My wife and I went to dinner last night to an Italian place near the United Nations. Our captain (let’s call him Arturo) came over to tell us about the specials, and something rather noteworthy unfolded. I have been to my share of restaurants and heard the specials hundreds (thousands?) of times. It’s always interesting to listen to. Some servers read off a card as if it’s their first time hearing the information. Others have tried without success to memorize their lines and look up and to the right to pull a description of the sauce out of their head. Some have accents that are impenetrable (either Italian, Brooklyn or Long Island).
But this was different. Arturo delivered his presentation with pitch-perfect confidence and articulation. His smile conveyed a sense that he had personally relished every dish he described. His vocabulary and cadence created an image in our minds that made it almost impossible to choose. He could tell he had dazzled us so much, we needed help to be brought back down to Earth so we could order. He then guided us to overcome our dilemma. Decide: pasta as a main dish or appetizer; fish or meat; soup or salad. We ordered, and a thought crossed my mind: there was no way the actual food could be as good as his delivery.
This isn’t a restaurant blog, so why all this detail?
Because presentation style and technique is one of the most important things an entrepreneur needs to understand, and Arturo provided an object lesson in the good and bad of presenting. Here’s what the evening illustrated.
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Express your pitch with flawless confidence:
Arturo scored a 10 (out of 10) here. He was the Derek Jeter of the menu: cool, composed and in command. If he told me the beef was organic and grass-fed and the mozzarella homemade, I nodded in mesmerized assent.
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Know your subject thoroughly:
Every question needs to be anticipated and answered, and this goes for any kind of entrepreneur. “I’ll get back to you” is a spell-breaker.
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Set the bar high, and follow through:
The line between confidence and arrogance is almost imperceptible. Arturo walked it like a high-wire acrobat. To know where the line is for you, you need to understand your client. Parallel to the confidence/arrogance line is the confidence/humility line. Which one to walk for a given opportunity is a strategic decision.
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Deliver the goods:
Now for Arturo’s disconnect. His description and presentation were better than what his kitchen and wait staff delivered. When you pitch new business, you need to make sure your best day is not the day you pitch the client.
4 Tips on Effective Presenting, Courtesy of a Waiter originally appeared on About.com Entrepreneurs on Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 12:58:02.
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