Image Consultants Can Take Jitters Out of Making That Big Presentation
When you own a small business, you not only run the business, you are the business. And because most business owners can’t afford a full-time public relations person, the owner usually serves as the company spokesperson.
But what if you are shy in public and feel uncomfortable when asked to answer questions or speak to groups? Do you stay awake all night before you have to make a presentation? Do your palms sweat? Does your throat tighten before a speech?
If so, you may want to consider working with an image or communications consultant. There are many to choose from, especially in Southern California--the image capital of the world.
Joe McLean Jr., vice president of an asbestos removal company, admitted that he was petrified when he had to make presentations to trade or civic groups.
“I got ill the night before,” said McLean. “I used to stand behind the podium and read the speech, grateful that the lights were off while I showed the slides.”
As public speaking became a major part of his role at P. W. Stephens Contractors in City of Industry, a public relations firm referred him to On Camera, a West Los Angeles communications consulting firm. After several hours of training and confidence building, McLean said he now speaks to groups about three times a week and would think nothing of addressing an audience of 1,000.
“Anybody who wants to get out and sell their product and doesn’t do this kind of thing is kidding themselves,” said McLean.
On Camera’s Christen Brown and Peter Lownds work with authors, business owners and anyone else who is anxious to boost confidence and overcome stage fright.
Working with clients in front of a video camera, Brown and Lownds try to bring out what’s best in people, rather than try to change them.
“The camera is a phenomenal tool,” said Brown, a former psychologist and television personality. “People have to see themselves as others see them.”
By watching themselves on tape, the clients observe their quirks or nervous habits. Brown said most people don’t realize that more than half of the total impression made during an oral presentation comes from nonverbal cues. Most of the rest comes from the speaker’s voice; less than 10% results from the actual words spoken. “I once listened to a man giving a brilliant speech, but one hand was betraying him by jingling the coins in his pocket,” said Lownds, who is an actor and language teacher.
Communications consultants at On Camera and elsewhere rely on breathing exercises, visualizations and role playing to help clients relax and be themselves on camera.
During a recent session with Stuart Brown, an attorney and investment banker who wanted to refine his Southern “good ol’ boy” image, Lownds pretended to be a high-powered Hollywood mogul interviewing Brown for a job.
The first videotaped session revealed Brown’s nervousness. He was unaware that he was rubbing his thumbs together when he spoke. Brown also tended to lean back in his chair, looking sleepy, rather than attentively sitting forward. After a few hours of training and practice, Brown appeared confident, relaxed and a step ahead of the interviewer.
Clifford Scott, vice president of Scott, Lancaster, Mills, Atha, a small Century City advertising agency, said he turned to On Camera when he felt his sales presentations to clients needed more pizazz. “Advertising agencies spend a tremendous amount of money on the content side, but most agencies don’t spend much money on the form,” said Scott. He said the advice he received has dramatically improved his firm’s presentations to new clients.
TIPS ON TALKS Consultants Christen Brown and Peter Lownds offer the following guidelines on public speaking:
Learn to relax before making any presentation.
Take deep breaths, inhaling to a count of five and exhaling to a count of 10.
Stretch your whole body.
Relax by rolling your neck in circles, three times in each direction.
Shake your hands vigorously.
Don’t eat a heavy meal before a speaking engagement or interview. Digestion takes a lot of energy.
Since cold water can constrict your vocal cords, sip room temperature water, preferably with a squirt of lemon juice, if you need to moisten your mouth.
Fill your speech or presentation with illustrations and examples.
Never memorize a speech. Know the exact beginning and the exact end and the middle will fill itself in.
Make sure your gestures complement your words.
Andersen Study Shows Owners Are Optimistic
The 1989 Arthur Andersen Enterprise Survey reveals some uplifting projections for small business in the 1990s. Andersen polled more than 4,500 chief executives on a variety of economic, social and business issues. The companies represent a cross-section of regions and industries, with sales ranging from $1 million to $120 million.
Almost two-thirds of the companies reported an increase in sales over 1988, with one-third growing 10% or more. Nearly 75% predict an increase in sales for 1990. Nearly 85% of the employees at the companies surveyed can expect a raise in 1990, and employees at more than 80% of the companies received one this year.
About 40% of the firms expanded their work force, but more than 80% said they were having trouble finding qualified managers and technical people. More than 43% give U.S. public secondary schools a poor rating.
More than three-quarters of the respondents said the recent flurry of leveraged buyouts is bad for business. However, almost 30% of those surveyed said they are considering selling their business and 69% said they would sell to a foreign investor.
Los Angeles-based small businesses seem to take the best care of their employees. Fifty-eight percent of local firms surveyed provide between 96% and 100% of their employees’ health-care premiums, compared to 50% of respondents elsewhere.
Of the Los Angeles respondents, 52% are involved in manufacturing and 21% are involved in both service and distribution. Most have been in business for 15 years or more.
Annual total compensation was concentrated in the $100,000 to $250,000 range.
Free Forum Offers Advice to Southland Entrepreneurs
People who would like to start a small business or who already run one can get free advice Saturday at a “Small Business Success Fair” sponsored by Counselors for Urban Entrepreneurs, a program offered through the office of Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley.
About 15 experienced business people will offer advice on everything from raising capital to doing business with city agencies. The fair runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Baldwin Hills-Crenshaw Mall, at Crenshaw and Martin Luther King boulevards.
