We Know What We Want

by Guest Blogger, Lena West, Chief Social Media Strategist at xynoMedia

Recently, when I was speaking at a conference, I watched two presenters get their butts handed to them by the women in the audience.

Both speakers suffered from two major speaking no-nos:

1. They didn't take the time to learn their audience, and;
2. They clearly didn't know what it meant to speak to women who were clear about what they wanted to know.

It's been my experience that in an audience full of men, if they don't think you're a great presenter, you really won't know it...they'll just never ask you to speak again. They might blog about your "worst in show" performance, but they'll rarely tell you to your face.

Women will.

Back to the conference...

The first presenter (an accounting expert)  made the deadly mistake of telling the women in the audience that what he (yes, HE) was saying was mere "common sense". To which, one of the women replied, "Well, it's not common sense to us, that's why you're here." Ouch.

The second presenter (a marketing expert) made some marketing suggestions that were clearly not a fit for the audience. Afterward, the speaker asked to be invited back again and was met with the resounding sound of crickets. That had to hurt.

To be successful in speaking to groups - especially women - is understanding that we know what we want and we're not afraid to ask for it -- even in a conference setting.

Afterward, many of the women attendees kept saying that they paid too much to attend the conference to get "slck answers from so-called experts". Sizzle.

Yessir, we know what we want. It doesn't mean we won't change our minds, though. :)

Comments

[Lena L. West]

Hi Pat!

Sorry for the delay in my reply - it's been abundant on this end and then I was sick for three weeks.

Thank you so much for your kind words and I'm just glad I could be of service to the group. I'm looking forward to working with MMP further.

I'm not sure if I'll be back in Chicago for CL, but you'll definitely see me on the MMP forums.

Thanks for reading and commenting!

[Pat Morello]

Lena-yes, we certainly do know what we want and after listening to you this past weekend, I think we all are better prepared to insist on getting it. It was such a pleasure to meet you, you were definitely the highlight of the seminars. Have spent alot of time since I got home trying to implement some of your suggestions. Hope to meet up with you again soon (will you be at CL in Chicago?),

Pat
Patricia Rose-A Potpourri of Fabric, Fragrance and Findings
www.patriciarose-apotpourri.com
www.patriciarose-apotpourriof.blogspot.com

[Lena L. West]

@Mary:

I can't understand how someone can tell you they're going to change your life. I've never understood it when people make bold claims like that -- because ultimately when and how a person changes is up to them.

Thanks for reading and commenting,

Lena

[Mary Schmidt]

One of my "favorites" was a presenter who told me "I'm going to change your life!" He didn't. I told him.