Finding the G-spot.

The unfortunate Ed Milliband seems to have chosen the wrong career. In politics in the 21st century, with 24/7 screen exposure, ‘style’ puts ‘substance’ in the shade. Journalists are having a field day at his expense. Mary Ann Sieghart: “Even Ed’s friends don’t see him at home in Downing Street ……only 16% of Labour supporters agree that he looks and sounds like a possible Prime Minister.”

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Matthew Norman is more explicit, if that is the right word, saying “If politics is like sex, Ed will never find the national G-spot”. He further suggested that voters decided “within 0.03 seconds of his becoming leader…. that they did not want to dive under the blankets with him”

While the G-spot is as elusive in business as elsewhere, the style over, or under, substance issue is live. Every pitch, audience and decision process is different so claiming one more important than the other is foolhardy. An outstanding solution presented indifferently can win against brilliant pitching of a moderate solution, sometimes.

However, typically in practice three or four firms of very similar ability-in the eyes of the potential client who selected them-will be in competition and the chances are that their technical solutions, the substance of their response, will be of very similar quality. Chosing the ‘best’ is not easy.

substancestyle

In these instances style will often be the only differentiator in the eyes-or rather the emotional responses- of those judging. And yet, so often, work continues right upto the last minute with attempts to improve the substance leaving no energy for improving style, the winning ingredient that just might hit the G-spot.

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The idea of power

A recent article in the Evening Standard carried the headline: GOOD IDEAS AREN’T ENOUGH- ED NEEDS TO PROJECT POWER.

Journalist Jenni Russell discusses the four major problems he faces only one of which is largely under his control. He cannot do much about the ‘structural impotence’ of the opposition, or the ‘plague of Labour’s legacy’, or Cameron’s success in ‘acting in some ways as Labour would be proud to do’.

The fourth problem which is largely under his control (or is it?) is his style and manner. A problem shared by many pitch teams and those who lead them!

“Voters doubt his capacity to lead. Milliband’s private charm and intellectual curiosity aren’t translating well to the public stage. He isn’t coming across as a man comfortable with having and wielding power. These are essential qualities in a leader.”

In the competitive pitch the clever ideas person who developed the strategy may not be the best to pitch it . Feelings may be bruised when someone with more ‘power’ but less intellect is chosen to present. What matters is the impact on the audience.

If the substitute bench is empty, serious performance rehearsal, not a tired run-through, will help. It is not a miracle cure for a lack of charisma. What it can do is raise every individual performance and that of the team to greater levels of confidence, clarity and persuasion. More power.

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A winning combination would be one where David Cameron pitches Ed Milliband’s ideas – as he is doing!

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Pitchcoach Awards 2011

This year the awards recognise people who best demonstrate a particular characteristic of great performance. In no particular order:

mary-portas

Energy: Mary Portas. Lots of expertise delivered with compelling energy. Unfortunately too late for our high streets?

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Style: The Middleton Family. Kate for sure but the whole family made the Royals look ordinary.

christine-lagarde

Structure: Christine Lagarde. Great communication skills rooted in clear simple structures so you feel she really does know what she is talking about.

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Body language: David Cameron. No remarkable performances but he manages to create a physical impression of leadership his rivals in Westminster and across Europe can’t match.

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Listening: Rebecca Brooks. She deflected the hostility of the inquisitor MPs by listening, really listening, to each questioner and answering the actual question asked. Unlike Murdoch junior.

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Pausing: Rupert Murdoch. A pause has rarely been more powerful than his response to the question, Did you know what was going on? After a seemingly endless delay his barked NO! took the wind out of the collective MP sails.

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Theatre: Kim Jong-il (deceased). A million people in weeping in unison takes some beating.

david-attenborough

Passion: Sir David Attenborough. Who else?

suu-kyi

Presence: Aung San Suu Kyi. A voice too rarely heard but an unmistakable and compelling presence.

Charisma: Tariq Jahan. The Currys van driver who spoke so eloquently after the death of his son in the riots that a city came to its senses.

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Surprise!

The element of surprise is a characteristic of any good speech or presentation. Depending on the event and the audience it can range from the theatrically dramatic to the unexpected use of storytelling. Whichever, it is surprise that keeps your audience listening with enjoyment, hearing what you say and wanting more- even if your subject is not itself surprising.

The vicar of St Peter’s in Notting Hill, Mark Hargreaves, is a master of surprise. His deceptively simple ‘talk’ at the annual carol service took surprise as its theme.The very real surprise of the birth of Christ contrasted with the sad lack of surprise of so much of what goes for its celebration today.

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His talk captured interest from the start as he talked about the Leonardo exhibition, referring to the mosaic replica of the Last Supper, hanging in the church. He pointed out the surprise on the faces of the disciples and from there in everyday conversational language helped us imagine the genuine surprise of the innkeeper, Mary, the wise men and, especially, Joseph.

He has a rare gift because he does not just find the right thought-provoking words. He delivers them in a way which is itself surprising in a place of worship where so often the manner is still that of the preacher lecturing rather than that of a friend engaging in a personal conversation. You felt he was talking only to you.

It is a pity, indeed a surprise, that in a world where so much of the trivial is accessible on our iphones that a talk this exceptional, not written down or recorded, was a one-off enjoyed only by those at the service that day. It seems to me that a box-set of Mark Hargreaves talks would be a Christmas gift worth having!

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Pitches HAPPEN in the pause.

One of the best pitches I witnessed was that of great Saatchi creative director, the late Paul Arden. He was presenting a new campaign with a lot at stake. After the strategy had been explained, he rose to speak. Or not. For 60 seconds he stood quietly in silence, as if lost for words. Then a hesitant mutter of ‘this is so uh I’ .. another 60 seconds passed..’It’s so special Iam lost’…another ‘uh’, a seeming eternity of silence.

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Finally he spoke. We the home team sighed with relief. The client meanwhile had been brought to an astonishing level of heightened expectation. Calculated or instinctive, (Arden never said) this totally unexpected use of the dramatic or pregnant pause worked its magic. I don’t remember the campaign. 25 years later, I remember the pause.

In her excellent book the Star Qualities, Caroline Goyder explains how “pitches happen in the pause”.

From years of coaching actors, she understands that it is in the pauses that your audience can take time in their minds to assess you, and what you are saying, time to form an opinion- difficult in the face of a torrent of words. It is in the pause that you will be seen as confident, engaged in communicating with, not proclamating at!

debussy

Some music lessons. It was Claude Debussy who said: “Music is the space between the notes”. And even better,virtuoso pianist Artur Schnabel: “The notes I handle no better than other pianists. But the pauses between the notes- ah, that is where art resides!”

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