meter on full throttle to read the audience and we need our Champion to give us the who’s who of who is in the room, so we can anticipate where we might hit trouble.

There are different levels of expertise in a team. There will be varying levels of Experiences, Education, Biases, Problem/Positive issues, Goals, Expertise and Culture. Before we present we need to know who is going to be in the meeting and try to understand what will be driving their reaction to what we are going to say.

We may not know this completely beforehand but we will certainly start locating people into different sectors once we get into the meeting room.

We need a presenting structure which will be well regarded by the majority of people in the room. We need an opening to grab attention, a statement of need for change, an example of the need for change and to suggest three possible solutions.

For solution one, we outline the advantages and disadvantages. We repeat this balanced formula for solutions two and three. We then suggest the best solution of the three, with evidence as to why it is best. In our closing remarks we repeat the final recommendation.

Selling to a buying group is fraught with difficulty, because of the massive variations in the room, as to perspectives, needs and interest. Nevertheless we can use this structure to cover off as many of the needs in the room as possible.

We rely on our champion to brief us on who is in the room beforehand and to go around drumming up support following our presentation. We win or lose though the quality of our preparation and our structure.

If they are both in good working order, then the chances of winning the business go up dramatically. We won’t get so many chances to present to a buying group but we need to be well prepared when we do.