Why No Build Business Posts?
Recently I attended Build Business, the national conference for the Society of Marketing Professional Services. You would expect that I would post something about the conference. And I expected that as well. Here is why I didn’t.
I got a lot of value out of Build Business, but not necessarily from the sessions. Let me explain.
A couple weeks before the conference, I got this idea. I would be meeting a number of people I had only corresponded with through email. What would that initial face to face conversation be like? What would we talk about? I decided to make it a point to record these conversations. So I contacted these people and arranged for us to record our conversations at Build Business. My thinking was that any conversation with me is going to be at the very least entertaining. Initially, my “subjects” thought this was crazy. But as we got into the interviews, I noticed I found what these people had to say very engaging. I wasn’t talking nearly as much as I expected. I was interested. And from my interest, my subjects realized how others would be interested in hearing these conversations as well.
I walked away from each meeting feeling that I had made a connection with the person, even though I had barely said anything. I had proved the old saying right, “it’s easier to be interested than interesting.” I’m now on a train traveling to DC to make a presentation to the American Institute of Architects and something that Geoff Webb, of Graceworks said to me during our recorded conversation is going back and forth in my head.
Geoff said that when we are preparing for a presentation, we prepare for a large chunk of time to present to the audience followed by a short period of conversation. We have to throw that thinking out, because when you present in front of people, your objective is to make a connection with them. The whole presentation is a conversation. Whether or not you stumbled on your words is irrelevant. The objective is that connection.
The first of my Build Business interviews will be published in the October issue of SMPS Marketer.
The Build Business interviews will probably stand as one of my proudest achievements. When you hear them, I think you’ll understand why.
