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What Clients Need to Hear isn’t a Brag List. It’s What You and I Can Do for Them.
He stood on the meeting platform and delivered his ten-minute mini-keynote to the rest of us speakers. It was all right. Not bad for someone who’s only been in the business for a short time.
At the end of his piece, everyone stood up and gave him a standing O. Kindly, he didn’t exactly deserve one. Given that these folks stand for absolutely everyone (you stroke my back I’ll stroke yours) the standing O in this environment is meaningless. If we sat down and clapped politely and without enthusiasm for a few folks, that would be useful feedback. It should be earned, not handed out like free samples to everyone who stands on stage.
I spoke to him later. He didn’t remember me at all. I sure remembered him. As an African American Air Force pilot, he had an interesting background. The year before we’d had a long discussion about differentiation. Like so many military and athletic folks who start speaking, it’s almost always about teamwork and leadership.
Oh, YAWN.
This guy has so much more to offer than that. As we talked last year, I found a major differentiator. As a…