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This month's e-Newsletter highlights:
The Marketing Co-op's e-Newsletter is produced by Breeze Hill Publishing. This
month's edition is presented by: Featured
Columnist:
Speak from the Heart: Chapter 1 – The Personal Touch (part 2)
In addition to the many dreary speeches I've had to sit through, I've also listened to many exceptionally good ones. In all my experience, no one that I know of reaches an audience better than General Colin Powell. This top military man, who has lived most of his life in a world dictated by strict rules and procedures, has mastered as well as anyone the ability to talk to people in a caring and empathic way. I've seen him do this on several occasions, but the speech that stands out in my mind is a presentation he gave as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to a gathering of army nurses at the groundbreaking for the Vietnam Women's Memorial. In analyzing how he prepared for this critically important speech that brought his audience first to tears and then to their feet with cheers, General Powell says, "There were a lot of things I wanted to say to these women, but most of all I wanted them to know how important they were to our country. And I wanted to make a personal, human connection. My speechwriters gave me some ideas, but they didn't seem to capture the essence of what I felt -- which is understandable because they're not me. I had to ask myself how I really felt about these women and about the way the United States military had treated them in the past. I read some books, some memoirs, that nurses had written about the feelings and emotions they had bottled up for so many years after the Vietnam War. And I read some of their poems and I was deeply moved by what these women had gone through. This helped me understand what I wanted to say to them, but it was still a very difficult speech for me to write and to deliver." General Powell did this preparatory research, not to pile on the data, statistics, and facts, but because he wanted to feel a sense of empathy with the nurses' point of view on a personal level. "I saw combat every now and again," he said, "but the nurses saw the consequences of combat every single day as these youngsters were brought in, broken and shot, wounded. And they had to comfort them. They were those moms and sisters and aunts and loved ones and wives in the last few moments of the lives of these young people. And we had not properly recognized that or adequately acknowledged the contribution that women and especially the nurses have made, not just in the Vietnam War but throughout our nation's history in combat." The result of these personal insights gave General Powell the body of a speech that did not follow the expected military line. He did not go to that groundbreaking to take the easy way out by saying something like: "We thank you for your contribution. You should be proud of all you have done. Blah, blah, blah." He brought with him that day honest words filled with personal perspective, emotion, and candor. Here is a short excerpt from this extremely personal and human interaction. It is a classic example of a speaker establishing a true connection with his audience: "How
much of your heart did you leave there? How often were you the mother
for a kid asking for Mom in the last few seconds of his life? How
many nineteen-year-old sons did you lose? I didn't realize, although
I should have, what a burden you carried. I didn't realize how much
your sacrifice equaled and even exceeded that of the men. I didn't
realize how much we owed to you then and how much we should have
thanked you and recognized you and comforted you since then."
Do It Now To speak like General Powell does not mean talking off the cuff or discounting the value of the intellect or a rational argument. It remains necessary to invest time in preparation, research, planning, and practice. But it means that you prepare differently than you might be accustomed to. To begin to prepare speeches with a significant impact, try these two steps: Step One: Determine How You Feel About Your Primary Message Making a personal and honest connection is impossible unless you tap your feelings. A simple and practical brainstorming exercise will help you do this with ease. To begin, think of the topic you want to talk about and get in touch with your feelings on the subject. Focus on isolating those pieces that affect you most deeply. Jot down on a piece of paper any feelings or thoughts that come into your mind. Not complete sentences -- just words and phrases. When I prepared a recent speech about race relations, for example, I sat down and put words on paper that the topic brought to mind -- words like fear, frustration, anger, confusion, lack of empathy, prejudice, baggage, and hope. When the paper was full, I picked out the few words and phrases that I reacted most strongly to and focused my presentation on those key points. Once I had these, I could begin my research. I found quotations, facts, examples, and anecdotes to support my point of view and add to the points of my subject that touched me most. Remember that data mean nothing without context and in every case the context is how you feel about the subject, what matters most to you the speaker. This is where effective communication begins. Step Two: Ask Yourself Three Key Questions
Until you complete these two steps, you're not prepared to communicate in public no matter how many color slides you have, no matter how many pages of text you prepare, no matter how many hours of research and editing you invest. The most effective communicators connect personally with their audience, whether one-on-one, in small group conversations, or with crowds of thousands. It is the key to moving people into action, to persuading them, to gaining their support, or to resolving a conflict or difficult situation. This is the most powerful communication tool you have. From SPEAK FROM THE HEART by Steve Adubuto. Copyright (c) 2002 by Steve Adubuto. Published by arrangement with The Free Press, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., NY. Click here to return to the top of the page Member
Spotlight:
A chance meeting on a train led to Larry Montani’s entry into the mortgage business. After graduating from Bryant College in Rhode Island, he began working as an underwriter. During Larry’s commute, he often chatted with an acquaintance about her work at Citicorp Mortgage. Intrigued with her description of the business, he took a job at Citicorp as a mortgage clerk. According to Larry, it was an invaluable opportunity to learn the industry from the inside out — especially the options for structuring a deal so it fits the unique needs of each customer. This early experience helped shape the philosophy that drives Larry’s business: making the experience of securing a mortgage as simple and rewarding as possible. With this in mind, Larry helped launch First Interstate Financial Corp. in 1989. The firm now includes five partners and 100 employees, handling an average of $750 million in closings annually. In a truly competitive industry, what makes Larry Montani stand out? Anyone can fill out the papers, according to Larry. But not many mortgage officers stop to look at the big picture — a customer’s overall financial situation. "Maybe you have children and need to start saving for college, or credit card debt you’d like to pay off. In structuring your loan, I will look at a variety of scenarios to see what’s the most productive use of your money." Larry’s "outside the box approach" extends beyond your closing, when most relationships with a mortgage provider typically end. Need a good plumber or carpenter? An attorney? "Over 120 industries can ‘touch’ a house when you move in," says Larry, "so I’ve developed a network of experienced, talented vendors to save our customers the hassle of hunting around for somebody reliable." Larry’s business is all about building relationships. "When you’re talking to someone about their finances, that’s pretty personal. I invest the time to build rapport with my customers, so they not only get the loan that works best for them, but they can feel good about the process all the way through." The Marketing Co-op is just one more tool Larry uses to build and maintain customer loyalty. "Sometimes out-of-sight means out-of-mind," says Larry. "With The Marketing Co-op, every month I am able to reach out to my entire client base without taxing valuable company time or resources. Many times just a simple 'hello' is all that is needed to rekindle old business relationships." Click here to return to the top of the page
Artist Spotlight
His fantasy is to open a "store that crosses a photography gallery with a bakery." Says the artist of his fantasy store, "I have no intention of selling baked goods. Rather, what passersby would see in the windows every morning would be prints from the previous day's work — my visual musings — hanging up to dry. This website offers me the storefront window, minus the aroma of photographic chemicals." While his photography captures the truest essence of his subject matter, Fitelson is anxious to share his work with the rest of the world. With The Marketing Co-op, he has the ability to remain in contact with galleries and individual buyers, simultaneously providing them with his visual musings. Fitelson utilizes The Marketing Co-op to announce gallery appearances, to promote exhibits and ongoing projects, and to allow his photographs to speak to an entirely new audience that might be unfamiliar with his work. More about Mike Fitelson, his portfolio, writings and photographic experience can be found at www.mikefitelson.com Click here to return to the top of the page Click here to return to the main Newsletter Archive page to access other newsletter issues. |
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