A big KISS from a Yorkshireman

A big KISS from a Yorkshireman

I have worked in Media sales in one form or another since I was 17 years old.

The media presentation was one of the first ‘training courses’ I went on when I became a sales rep. The stand up presentation is when you present the product, the readership, the differentials of the product and show yourself as the person who will be hassling the client for business, sometimes with good news sometimes with bad.

Even though it is the presentation that as media folk we do the most it is the most potentially dangerous.

Why?

The figures are boring, depending on your field you could be looking at NRS, ABC, BPA, JICNARS all sorts. You may be talking up rises, or talking down decreases of either you or your competition.

The more senior you become the more of these you have to do to a more eclectic mix of people; internal and external senior and junior execs, clients, partners, agencies and other stakeholders. All wanting a slightly different twist and all waiting for a slightly different punchline.

It is however the most effective way of getting your capsule offering across and where your employers and peers can really get the measure of you.

When I came across this presentation by Steve Auckland, who was at the time Managing Director of Metro, I really did think it had a lot of class. Having worked at Associated when Metro launched and the wobbles of the launch and elbowing of a new product at a new time. Metro has really come of age. The package is simple, the offering straightforward and the message memorable. If he has taken the KISS pneumonic as his ‘style’ of communicating, Keep it Simple and Straightforward’ then this Yorkshireman’s presentation is a perfect example.

Communication is a key competence for leaders wherever they are in their career. As well as their internal communication style their ‘set piece’ formal communication style sets them apart from managers. It obviously works for Steve as he has recently been promoted to MD of Regional Newspaper group, Northcliffe.

Coaching Question: What is your communication style and how consistent is it?