Page 86 - The New Articulate Executive_ Look, Act and Sound Like a Leader

GETTING THE MESSAGE ACROSS 77

Now you provide proof with pearls:

◆ New products in the pipeline (Name names.)
◆ Increased research and development spending (How much?
Which products?)
◆ Ramped-up marketing and advertising campaigns (Which
brands? Where? How?)
◆ Hiring of top talent (Who?)
◆ New partnerships (Which?)
◆ Divestments of losing brands (Which losing brands?)
◆ Sustainable revenue strategy (How does it work?)
◆ Greater projected market share (How much greater?)
◆ Customer service overhaul and upgrade (What kind of over-
haul and upgrade?)

◆ New trouble-shooting “SWAT teams” in the field (How will
they troubleshoot?)
Then straight to a strong ending and you are done.
When I tell people their presentations are too long, the typical
reaction is, well, we’ll just take out a few examples. Bad idea. That’s
like throwing out the evidence, or tossing the baby out with the
bathwater. The better solution is to edit, streamline, avoid redun-
dancies, and actually add examples (which parallels the point we
made in the window part of POWER).
This exercise of edit and redesign cuts fat and adds sparkle, with
the result that the pitch is shorter and delivers with impact—because
the audience now gets the right information in the right way. Ulti-
mately, this transition translates into measurably higher productivity
for everybody involved, speaker and audience alike.
The POWER formula, the rocket, and the necklace are your
guarantees that your time, work, and effort will not go unrewarded.
By themselves, these tools can go a long way to making sure that
when it comes your turn to speak, you will not be making the same
mistakes as your peers.