October 2019 – Harbor Capital Group Inc.

How To Lead Your Audience Through Your Presentation

Posted on October 30, 2019 by harborcapitalgroupinc

You are now ready to shift to your left brain and put the clusters you identified in a sequence and logical flow. You need to develop a pathway to determine the best order to present the clusters in your presentation.

Here is the problem you are facing. If you read something and you don’t understand it, you can go back to the book, find the material and reread it. When you are presenting, listeners can’t do that, so if they miss something, they have to start thinking and stop listening or interrupt you or give up. None of these options are acceptable.

Therefore, you have to become the navigator for your audience, make it easy for them. To do this, you have put these segments into a logical sequence to create a lucid and persuasive presentation. These techniques are called Flow Structures, and there re 16 of them to cover various types of presentations.

I can’t go through them all in this brief blog, but they are available on our platform or in Jerry Weissman’s book, “Presenting To Win.” They range from the simple like modular or chronological to issues/answers to rhetorical questions.

The flow structure you should use is the one that best fits your situation, your style, and helps tell your story. Remember, the mission is to get to Point B, the call for action. It’s more important that you select one or two flow structures to use. Not choosing a flow structure risks that your presentation rambles along, confusing the audience.

Before choosing, ask these four questions:

What is your Point B?
Who is your audience, and what’s in it for them (what benefits)?
What are the main clusters you need to address?
Why have you organized the clusters the way you have?

Are You Open To New Ideas?

Posted on October 22, 2019 by harborcapitalgroupinc

Since the industrial revolution, the business model of companies has been to build a “hit” product and then sell as many units as possible. The more product you sold, the more you reduced fixed costs (the factory was key), so you could compete on margin and maximize profits. The goal was profits this quarter and this year.

In Tien Tzuo’s book, “Subscribed,” he outlines how everything has changed since the internet, the cloud, and the platform.

Now, we can have a direct relationship with the customer, and consequently, the business model must change as well. Today, we have to start with the needs and wants of customers and create a service that delivers ongoing value to those customers.

Companies need to turn customers into subscribers and develop recurring revenues rather than a one time or occasional buy. Financial attitudes have changed, as well. Because of scalability, rather than quarterly or yearly profits being the measure (looking backward), today’s financials are forward-looking. Use “profits” to scale the business and focus on growth.

Customers have changed also. Today’s digital customers are also moving from products to services. They want to buy what the product does when they need it, not necessarily the product. They prefer outcomes over ownership. Think Uber. About 30 percent of millennials do not own a car but use Uber. Even Catipiller has a subscription option.

This internet-of-things (IoT) or Subscriber Economy is just beginning. If you want to be successful at it, you have to start with the customer, not the product,

How To Begin Preparing Your Story For Presentation

Posted on October 18, 2019 by harborcapitalgroupinc

Anyone who has sat through a presentation knows what a data dump is. The presenter goes on and on in infinite detail until you want to cry or check your email. However, there is a time you will want to do a data dump, and its when you are preparing your story for a presentation.

Jerry Weissman, the author of “Presenting To Win,” has better use for all of this data. Instead of using it in your presentation, get out your whiteboard and set up a brainstorming session, and do your data dump there. You want to identify as much pertinent data as you can so you can create a story that will get your audience to yes.

First, start with the significant points that need to be covered. Then the supporting data for these significant points and connect the supporting data to the significant data points. When you run out of new data, you can begin to cluster the data around each major point.

You should end up with no more than 4 or 5 clusters for any presentation. Then evaluate and prioritize the data attached to each cluster. These four or five significant clusters and their supporting data form the basis and structure for your presentation. But, remember every point needs a benefit for the audience.

This approach will help keep your audiences off their cell phones.

Reverse How You Develop Your Business Model For Better Results

Posted on October 15, 2019 by harborcapitalgroupinc

In contrast to the usual product development model, Steve Blank, in his book, “The Four Steps To The Epiphany,” describes his new approach to developing an efficient and effective path to developing a startup with a real chance of success.

The Customer-Centered Development Model

Most startups lack a process to create, develop, and validate their business. They start by developing the product first because they know its such a great idea. They don’t realize that there are millions of needs and wants in the market, and their view of a need may not match the market’s view of a need or a want.

