The Presenter as Mentor

How important is it to create a “S.T.A.R. Moment,” as you put it?

S.T.A.R. stands for Something They’ll Always Remember, and every presentation should have that. It could be a shocking statistic; an evocative visual — a powerful slide, possibly; a demonstration; a repeatable sound bite. It’s something the audience will never forget. [Apple’s] Steve Jobs uses suspense before he demonstrates his product, and that’s his S.T.A.R. Moment. You want people at the water cooler chatting about what they’ve learned from you. Your S.T.A.R. Moment has to be planned and be not only memorable but effective.

How does a good presenter minimize the “noise” that can distort his or her message?

If you have too much going on — both a verbal signal and a visual signal — the audience can’t process it all at the same time. Both channels need to support each other. It’s easier to just slap a bunch of stuff on a slide and wing it — throw a bunch of words together — than do something really carefully. If you show a really complex chart and are talking a mile a minute, the audience is either going to be processing what’s on the chart or listening to you — but not both.

So what are some tips for creating slides that will help support what you’re saying?

You’re guiding the audience through complex data. Therefore, you need to make sure the slides are very clear and simple to understand. Use neutral colors except for the parts you want them to focus on; use color in those places for emphasis. That way, you’re drawing their eye to the conclusions you want them to make from the data. It’s both an art and a science!

How does storytelling help create a mentor relationship?

In myths and movies, whoever speaks the most is usually the hero. But I’ve learned that, in presentations, the presenter is not the hero. The audience is the hero because you’re putting your idea out there for them to accept or reject. And when you defer to the audience as the hero, right away that puts you in a completely different position. If the audience is the hero, then the presenter is the mentor.

In myths and movies, the mentor gives the hero a useful gift, a magic tool (something for your S.T.A.R. Moment, maybe) or helps them get unstuck. So it’s not just you trying to make a sale — it’s about adding some piece of value to clients’ lives. In being a mentor, you take a stance of humility.

How can storytelling help advisors learn more about a client’s hopes and dreams?

In a one-on-one, the best thing is to listen and then modify your talk based on what you hear. The only way to resonate deeply with someone is to understand what’s already inside them. So listen very well and then synthesize what you’ve heard and embed it in your talk.

From what you hear or observe, there may be something that reminds you of a story or anecdote, and you can fold it in. If you’re given a limited time slot, make your presentation a part of that and spend the rest of the time conversing and connecting.

How can advisors avoid turning off clients and prospects with jargon?

A mentor wouldn’t use jargon or big words to try to impress because a mentor is someone who genuinely cares about the audience and their understanding of the subject matter. Pulling acronyms and shorthand into your presentation makes the audience feel stupid or not qualified to even understand their own finances. You want to come alongside the investor and make them feel like you’re qualified to mentor them.

You could do the grandmother test: If you explain what you do and why she needs it to your grandmother, and she “gets” it, you’ve stripped out all the jargon. It’s important that we use someone as a sounding board who will be honest with us.

Is telling jokes advisable?

I don’t love telling jokes. What I love is when people laugh. Stories can make them laugh. You’re trying to elicit a physical response. If you can get your audience to relax or lean forward or gasp, all those things mean they’re very involved with your material. You shouldn’t use some random joke just to make them laugh.

But if you have 10 or 15 jokes in your head and know at just the right moment which one to pull out, and if the joke is completely appropriate and timed amazingly, and comes across not rehearsed and is funny, it might work. But just slotting in a joke can seem contrived — and anything contrived can make you lose credibility and trust.

How can storytelling help advisors demonstrate transparency?

Transparency is about sincerity and honesty. That’s the cool thing about stories: They give audiences a peek into you and let them feel like you’re trusted and that you’d be a good friend to them — that you’re going to watch out for them and have their best interest at heart.

Your delivery should be warm, but you don’t want to be hyper-emotional. The tone of a financial presentation needs to be a little more serious in nature but very caring. You have to build a sense of trust.