What’s the number one most important thing in a shortlist interview – or, really, any presentation? Pete suggests that it’s about the clarity of your message. Focusing on anything else creates a danger of getting in your own way. Check this latest post out, and let us know how it lands on you in the chat box below.
Then take a look at our Shortlist Interview Support service here.
Aristotle was a pretty smart guy, and figured out quite a bit about how to communicate effectively. Interviewing is a crucible where effective communication is crucial. You have to figure out how to be as memorable as possible without wasting a moment to rote repetition. In my latest post, I share our formula for how to update Aristotle’s advice and apply it to the interview.
Learn more here about how we can help with your interviews.
A lot of interview teams are worried about coming across as pushy in their interviews, and so they choose to simply present information. We believe that’s a mistake, and tends to lead to lost opportunities.
In today’s post, Dean talks about winning by making a clear and bold case for your solution — taking a stand for the value of your solution.
For more on how to lead successful interviews, check out our Shortlist Interview Support here.
There’s an old saying that goes, “When you’re a hammer, everything looks like a nail to you.” This is often said as a cautionary tale about presuming that your solution is the answer to every problem you come across. But sometimes, your prospect doesn’t realize they have a nail — and you’re the perfect hammer to pound that nail in perfectly.
In today’s post, Pete tells a story about this positive possibility.
For help with your competitive presentations, pitches, and orals, check out our shortlist interview support here.
Teams that are preparing for a big project interview are already feeling a fair amount of stress. They don’t want to let each other down, they don’t want to disappoint leadership, and they really don’t want to look bad in front of strangers. Which is why it can be particularly problematic to bring guests into the prep room at inopportune times.
In this post, Pete shares his thoughts about when to bring guests in, and what to have them do and not do at key moments in your prep process, to maximize the value that your team can get from them.
SagePresence can help with your next big interview prep! Check out our support services here!
Working with difficult people can be… well, difficult. In this illuminating post, Dean talks through his simple method for recognizing the core of the difficulty and neutralizing it without bruising anyone along the way.
If you sometimes have difficult team members in a group presentation, check out our support services here.
There’s this old phrase of being “caught flatfooted” that means being surprised by something you completely didn’t expect. In the professional world, nobody wants this, especially when we’re discussing something important with someone. We want to feel like every aspect of that conversation is planned for and pre-considered and totally processed. Only then can we feel completely confident that we are prepared.
But the real world just isn’t like that. You can’t know the future. You can’t know how people are going to be, or what they’re going to say.
So instead of hoping for 100% precognition, we recommend being “Walking Prepared” – skilled at thinking on your feet, asking good questions, and feeling confident that you have a process for coming up with what’s needed in the moment.
In this post, Pete shares a few thoughts about how to achieve this version of preparation. To build these skills in your team, learn more about our WIN-it program.
When you’re competing to win a project as an underdog, you’ve got the freedom to push away from conventions and dare to be different — which can make you visible enough to stand out from the competition, and maybe even win.
In today’s post, Dean shares a client case study of a smaller firm landing a plum project by doing just that.
To learn more about how we can help your team increase their chances of winning, check out our Shortlist Interview Support here.
The world of professional services – and of Architectural / Engineering / Construction projects in particular – is full of partnerships, both literally and figuratively. And different players in those relationships often have different readings of how those partnerships could and should work – which can create a mess.
In today’s post, Pete doesn’t necessarily clean up the mess, but he does point to the possibility of it, and opens it up to conversation – how do you optimize the partnerships you must have to sustain and grow your career, your organization, and the projects you work on?
Share your thoughts below, and to explore how this might impact you and your organization, contact us here.
When you’re pitching a service to decision-makers, the most common thing to do is put together a whole lot of information about yourself and your history, and then dump it out to your audience. But this leaves out the single most important aspect of selling, the thing that many of us are not inclined to go.
In today’s post, Pete discusses this dimension of selling in a truly simple way that can forever shift how you approach your presentations.
Click here for more on how SagePresence can help your team present to your prospects.