If you are going to succeed, you can’t be founder-centered; you must be customer-centered.

His model has four steps:

Customer Discovery. Focuses on finding product-market fit by determining if the product solves the customer’s needs and wants.
Customer Validation: Develops a sales model that is repeatable.
Customer Creation: Creates and motivates end-user demand,
Company Building: The move from the learning phase to the business execution phase.

This model flips the “development model” on its head. Rather than developing the product and then finding the market, you do the opposite because it takes several iterations to get it right.. Plus, it’s a frugal way to find out if you have a viable, sellable product. It also keeps you from hiring sales, marketing, and other company development people too early.

Are you preparing your company to meet today’s customer Needs Wants?

How To Find The Structure And Flow Of Your Presentation

Posted on October 15, 2019 by harborcapitalgroupinc

Therefore, you have to become the navigator for your audience, make it easy for them. To do this, you have to have a way to put these segments into a logical sequence to create a lucid and persuasive presentation. These techniques are called Flow Structures, and there re 16 of them to cover various types of presentations.

Following are the 16 flow structures identified by Jerry Weissman in his book, “Presenting To Win”.

Modular

A presentation using a modular flow structure means that each cluster within the story stands on its own, and the clusters are interchangeable. Examples would be a CFO making a presentation on the company’s financial results or a new product presentation on a product’s unique features. You do have to link the clusters together so the audience can follow along.

Chronological

The chronological flow structure connects your clusters along a specific timeline connecting time and change. The emphasis here is on the change that occurs or occurred.

Physical

The physical flow structure is organized around time and a physical place. For example, how and where and why a distribution company added 12 additional distribution facilities over the past year.

Spatial

The spacial flow structure organizes your clusters according to spatial dimensions. For example, describing something from the top-down or bottom-up or the inside out. Illustrations like concentric circles or a product cutaway can help clarify and tie this presentation together.

Problem/Solution

The problem/solution flow structure is very attractive because it has a natural, built-in benefit for its conclusion. Explain the problem and then spend more time talking about the solution. This flow structure is very popular.

Issues/Actions

The issues/action flow structure is similar to the problem/solution, but it is less harsh. Especially if the problem has to do with the company. Some industries don’t like talking about their problems and would rather talk about an issue and the action that leads to the solution.

Opportunity/Leverage

The opportunity/leverage flow structure is similar to problem/solution and issues/Actions but instead of a problem, you are talking about an opportunity and how you plan to exploit that opportunity.

Features.Benefits

The features/benefits flow structure explains the product or service features and the benefits these features deliver.

Case Study

The case study flow structure tells a story about how your company solved a problem or met a special need. It uses your clusters to explain and guide the story to its conclusion. The story needs to be a problem or opportunity that is important to the audience.

Argument/Fallacy

The Argument/Fallacy flow structure is for when you have to face a very skeptical crowd. Here you have to raise arguments against your case and rebut them by pointing out the fallacies or inaccuracies that underlie them. Only choose this strategy when the arguments against you are widespread.

Compare/Contrast

The compare/contrast flow structure is used to compare your company or product or program, etc. against others. Take a specific point and show why you or your product is superior. You have to be careful when using this flow structure because you will have to talk about the other company or its product. You al have to know your audience before using this structure, so you don’t offend people in the audience.

Matrix

The matric flow structure is familiar to most people. It is two-by-two or four-by-four boxes that compares two different issues or opportunities against each other. It can make a complicated topic easy to understand and visually easy to remember. For example, equity types vs. inflation expectations.

ParallelTracks

The parallel tracks flow structure is a complicated structure and is used to explain complicated issues like biochemistry more easily. It takes the matrix and then goes more in-depth into each matrix box to provide additional information.

Rhetorical Questions

The rhetorical questions flow structure takes the audience’s point of view, states their queries, and then answeres those questions. This flow structure is especially useful if you use issues that are on the minds of the audience rather than making up the questions yourself.

Numerical

The numerical flow structure is very familiar. The “ten reasons you should ….” This structure is easy to use, and the audience knows where you are in the presentation at all times, but it can be overused and not as exciting or suspenseful as other structures.

Conclusion

Before choosing, ask these four questions:

What is your Point B?
Who is your audience, and what’s in it for them (what benefits)?
What are the main clusters you need to address?
Why have you organized the clusters the way you have?

