Tag Archives: presentations

Franz vs The Ripper

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The first time I saw Franz he was huddled in a corner of his office. He was a big man dressed in an expensive black suit. His long blond hair was pulled back into a ponytail. His face was downcast. He seemed to be looking at his flashy hand made boots but then I realized he wasn’t looking at anything.  He looked depressed and he admitted that he was scared. In less than 3 days he would be face to face with the CEO of his company. And his boss had acquired the nickname of “The Ripper” because he was known to gut companies faster than a fisherman could gut a bass.

Franz was a brilliant Austrian car designer, who had developed an innovative idea that could help save his struggling company. I had been hired to help him deliver his idea to his stressed out boss and at the moment the odds of success looked dim.

The more nervous Franz became the more information he added to his slide deck. His talk was titled: The Reflective Properties of Luminous Electric Cells and their Integration into Vehicular Design and ran 50 minutes in length. He wanted to go longer but thought he should devote 10 minutes for questions He had amassed over 30 slides of charts and graphs. Here are a few of the more interesting slide topics:

* Demographics and Psycho graphics of Potential Users
* The Role of Luminous Light on Sight
* The Historic Roots of Light as Crime Deterrent

I told Franz that if he gave that presentation it was unlikely that he would succeed and he could get fired.

 Then I asked Franz one question. "Where did you get your idea?"

Franz got defensive and said “it was not relevant” I challenged, cajoled and played the devils advocate until he realized that if there were any chance of success he had to tell his story.

Here it is:

 “I was flying all night from Los Angeles to Heathrow. I arrived early in the morning and rented a car. I drove to an unfamiliar part of town. I didn’t finish until 10:00 PM. I was tired, hungry and disoriented. I had forgotten where I had parked my car and in fact I couldn’t remember what kind of car I rented. The parking garage was old with bad lighting. Lights flickered on and off at every level. I kept wandering around looking for my car. I got worried that someone was going to hit me on the head.”

“Finally, I found my car. As I was driving back to the hotel I got this idea: Wouldn’t it be great if I had a button on my key chain and when I pressed it my car could be illuminated in light. Not only could I find my car but I would know that nobody was hiding in the shadows near my car. When I got back to my hotel room I made a few notes.”

When the CEO heard Franz’s story he said “OK, what else do you have for me?”  Franz was puzzled and asked did “OK” mean yes or no to his idea?  The CEO smiled and said “Yes Franz” that’s a good idea and let’s move forward with it.” That OK meant that a $57 million dollar project just got a green light.

Franz’s story moved the CEO to take action because it allowed him to feel what its like to be in another’s shoes. He felt what millions of women feel when they’re tired and vulnerable at night and all they want to do is safely find their way home.

And that’s what a good story can do.

Keys to the Kingdom

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I just got off the phone with Gary an unhappy friend of mine. He heads up a cutting edge architectural firm. He was disappointed to learn that his hand picked team just lost a big account, which they thought was in the bag.  Gary was granted a rare postmortem. The corporate reps said they really liked his designs. However they went with his competitor because they were blown away by their presentation.  “Your team appeared clunky and awkward. They gave us lots of data but no story.  When the other team presented they were having fun. They were graceful and they made us feels like we were involved in a beautiful ballet.” This is rare and invaluable feedback only given because Gary’s firm is held in high esteem. What are the jewels of wisdom to be recovered from the mud of defeat?

I know the members of Gary’s team. They’re all bright creative people and they work damn hard. All their effort was fruitless because they were doing what they had been taught to do in school.  Gary’s team was presenting a clear and logical thinking path without emotionally engaging their audience. Facts became weights around their necks. The more they struggled to be rational, the deeper they sank. What they had failed to do was to know and move their audience.

Great presenters study audiences. They understand what audiences want. What they want is what we all want; to be surprised; to be transported into another world. Successful presenters create an emotionally charged community where presenter and audience share a common experience. Facts alone can never transport an audience into the heart of the story. Passion and vitality are the keys to the kingdom.  The word emotion comes from Latin and it means “To stir up and to move” which is exactly what Gary’s team must learn to do in order to win the next account.

Let There Be Light

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Many people understand the value of stories when trying to make a point. However when they get into high stakes negotiations they revert back to old beliefs that say “facts will win the day” or “the more facts the more professional my case.”
Here is a true story that challenges those old beliefs.

I was hired by an auto maker to help a senior designer present his new design to the CEO  for a final 57 million dollar decision. My client, Franz, was scared of the CEO and for good reason. The boss was called “the ripper” because he could gut a company faster than an angler could gut a bass. He also had a short attention span and was easily distracted during presentations. These rumors only heightened Franz’s anxiety.

Franz responded by adding more facts to his Power Point. Complicating all of this was that English was not Franz’s first language. I knew that if Franz was allowed to make this difficult to understand and lengthy presentation not only would his project get rejected but his career could be in jeopardy.

I challenged him to tell a story which would give meaning and context. I wanted to know what inspired his design. Where did he get his idea? Franz resisted and said it was not relevant. I kept coaxing him to reveal more than facts. Finally Franz coughed up his story.

He had flown all night to attend a meeting in London. He arrived early in the morning and rented a car. Franz was in meetings until 10:30 that evening. He was so exhausted he was having trouble finding his car. He couldn’t even remember what kind of car he had rented. The parking structure was old and poorly lit. Each dark corridor looked like all the others. Franz started wondering who might be waiting for him around the next corner.

To his relief he finally found his car and as he was driving back to the hotel he had an epiphany. What if he could just touch a button on his key chain and his car would be encircled with light. Not only could he instantly find his car but he would know that as he approached his vehicle, he would be safe.

I said that was a terrific story and what was his concern if he told it? Franz said it made him look weak and vulnerable. I replied that a great story is always bigger than itself because it points to deeper human themes. These themes can’t be replicated on spread sheets or power points.

A week later the CEO listened intently as Franz told his story. When Franz had finished his boss said “OK what else do you have for me?” Franz was puzzled and asked if his project was approved? “Oh my yes” said his boss.

Later Franz discovered that the CEO had felt that this idea could solve a big problem.
Women were buying less of the company’s cars. They felt that more vanity mirrors and cup holders were not addressing their core needs for quality and safety. The CEO knew that Franz’s idea was a powerful way to begin remedying these issues. His story worked in ways that no power point could. Powerful stories win the day by combining facts with emotions.