The work we do for clients falls into two areas – investor communications and business presentations. We have substantial expertise and experience in both.
Investor Communications
Communicating with investors and those who influence them is not for lightweights. Listen to just about any earnings call or analyst presentation and you’ll quickly realize how challenging those communications can be. The primary goal of investor relations is to increase awareness and understanding of a company and what makes it an attractive investment option. That requires some special skills communicating with no-nonsense analysts, investment bankers, individual and institutional shareholders, and business reporters.
We help clients acquire those skills in several ways:
Earnings Call Check-up
For most publicly traded companies, the quarterly earnings conference call is an investor relations staple – an important tool to reach analysts, investors and others. Unfortunately, many executives lack conference call savvy. The result? Presentations that are merely a recitation of facts, lacking insight or meaning. Missed opportunities to deliver compelling messages or gather intelligence during Q&A. Dull, wooden delivery.
We’ve developed a unique earnings call check-up that provides a written analysis of your earnings call efforts, focusing on five key areas. This tool requires nothing from the client other than a thick skin – a willingness to get candid, objective feedback and suggestions for improvement.
For more than a decade we’ve conducted this check-up for Fortune 500 firms such as Phillips 66, Marathon, Schlumberger and Baker Hughes. Contact us for details about this proprietary offering.
Our unique Earnings Call Check-up provides a company with a detailed, no-holds-barred analysis of its earnings call along with suggestions for improvement.
“According to research, global buy-side analysts say that 45% of an earnings call should be devoted to Q&A.”
Analyst Presentations
Road shows and analyst presentations require a significant investment of time, effort and money. So it’s important to get a solid return on that investment. We can help you:
Develop and frame messages that resonate
Avoid misusing PowerPoint
Assess and improve the “platform skills” of your presenters
Develop executive presence
Manage presentation anxiety
Navigate a tough Q&A session
A typical assignment for a client preparing for its analyst presentation might begin with one-on-one coaching for some or all of the presenters. During these sessions, we focus on the presentation content (including PowerPoint visuals) and the presenter’s delivery. We use video extensively.
When the team of presenters comes together for a complete run-through, we provide additional feedback. If we attend the actual analyst presentation, we provide a detailed, written critique of the event, including each presenter’s performance.
Our Approach to Executive Coaching:
Executives want and value feedback on their communication skills but rarely get it (or get the “varnished” version). These individuals have limited time and short attention spans but are quick studies. They have no tolerance for wasted time and esoteric concepts that are part of most presentations training. Coaching execs requires a strong but deft touch. We provide it.
Presentations Training
Like hitting the perfect golf shot, presenting is a skill. Skills can be taught, learned and applied. We help clients identify their strengths and weaknesses as presenters and offer suggestions for improvement. (Someone on the outside looking in can see what you might be missing.) We do this through extensive use of video – the best teaching tool ever invented for improving communication skills.
We customize and conduct one-on-one, small- and large-group training sessions which usually include one or more of the tutorials listed below. (These tutorials can also stand alone at “lunch and learns” and other meetings . . . and can be delivered in person or by video conference.)
Tutorials:
Crafting a Top-flight Presentation
Crafting a business presentation can be a difficult, time-consuming, frustrating process. That’s understandable; few of us have been shown how to do it. This tutorial provides a template – a step-by-step guide that can be used to develop any presentation.
Yikes! I Have to Give a Speech!
Surveys show that what many people fear most – more than snakes, heights, disease, financial problems or even death – is speaking before groups. The good news is that research is helping us to better understand and manage presentation anxiety.
“The only part of a presentation guaranteed to get audience attention is the opening. But audiences quickly decide whether they will listen to you. Satisfy them within the first minute or you may lose them. ”
Oh No, Not PowerPoint! Relax, Help Is on the Way
PowerPoint is a powerful tool that can help convey information in a clear, creative, compelling way. Nearly everyone uses it, but few use it effectively. That’s why we often see too many slides, slides with too many words, slides we can’t read, and a presenter who looks at the screen and reads to us. Not good! This tutorial will change the way you think about and use PowerPoint.
Q&A: Not as Hard as You Might Think
Most speakers dread the Q&A portion of their presentation. This tutorial provides tips on how to prepare for Q&A, how to handle the toughest types of questions, and how to use the important technique of “bridging.”
“After listening to a 10-minute presentation, the average listener has heard, understood, accurately evaluated and retained about 50% of what was said. Within 48 hours, that 50% drops another half to a 25% effectiveness level. By the end of the week, that level goes down to about 10% or less.”
Presentations That Rock: What Business Leaders Can Learn from Rock Concerts
Rock concerts can dazzle and move an audience – even move it to action, as seen with benefit concerts. Business presentations also have the potential to dazzle and move. Sadly, few of them do. We took a close look at the structure of successful rock concerts and what that structure can teach business leaders about presenting. This “KEN Talk” (delivered by our founder Ken Haseley) looks at nine elements of rock concerts, their parallels in business presentations, and how business professionals can use some of the strategies and tactics of rock musicians to deliver a dazzling presentation.
Ramp Up Your Virtual Communication Skills
Communicating virtually requires an extra level of detail and planning, a more assertive delivery style, superior resourcefulness to keep your audience engaged, and some technical savvy. This tutorial offers ideas on how to improve your use of Zoom and other video conferencing services.