When Linda Yaffe from Working Matters invited me to Philadelphia, I said “Yes,” on one condition. We have to find time to eat a cheesesteak (big smile).
While she is an executive coach, Linda was on the programming committee for a business group called Business Connect. They invited me to talk about the challenges of communication and how to help them cut through the noise, cut through the clutter. On how to develop thought leadership, compelling communication (e.g., elevator pitch), and inspiring personal business stories.
As I always do research before every speaking engagement (workshops, keynotes), Linda provided me with a list of the member companies in advance. I randomly selected about 25 companies. I reviewed quickly websites, brochures, press releases, elevator speeches, mission statements, and LinkedIn® executive profiles.
The program was held in a beautiful building with a fantastic view of downtown Philadelphia. The conference room was filled with several hundred energetic and insightful executives from a variety of industries.
During the program, I summarized my findings and talked with them about key strategies to succeed in sales and business development.
3 KEY CHALLENGES
The key challenges shared by many of the participants included:
- Business messages were unsynchronized and lacked a Better Tomorrow Message™
- LinkedIn executive profiles were written in passive voice. LinkedIn Company pages were mostly filled with lists of features and service descriptions
- Elevator pitches contained a lot of jargon and included complex messages that were not easy to understand.
I wrapped up the morning with the illustrative Smart Exercise, Treat Everyone Like a CEO™, which inspired the Business Connect members to think deliberately about what they say, what they write, and what they post online.
Afterward, Linda and I headed off to Jim’s Steaks on South Street for an ALWAYS tasty Philly Cheesesteak. It’s my favorite place to go.
Photography Source: © Copyright 2009, The Chief Storyteller®, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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