Civiello Communications Group Blog

Honestly, Polling makes Points

Mary Civiello — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 14:50:40 +0000

One of the best ways to underscore a point AND keep an audience away from their blackberries is to poll them. I recently saw FaceBook’s Sheryl Sandberg ask an audience how many of them had handwritten a letter recently..A handful of hands went up and she made her point about the supremacy of the internet..far better then simply stating the fact or showing a chart. Taking a poll does require taking a risk that people won’t participate, or that the results won’t support your point. That’s what happened to Tim Armstrong, AOL’s chief executive at a UBS conference this week. According to the WSJ, Armstrong asked how many had an AOL owned Patch news site in their town. Of 100 in the room only a dozen raised their hands. So that’s “30 or 40%” Armstrong reportedly observed. It prompted the reporter to recall AOL Time Warner’s past problems with math and posed mild credibility problems with the audience…not just honesty but his ability as a leader to improvise. Poll but prepare for all outcomes!

Mary Civiello — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 12:46:49 +0000

Mohammed ed Erian CEO of Pimco today said the US economy is in danger of stalling out..Like a big Boeing that slows down too much on landing. El Erian is one of the best speakers in business and never fails to give us a coloful analogy..a way to make sure we remember his main message.

Avoiding Perry’s Pain

Mary Civiello — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 12:42:40 +0000

Anyone who has done some public speaking could feel Rick Perry’s pain in last night’s GOP debate. He said he would eliminate 3 government agencies and could only remember TWO. He tried, and was asked to try again, and he just couldn’t come up with the third. I personally felt the CNBC interviewer who pressed Perry to remember when he was clearly struggling was punching below the belt. Meantime, all the pundits are asking whenether this fumble dealt a death blow to the Texan’s campaign. No question it suggests Perry may not be ready for prime time. Here’s how you can be: I am a big believer in thinking and speaking in threes. Having two points feels insufficient and more than three won’t be remembered! Remember “earth, wind and fire.” Remember “truth, justice and the American way.” Threes work, just don’t annouce you’ll deliver three. Instead, say you have “several” points..Several means more than two but few will notice!

Shoes at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women

Mary Civiello — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 21:47:31 +0000

One of the things that was most fun for me as a first timer to Fortune’s Most Powerful Women conference was people watching…lots of famous faces.. but it was also interesting to check farther south..to the shoes. It made me think of one of my favorite pieces of advice for clients: “Dress like the job you want,” and if the job you want is in the C-suite..this was the place to take notes: There were 3 top shoe trends:

1) Skins – from snakeskin and crocodile pumps to Kathi Lutton’s leopard heels.

Kathi Lutton

2) Platforms – wedges to clunky and spike heels like Chelsea Handler’s, Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg’s and Fortune’s own Stephanie Mehta.

Chelsea Handler

Sheryl Sandberg

Stephanie Mehta

3) Bone as a Color – there was plenty of black but bone was a strong second..goes with everything and looks good on legs of all sizes.

There were also plenty of ballet type shoes but if you wanted to make a splash at this dance you had to hit higher notes.

Fortune’s Most Powerful Women – First time..top takeaways!

Mary Civiello — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 22:27:42 +0000

It wasn’t all the famous faces that wowed me at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women’s conference in Laguna Niguel this week…although that’s always fun…it’s the following:

1) The fashion was fun: If there was ever a question about whether women dress for men or women, this conference resolved it..They dress for women, unless you think that these 200 very successful women were trying to impress Warren Buffet, one of the few men invited to attend! I am told that personal shoppers on both coasts from Saks to Bergdorf’s and Neiman Marcus are always very busy in the week before the MPW. I am working on a blog for Pattie Seller’s’ Fortune POSTCARDS that focuses on footwear at the conference. Amazing!

2) People were friendly: Being President of Civiello Communications Group is not a handle that top execs looking to network would gravitate toward. Not when you have C suiters from PepsiCo to HP, Google and DuPont. In fact, I assumed that I would be a bit of a wall flower, but I was wrong. Everyone was incredibly friendly over the 3 day event. Sure, they checked out your name badge, but almost without exception. they engaged. I was told that it’s like a club. If you’re there, you have something to say.

