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.
Competitive sales pitches often involve restrictive formats that hinder differentiation. In this post, Dean shares three strategies to break the pattern and showcase your unique value, even when faced with an apples-to-apples comparison.
Check out our interview support here for more ways to help your team show value, and to gain the Presence Advantage for your next interview.
Today’s AEC firms are grappling with slowdown in new projects to bid on, and facing difficult decisions.
In our latest vlog, Dean explores the importance of investing in success, and going the extra mile to secure the vital, fewer projects you get a chance to interview for.
Click here to discover how elevating your interview preparation can help you articulate your value, and present a head above the competition.
When you associate presenting with stress and anxiety, it’s easy to think that being as comfortable as possible is the right goal. But all too often, too much comfort actually creates a bigger problem. In this post, Pete explores the sweet spot between stress and comfort.
For info about how we can help your team find that sweet spot when they need it most, check out our Shortlist Interview Support here.
What’s the value of bringing an outsider in to help your team get ready for an interview? There’s a lot, actually. In today’s post, Pete recounts the ways it’s such a good idea.
For a conversation about how we can help with your interview, contact us here.
When you’re competing to win a project, you don’t always have the option to take the formality down a notch and just have a conversation with the decision-makers, but the opportunity is often more available than you think it is. When the circumstances are right, it’s a fantastic approach that we highly recommend. But not everybody knows how to make it happen. In this video, Pete shares our secret for getting your audience to speak up early, and to turn your presentation into a conversation.
For more on how SagePresence can help you and your team increase your chances of winning your next project, check out our support services here.