How To Start Preparing Your Story

Posted on October 15, 2019 by harborcapitalgroupinc

Anyone who has sat through a presentation knows what a data dump is. The presenter goes on an on in minute detail until you want to cry. During the presentation is not the time to use the data dump, but all this data is essential in preparing to tell your story.

Begin with a data dump in a brainstorming session

Jerry Weissman, the author of “Presenting To Win,” has better use for this data. Instead of using it in your presentation, set up a brainstorming session, and do your data dump there.

Preparation for your story begins with the data dump, and the way you arrive at the data dump is through a brainstorming session. Brainstorming is a process of free association, creativity, randomness, openness. It helps you consider all the information you think should be in the presentation without consideration of it being logical or valid.

Logic comes later when you sort, select, and eliminate data into a form that flows logically to help you get the audience from A to B.

Here are the good news and the bad news about getting the information we need. The right part of our brain thinks creatively, and the left part of our brain thinks analytically. Business people are mostly left brain or logical thinkers. So they want to apply logic immediately. But in brainstorming, we want the free flow of creative thinking, so we can get all the information needed to tell our story. We will sort the data out later.

Another point. The right side of the creative side of our brain controls language. The left side controls our written communication. So the brainstorming session has to be verbal because we are looking for creativity. Creating a presentation is a creative task.

How to manage the brainstorming session

Start with a blank whiteboard and draw frame. The frame is a concept developed by Jerry Weissman. On the outside of the frame, identify the outer limits of the brainstorming session.:

Point B. The objective of the presentation or the Call To Action
The audience, Their knowledge level and what they need to know to understand, believe, or act on what you will tell them
Benefits. All the audience benefits pertinent to the product or service
External Factors. This term refers to is information that could be positive or negative such as faster-growing market or a new competitor
Presentation Setting. Who is presenting, when, before or after who, where, audio-visuals available, etc.

Now you are ready for the brainstorming session itself.

The Brainstorming Session

On the whiteboard, draw the Frame described above. You can use colored markers for different groups of main points and different levels of ideas. The only rule is that every thought is acceptable at the time given. The idea of the brainstorming session is to identify significant or parent ideas and as many ideas as possible. One person’s “bad idea” may trigger a good idea from someone else.

Ideas should be free-flowing without structure and be whatever comes to mind. When a significant idea is expressed, write it on the whiteboard and circle it. When supporting ideas are given, also put them on the whiteboard and draw a circle around them. Then connect each one io the major idea. Going through the brainstorming process, you will see a panoramic view of the entire presentation.

When you finally run out of ideas, you can begin to use your brain’s logical side to organize, delete, rearrange, and add data. The next step is to put this data into a structure.

Begin clustering the data into a viable structure

Clustering is how you get from the data dump to a structure for the presentation. Clusters are the major parent ideas. Move the parents and data around if needed. However, it would be best if you reduced these parent ideas down to four or five clusters. Then evaluate and prioritize the data attached to each cluster. These four or five significant clusters and their supporting data form the basis for your presentation. Next, you want to think about the organization and the flow of this information for your presentation.

Success Depends On Knowing Which Market Type You Enter

Posted on October 15, 2019 by harborcapitalgroupinc

Market Type makes a critical difference when you enter a market, Yet, many entrepreneurs do not consider market type when planning how to enter their market. There are four types of markets and each one needs to be approached differently. Steve Blank in his book, “The Four Steps To The Epiphany” describes the four types as:

Startups that want to enter an existing market
Startups that are creating a new market
Startups that want to resegment an existing market as a low-cost entrant
Startups that want to resegment the market as a niche player

Which market type you plan to enter changes everything. How you evaluate customer needs, customer adoption rates, how customers understand their own needs, and how you position the product to the customer. The market type also changes the market size and how you launch the product into the market.

For example, If you enter an existing market, the market knows you and will accept your new product based on its segmentation and merits. If you enter a new market, no one knows what the product is or who you are so you have to educate the market about what your product can do for them.

Here is some additional information on the four market types.

New Product in an Existing Market

An existing market is easy to understand if you have a better value proposition both buyers are known and competitors are known. So its all about the product and the product’s features and benefits.

