Steve Jobs (37 page)

I often ask clients, “On a scale of one to ten—one being

fast asleep and ten being wildly pumped up like motivational

speaker Tony Robbins—tell me where you are right now.”

“A three,” most of my clients reply.

“OK,” I say, “what would it feel like to be a seven, eight, or

nine? Give it a try.”

If they’re being honest, most presenters place themselves at

a three to six on the energy scale. That means there is plenty of

room to raise their energy level.

Energy is hard to describe, but you know it when you see it.

Television host Rachael Ray has it. President Barack Obama and

Tony Robbins have it as well. These three individuals have dif-

ferent styles, but they speak with energy.

Try this exercise—practice leaving your comfort zone: Record

several minutes of your presentation as you would normally

deliver it. Play it back, preferably with someone else watch-

ing. Ask yourself and the observer, “Where am I on the energy

scale?” Now try it again. This time, break out of your comfort

zone. Ham it up. Raise your voice. Use broad gestures. Put a big

smile on your face. Get to a point where you would feel slightly

awkward and uncomfortable if you actually delivered the pre-

sentation that way. Now watch it again. Odds are your energy

will be just right. You see, most people underestimate how little

energy they actually have during a presentation. When they are

asked to go “over the top” and to leave their comfort zone, they

hit the right note.

Five Steps to Rehearsing

“Off-the-Cuff” Remarks

With the economy plunging deeper into a recession, 2009 was

a tough year to introduce a new car, but automobile companies

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Caroline Kennedy’s, ah, um, You Know, Performance

Filler words such as “ah,” “um,” and “you know” should not

disqualify someone from public office, nor should they limit

a person’s effectiveness as a business leader. All too often,

though, fillers will diminish your influence in the eyes of oth-

ers. In early 2009, Caroline Kennedy had expressed interest in

the New York Senate seat vacated by Hillary Rodham Clinton,

who became U.S. secretary of state. The media skewered

Kennedy’s performance because of her verbal tendency to

pack her remarks with, um, you know, like, fillers. Kennedy said

“you know” more than thirty times in a two-minute interview.

Listening for her filler words became sport among bloggers

and radio talk-show hosts. She soon withdrew her name from

consideration.

Here are three ways to eliminate fillers from your remarks

before they detract from your message:


Ask for feedback.
Most of your colleagues are afraid of

offending you. When someone asks me for advice and I see

some real areas for improvement, I will be tough. At the same

time, as is true of most other people, I hesitate to offer unso-

licited advice even when I’m dying to say something that can

improve someone’s presentation skills. Likewise, since most

of your family, friends, and peers avoid critiques for fear of

“insulting” you, they will not voluntarily tell you that your

mannerisms are annoying! Perhaps if Kennedy had asked for

honest feedback, someone may have said, “Caroline, before

you pitch yourself to the governor as the next New York

senator, we need to work on how you answer the inevitable

questions. Your answers must be specific, inspiring, and free

from the filler words you use in everyday conversation.”


Tap the glass.
I came across this technique entirely by chance, and it worked out extremely well. I was helping a woman

rehearse a presentation and noticed that every other word was

“ah” or “um.” It became very distracting, so I told her I would

tap a water glass with a spoon every time she used a filler word.

My tapping became frequent—and irritating—prompting

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her to eliminate the fillers almost immediately. I’ve used it a

few times since with equal success. Of course, this technique

requires a second person to watch you and to tap the glass

during your presentation rehearsal.


Record yourself, and play it back in the presence of others.

If you are serious about improving your presentation skills, record

yourself on video, and replay it with someone else in the room.

You don’t have to tape your entire presentation, just the first

five minutes. That should give you all the information you need

to make some adjustments. You might be floored to hear how

many filler words you use. For most people, simply watching

themselves on video is enough to overcome some issues. Video

feedback is even more effective in the presence of others who

can pick up on some verbal mannerisms you might overlook.

A few “um”s and “ah”s from time to time will not detract

from your ability to persuade an audience, but a steady stream

of fillers can damage your efforts. The good news is that once

you are made aware of the problem, you can easily follow the

suggestions here to reduce or eliminate them.

can’t put the brakes on designs and plans set in motion years

ago. In January, I spoke to a group of auto executives who were

designated spokespeople for new car models arriving soon to

showrooms in North America. They were looking for advice

on how to answer tough questions from the media. The same

day, U.S. secretary of state–designate Hillary Clinton was field-

ing questions from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in

a confirmation hearing. The Associated Press called her perfor-

mance “smooth,” and NBC’s Tom Brokaw said Clinton is known

for her “legendary” preparation. I told the auto execs to prepare

for tough questions in the same way that Clinton had probably

prepared for her five-hour appearance.