3) The conversation was fascinating: The topics of the break out groups and big speakers started the engines…There was Chelsea Handler interviewing Arianna Huffington about sex, crying and sleeping at work.. There was Sheryl Sandberg from Facebook interviewing a former sex slave from Thailand who has started an organization to save other poor women from the same fate. And I loved hearing Jessi Hempel press a very impressive Ginni Rometti about whether she would become IBM’s CEO. She IS the favorite! But at the dinners and around cocktails, there was also talk about how to run a business no matter how big..how to manage, guide and inspire.

I LOVED it!!!!

What Jobs gave us beyond the iPod, iPhone, iPad

Mary Civiello — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 13:55:15 +0000

As a presentation coach Jobs offered lessons for all of us. 3 top tips:

1) Strategic Movement – Jobs style was get out from behind that podium and work the full stage. He was all about access and made himself accessible as a speaker

2) Props – To innovate requires taking risks and he took them in demonstrating his new products. Sure they didn’t always work the first time but he brought them around. As a leader he didn’t farm this out to someone else. He took the risk and the reward was claiming the full wow of seeing/hearing the iPod in action for the first time.

3) 3 Points with the Pause – 1 of the best ever speeches I’ve heard was Jobs’ commencement speech at Stanford. He teed up what he was going to say in 3 points, paused after each and then expanded on each. Tell ‘em what you’re gonna tell ‘em. Here is a link to Jobs’ whole commencement speech: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html

Geithner’s Body Language speaks Louder than Words

Mary Civiello — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 19:47:52 +0000

U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said there was “no chance that the major countries of Europe will let their institutions be at risk in the eyes of the market.” Saying “no chance” of anything is a bit of a risk but Geither backed up his belief with his body language. Speaking to Jim Cramer at a CNBC sponsored conference, Geithner looked about as relaxed as he can look and shared eye contact with the large audience. When reporters were rehashing the Secretary’s remarks, Cramer said Geithner’s “body language said we had nothing to fear but fear itself.” A study of similar messages delivered by different speakers shows that the speaker whose body language is most aligned with the message is believed most credible. The message here is, spend as much time on your speaking style as you do wordsmithing your next presentation.

Focus on the Friendly

Mary Civiello — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 16:59:21 +0000

I was recently working with the CEO and CFO of a big business. They are both in demand as public speakers and were sharing recent experiences. She talked about an audience with a man in the front row who kept nodding off. She said it was so distracting and undermined her confidence as she tried to keep him engaged. The male CEO jumped in saying, “I would have written him off.” Yes indeed, thats a difference between men and women that I hear often. Here’s why: Women are better multi-taskers but that ability to focus on several things at once is also a challenge when it comes to presenting. Women tend to get rattled by the one who isn’t buying what they’re selling even if the other 50 people look gung ho. The fix: Focus on the Friendly faces..pick 2 or 3 supporters in different parts of the room and speak to them to start your presentation. Freeze out the outlier. Who knows, maybe that guy in the front suffered from narcolepsy.

Actions Speak Louder than Words

Mary Civiello — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 18:05:32 +0000

You’ve heard the saying, “actions speak louder than words.” They do in presentations as well. 10 years into his role as CEO of GE, Jeff Immelt is the subject of a lot of commmentary today on the moves he has and hasn’t made at the conglomerate including contrasting his style with Jack Welch, a leader I knew in my years with NBC New York. Jack was known for his loud, direct style but the Wall Street Journal notes that Immelt notes his displeasure in other ways. It says he has been known to tear up business plans that he doesn’t like. The Journal quotes Immelt as explaining, “Ripping sounds always help people focus the mind.” It also creates a dramatic visual, and if you combine visuals with words, studies show that it doubles the chance people will remember your message. Yes PowerPoint provides visual support, but more and more I’m seeing the best speakers use props.

Stories that Sell

Mary Civiello — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 16:04:43 +0000

In his new, best selling book, “Tell to Win,” Hollywood dealmaker Peter Guber says “if you can’t tell it, you can’t sell it.” You have to be able to give examples, tell stories to prove your point, get the job or sell your service. Stories are attention getters. Think about the speakers you’ve heard. When they say, “okay, let me tell you a little story,” you listen up, right? The key here is “little.” If that speaker goes on too long you tune out. Here’s the formula for the short story that works everytime: Situation, Problem, Solution. With the situation you conjure a picture. With the problem you describe the conflict or status quo. In the solution you describe what you do that makes life better..Aim at a 30 second telling. I’m tellin’ you, it works.