“I Thought the Whole Presentation Was Rocky!”

Blind spots are like rowing a boat that’s full of holes.  But you don’t know where the holes are.  –Zig Ziglar

As a lifelong sales guy, I have been through my share of presentation training.  Often, this involves group collaboration, feedback loops, and multiple layers of dissection and analysis. But early in my career, my process was not nearly as rigorous.  Many times, I would lone-wolf it, study the material by myself, and practice in front of a mirror.  And while I thought I was always delivering a pristine presentation, I didn’t have a manager or third party to tell me otherwise.  That all changed quickly during my time at DoubleClick in New York City.

Feedback was the bedrock of the company.  The more eyes and viewpoints on a presentation, the better the final result.  But on my first presentation in front of a client, I hadn’t quite adopted the company culture.  I practiced incessantly and had every part of the pitch memorized.  But I did it all in a vacuum, never once soliciting independent input.  What could go wrong?

On the day of the client presentation, my boss sat in the back of the room and let me lead.  I stumbled out of the gates at first, a little more nervous than I anticipated.  But I quickly hit my stride, nailed all the points I wanted to make, and ended with the perfect close.  And while the customer didn’t get too excited, they didn’t boo me out of the room.  It went as well as could be expected.  Or so I thought. 

On the car ride to the next meeting, my boss asked me how I thought I did.

“Well, it started off a little rocky, but..”

My boss immediately cut me off.

“Actually, I thought the whole presentation was rocky!”

Ouch!

He went on to correct factual errors, make suggestions for improved style and delivery, and offer a whole different angle for the close.  It was a lot to absorb.  And it was very hard to hear in the moment.  But I incorporated as much as I could in the next pitch.  And the customer was incrementally more interested.  We repeated this process for an entire week of calls and, by the end, the customer was asking us to stay longer and go over details of the purchase process.  It was a transformation!

Had I continued to do it on my own, I never would have improved so quickly.  And I may have stagnated altogether.  That additional perspective and third-party feedback from a trusted source helped me identify my blind spots and rapidly improve.  And couldn’t we all use more of that in our work and personal lives?

Feedback is a Gift

It can be tempting to control every aspect of our professional career.  We all have egos and constructive feedback is not natural for most of us.  But at some point, we will plateau if we try to go it alone.  Do we want to fast or do we want to go far?  A single perspective (even a perspective as GREAT as our own!) has its limitations.  The successful entrepreneur constantly solicits feedback from the team.  The successful salesperson will find a partner to help complement his or her skills.  The successful coach will study the habits of his or her peers.  Winning is a team sport.  Nobody gets to the top of the mountain alone.

And the same is true in our personal lives.  How can we ever improve if we never let anyone into our circle of trust?  We need our friends to tell us when we are straying off course.  We need our family to offer us tough but fair advice and guidance.  We need a partner to help smooth out our rough edges.  A “my way or the highway” approach usually leads to a single-car crash.  We need that constructive feedback and honesty to ensure we are staying on the right path.

Our Support is in Place

And this is even more important when we slide off the rails.  In downtimes, our blind spots increase exponentially.  We shift blame, bury our heads in denial, and do anything to escape from the truth.  How do we stay resilient if we constantly mask our pain?  We can’t lone wolf it!  A stiff upper lip is the quickest way to therapy.  This is where our inner circle of family and friends helps the most!

We need to hear another perspective.  We need to hear the unvarnished truth.  We need to hear that it is okay to stumble, as long as our safety net of support is in place.   We need to hear that there is nothing so bad that can’t be undone.  Tomorrow is another opportunity to take a step forward and live, love, and laugh.

Sometimes, things can get a little rocky.  But heartfelt perspective and advice from those who know and care for us will always smooth the path.