It is how you say it ... as well

I was interested in the comparison of the HSBC quarterly results and Standard Chartered's results a few days ago.

HSBC produced far higher profits that Standard Chartered and did better than expected. Standard Chartered did not exceed the expectations but did produce higher growth, yet again, as they have done for the last few years.

But the content of the SCB message was really upbeat and optimistic. HSBC was not and was peppered with caveats and caution. SCB's share price rose nicely. HSBC's fell.

Marvelous Quote - Winston Churchill

Good quotes are wonders to liven up speeches. But only use them if they are relevant to the topic.

Here is one, attributed to WC, which was used in a speech congratulating someone on their 50th birthday.

"As you get older it is not so much that you tend to avoid temptations .... temptations tend to avoid you!"

Make Valentine's day last

I hope you all had a romantic evening with the one you love. Remember do not try too hard, talking to impress. People love to talk. I was once told how interesting I was. On that occasion I had listened to her talk all evening and just asked questions.

You know you are truly in love with each other when you can spend hours with each other without saying a word, and you are totally comfortable and relaxed.

Mubarak's change in style

Watching the enmbattled President speak well it is interesting to note how badly the crisis has affected his public speaking confidence. These two links show you how he communicated with great power and character in 2007 and how he was yesterday.

What a contrast!

There is no doubt, When times are easy all you have to do is say the right things. When times are not good it is more important that you say the things right. That is when you have to really engage your listeners. This is something that Tony Blair really excelled at. When he was in trouble he would be at is most persuasive best.

Mubarak certainly is not going to win any waverers if he looks like he did yesterday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYp4hCcfBc0 - In 2007 being interviewed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvslWJi0suc&feature=rec-LGOUT-exp_stronger_r2-2r-5-HM - Yesterday's speech.

November Newsletter

The theme in the newsletter is handling questions well. So many people think they are good at Q&A because they know the answers and are quick with them. The last time it mattered that you knew the answer was the last time you took an exam.

Handling questions is importantly about trust, not expertise. Admitting "I don't know" can be a very powerful answer. It shows that you are honest, that you are confident enough to admit when you do not know. Audiences like that.

What is most important is that you keep the answers short. My suggestion is 35 seconds, maximum. Listeners just do not have the attention span for more. Besides if you keep the answer short you will get a second question, and a third and a fourth and so on. The audience wants more because they are still interested. In other words, they draw the information FROM you. That is where the word education comes from (in latin) to lead out..... not to cram in.

How Important is a Presentation?

I was fascinated to see last week that the senior Apple manager gave a presentation, in Hong Kong, about the new features for I-Phone.

The presentation was so dull, no one could see the new features, there was no excitement. So all the reports were very negative. The new features are good. But no one noticed. In fact the putting on of that presentation had a negative reaction to Apple.

For those of you that think that the fact that you held a press conference will always have a positive effect that outweighs the negative effect of bad presenters, think again.

An interesting aspect that emerged from the Goldman inquiry

Here is an extract from a Thomson-Reuters article.

'The Goldman emails provide evidence that there is a power shift at banks over the last decade. Voicemail was particularly favoured by the investment bankers who once held the upper hand. Former boss Hank Paulson never used e-mail. But today, in Goldman's giant trading businesses, email has become the dominant form of communication. Some traders have apparently never even activated their voicemail accounts.'

My solution is to use voicemail and email together. Leave a short cheery message on the phone and immediately follow that with a short email that refers to the VM and gives the same message. Keep both short. Many recipients read their emails on hand phones and they will only deal with short messages. Save the discussion for the meeting you will then get!