New Product in a New Market

This is a situation where you have to create a new, large customer base (large enough to be profitable) that couldn’t be done or wasn’t done before you came along. What’s your story: a new better product, lower cost, a new class of users, a new product that solves availability problems, or a new skill or technology.

Normally, at first, your product will be ignored. Who needs it? Most people will be skeptical, But at this time you also have no competitors. That’s good because you need time to determine who the users will be and what the specific targeted market will be.

In a new market, your problem isn’t how to compete, its how to convince a customer segment that your product is needed and up to the task.

Creating a new market means you have to determine:

If there is a large enough customer base for your product
If the customer can be convinced they need and want this new product
What the adoption curve (especially for revenues and margins) looks like
What the financial requirement will be (burn rate during the adoption phase) and if you can raise the funds needed.

New Product in a Resegmented Market. A majority of new startups are aimed at this hybrid market. There are two types of resegmented markets: Low-cost strategy or a Niche strategy. Segmentation here means you selected a position in the customer’s mind that is unique, understandable and concerns something the customer values.

New Product in a Low-Cost Segmented Market

In this segment, customers will be at the low end of price and value. This is the “disruption” that Clayton Christenson made famous in his book on disruptive technology, These customers will buy a new product if the product is “good enough” and priced at a substantially lower price then what is available now.

The good news is that established companies will not compete with these new, low-cost providers because their cost structure makes them unprofitable at these prices. So, they ignore the new entrant. But, over time, the new entrant moves upscale and sooner or later become a significant competitor to the established companies. Then, major competition erupts.

New Niche Product in an Existing Market

To introduce a new product in this market, you need to ask the question: “would people buy a new product designed specifically to meet a specific niche or mindset (want); even if it costs more or has less performance?

If you enter this market, you have to convince the market that this new product is so different or even radical that it changes the characteristics of the market. Unlike a low-cost entry, here you are only going after segments with higher prices and affluent buyers.

Resegment Markets Summary

In both resegmented markets, you have to re-frame the product and how people think about the product within their existing market.

Trying to resegment an existing market, especially with a low-cost product can be difficult because you need a long-term plan. Longer-term, moving upmarket will bring intense competition from companies protecting their profits.

Before you jump in, ask yourself, “What kind of a startup are we?”

How To Develop Your Business Model For Better Results

Posted on October 15, 2019 by harborcapitalgroupinc

In contrast to the usual product development model, Steve Blank, in his book, The Four Steps To The Epiphany,”

describes his new approach to developing an efficient and effective path

on how to develop your bu for better results and gives your startup a real chance of success.

Most startups lack a process to create, develop, and validate their business.

They start by developing the product first because they know it’s such a good idea.

They don’t realize that there are millions of needs and wants in the market, and their view of needs may not match the market’s needs or wants.

If you want to succeed, you can’t be founder-centered; you must be customer-centered.

His model has four steps:

One: Customer Discovery. Focuses on finding product-market fit by determining if

the product solves the customer’s needs and wants.

Two: Customer Validation: Develop a sales model that is repeatable.

Three: Customer Creation: Creates and motivates end-user demand,

Four: Company Building: The move from the learning phase to the business execution phase.

This model flips the “development model” on its head. Rather than developing the product

and then finding the market, you do the opposite because it takes several iterations to get it right..

Plus, it’s a frugal way to determine if you have a viable, sellable product.

It also keeps you from hiring sales, marketing, and other company development people too early.

Here is a little more on each strep

Customer Discovery

Based on your hypothesis, you need to go into the market and find out if the problem,

your product and your solution match what the customer wants.

This combination will take several attempts and several iterations to your hypothesis.

You can’t do this with focus groups; you need the interaction with the customer,

Also, this has to be done by the founder and the founding team.

You can’t send out a salesperson to do this.

You have to read the customer and determine if what the customer

is telling you is correct and if you should modify the product as a result.

Don’t start the conversation with your product vision. First, find out what the customer needs,

why he wants it, and what he doesn’t like.

You are there to learn from the customer, not sell him something now.

Customer Validation

In this step, you are trying to build a repeatable sales roadmap for the team that will follow.

This step proves you have found a market and customers willing to buy your product.

It also validates, through field testing, that your sales process is repeatable,

This step also confirms your business model, your market, and customers,

identifies your buyers and establishes pricing policies and channel strategy.