It’s a technique I call the “bucket method,” and it is used in

one form or another by CEOs, politicians, and, yes, Steve Jobs,

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who seems to have ready answers to any question. You can use it

to prepare for presentations, pitches, sales calls, or any other sit-

uation in which you anticipate difficult or sensitive questions.

1.
Identify the most common questions likely to be raised.

Clinton expected a question about her husband’s interna-

tional foundation and its list of donors. Critics had widely

publicized the issue, saying her appointment would be a

conflict of interest. She also knew that each of the world’s

hot spots at the time would be fair game: Gaza, Iran, Iraq,

Pakistan, and others. For the car executives, the most

common question would be along the lines, “How do you

expect to sell cars in this economy?” Or, “Will 2009 only get

worse for the auto industry?”

2.
Place the questions into “buckets,” or categories. There might be only one question in a bucket, as in the case of the Clinton

Foundation, or there might be several, as in the case of the

carmakers and the economy. The point is to reduce the num-

ber of questions for which you must prepare. It’s uncanny, but

in my experience training thousands of speakers, the majority

of questions will fall into about seven categories.

3.
Create the best answer you have for the category. And this

is critical—the answer must make sense regardless of how

the question is phrased. You must avoid getting pulled into

a detailed discussion based on the wording of the question.

For example, here is Clinton’s answer about her husband’s

fund-raising efforts: “I am very proud to be the president-

elect’s nominee for secretary of state, and I am very proud

of what my husband and the Clinton Foundation and the

associated efforts he’s undertaken have accomplished, as

well.
”12 She w
ould have said exactly the same thing regardless of how pointed the question from Republican senators

was.

4.
Listen carefully to the question, and identify a key word—a

trigger—that will help you isolate the correct bucket from

which to pull to your answer.

5.
Look the person in the eye and respond with confidence.

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“Well-prepared” speakers do not memorize answers to hun-

dreds of potential questions. Instead, they prepare answers

to
categories
of questions. The
way
a question is phrased is secondary. Think about it this way: your goal is to launch a mini presentation within a presentation.

You can use the bucket method to reframe the question in

your favor. Let’s assume that your company’s product is more

expensive than a similar offering by one of your competitors.

Let’s also assume that there is a good reason behind the higher

price. The way the question is phrased is not as important as

the answer you have created for the category, which is “price.” A

conversation might sound like this:

CUSTOMER: Why are you charging 10 percent more for the same

product that I can get from company X?

YOU: You’re asking about price. [Here, “charging more” is

the trigger for the answer that you prepared on “price.”

Although the wording the customer chose is different from

the term you chose, it triggers your prepared response on

the subject.] We believe our product is priced competi-

tively, especially for a product that improves the bottom

line for our clients by 30 percent on average. It’s important

to remember that we have the best service team in the

industry. That means when you need support, you’ll get it.

Our team is available to you 24-7. None of our competitors

can say that.

I know the CEO of a large publicly traded company who uses

this method very effectively. For example, during one tough

meeting, an analyst asked him to respond to some unfavorable

comments made by his largest competitor. “Competition” was

his trigger word. This CEO smiled and confidently maintained

the high road by saying, “Our view on competition is differ-

ent from many others. Our view is that you play with class. We

compete by giving our customers superior service and sharing

our vision for where we see this industry going. As we get more

successful, we see more competitors entering the market. It’s

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part of the process of being a leader.” With this one response,

the CEO deflected his competitor’s comments and reframed the

issue to focus on his company’s leadership.

When former secretary of state Henry Kissinger was asked

how he handled media questions, he said, “What questions do

you have for my answers?” He had his answers already prepared.

The media is a tough audience, and these days so are your cus-

tomers. Don’t let uncomfortable questions throw you off your

game.

Best Antidote to Nerves

Relentless preparation is the single best way to overcome stage

fright: know what you’re going to say, when you’re going to

say it, and how you’re going to say it. Too many people focus

inward during their presentations, creating even more anxiety