TJ Walker explains why one-on-one business meetings are riskier than you think: your listener might remember nothing. He recommends preparing key messages, rehearsing on video, using minimal notes, and telling relevant stories to land the hire or contract.
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There's one type of business presentation many people go through and it is in some ways the hardest presentation they'll ever give. In other ways, it's the easiest presentation they'll ever give. I'm talking about the one on one presentation. You're meeting with someone, you're not standing, there's no spotlight, you're not in front of a lectern, there's probably no PowerPoint, but you're talking to one person. On the one hand, it seems easy because hey, there's no crowd staring at you. You probably don't have to worry about slides and decks. And you can just talk to one person and be real, be conversational. So it seems easier. And yet there's still the danger of any other presentation. You could speak and the person remember nothing. If they don't remember your message, how can they take actions? Now, it doesn't matter if this is a job interview or a pitch for a new piece of business. Chances are that person hearing your pitch for either the job or the contracting position is hearing presentations from all your competitors. And the danger isn't that you make a bad impression, the danger is you make no impression. So I believe you should go into every one on one presentation almost exactly the same as you would a big so called formal presentation for an hour with PowerPoint. And I don't mean you have to have a bunch of slides. I mean you need to think about what your messages are. You need to prepare. I would go as far as rehearsing on video to make sure what you have to say is interesting. Now, I wouldn't use a lot of notes, I certainly wouldn't read a script in a one on one meeting. But I do think it's important to have a sense of what is most important to you to communicate to this person you're speaking to. What's really going to motivate this person to hire you or sign you on. And then what stories do you have that are going to be most relevant and interesting to this person? So in that sense, it's exactly like any other presentation. It's still an opportunity to make no impression, a bad impression, a great impression, or a great impression and a great message. That's what you want. I'm TJ Walker. I help people speak more effectively in all kinds of situations. If you'd like more tips on how to be a better presenter, go to my website@mediatrainingworldwide.com and you can download a couple of my books at no charge.