Once all of this checks out, you can move to the next step, crossing the chasm into the mainstream market.

Customer Creation

The goal here is to create end-user demand and drive that demand to the sales channel.

But don’t try to scale so quickly that you deplete all your financial resources.

Crossing the chasm is a difficult step and can take some time.

Also, how you plan to do customer creation will vary with the type of startup and market type you are entering.

For example, a new market with a new product or an established market,

or are you entering an established market with a low-cost product or coming with a new product in a hybrid market.

Each of these has significant revenue and time considerations. See the discussion on market types.

‘Customer Building

Customer building is the step where you transition from a “learning company” into a formal “operating company.”

With appropriate departments, each department becomes mission-oriented within the overall corporate strategy.

I would love to hear what you think of this approach.

If you used it and how it worked. Email me here. Thanks.

Persuasive Presentations Get Results

Posted on October 8, 2019 by harborcapitalgroupinc

Your Presentation Needs To Be Modified For Each Audience

How many presentations have you listened to that were more annoying than informative or persuasive? Most, I’m sure.

Why didn’t your audience jump at the chance to invest in your deal or buy your product?

Was it the opportunity, the product, or the presentation? Many times, it’s the presentation.

Most presentations are designed to put every possible piece of data regarding the “opportunity” on a slide.

These “data dumps” do not impress audiences.

They turn audiences off. If you are talking to investors, they want to know

your product or service and how you will deliver it to a large market.

But they do not care to know about every product feature and function;

they want to see why they should invest in your opportunity.

As Jerry Weissman, in his book, “Presenting To Win,” states:

Your job is to get the audience from A (uninformed) to B (wanting to accept your call to action), and you do it through persuasion.

So the first thing you need to do is recognize that you must customize each presentation to the specific audience you are addressing.

One standard presentation will not do the job. For example, if you have a complicated, technical, or medical product,

will everyone in the audience understand your description, jargon, etc?

You better make sure everyone knows.

How much data do they need? Only enough data to get them from A (uninformed) to

B (further discussions, commitment to investing, a sale), etc.

But facts alone will not persuade them.

They need to know how they will benefit from your opportunity.

What’s in it for them?

Benefits are one area that is missing from most investment presentations.

A simple exit statement is not enough.

One way to accomplish the desired result (B) is to list the important facts you need to convey

and the benefit related to that fact. The fact then benefits, then fact, then benefit.

Rinse and repeat. You don’t need that fact if there is no benefit to the audience for a given fact.

You will know if you got through to the audience if you get a lot of difficult questions.

If you don’t get questions, you probably missed the mark.

How To Get Audience From Point A (skeptic) To Point B (convinced)

Posted on October 8, 2019 by harborcapitalgroupinc

Being persuasive is one of the most important skills one can develop. Compelling situations themselves will be varied, each one posing its unique challenges and opportunities.

All presentations have one common element. To take the audience from Point A, the start of your presentation and move them to your objective Point B (your call to action). This dynamic shift is real persuasion.

According to Weissman, your presentation may be entertaining, most everyone wants that, but entertainment is not the primary purpose. When your point is not clear, you have committed one of the five cardinal sins. When your position is readily apparent, you have the opportunity to achieve your call to action.

Here is a closer look at your challenge. Point A is where your audience starts: uninformed, uninformed, dubious and skeptical about your business. Or in the worst-case, resistant, firmly committed to a position contrary to what you are asking them to do.

Weissman puts it simply. To reach point B, you need to move the uninformed audience to understand, —the dubious audience to believe, —and the resistant audience to act in a neutral way.

Understand, belief, and act are not three separate goals but three stages in reaching a single, cumulative, ultimate goal. Audiences will not act as you want them to if they don’t first understand your story and believe the message it conveys. Point B is the objective of every presentation, and the sure way to create a successful presentation is to begin with, your goal in mind.

You would be surprised at how many people forget to ask for the order at the end of their presentation. At the same time, to reach this goal, you have to understand that you have to see yourself and your presentation from your audience’s point of view. In other words, there must be empathy, an emotional connection, between you and the audience.

One way to do this is to shift your focus from features to benefits. Simply stated, a feature is a fact about your product. A Benefit is how that fact will help your audience. A feature may be necessary, but a benefit is always required. It’s their reason to act.