My brother James on Summit TV

For several months recently I was plagued with problems, firstly with computers and then my Blackberry and I could not have sorted these out without a great deal of help from my brother James for which I am extremely grateful. If you're a techie, you will find his blog informative and amusing.

James is a product strategist for a leading software-as-a-service vendor and he speaks all over the world, not just at conferences and meetings but on TV and radio as well. Last month, he was once again in South Aftrica and (despite jet lag!) threw himself into a round of media appearances, often travelling great distances across the country to make them.

One of these was an appearance on the Summit TV business programme Intellectual Property and you can read a transcript and watch/listen to him here.

I am struck by his confidence during this interview. Even soime other seasoned interviewees who respond to a question with "I think there are two particular issues that you've brought up" might deal with the first and then, in the heat of the moment, forget what the second one was but he is very relaxed, knowledgeable about his subject and totally on the ball.

Another point is that even though he is there to publicise his company, any plugs are naturally introduced and this is an informative interview for anyione interested in his subject - not just a sales pitch!

Most speakers will know that presentations, speeches, etc, fall into four categories in terms of their planned outcomes:

   entertain
   inform
   motivate
   persuade

(some people say there are only three and merge the last two but I believe, like many others, that these are different).

Although there may be one that dominates, few speakers rely on only one. The goal of the political leader's keynote speech may be to persuade the electorate (and often their own party!) not to vote him out but this is more easily achieved by having a motivational message backed up with information, such as statistics. And if some entertainment can be added in the form of humour at the expense of the opposition then that helps as well!

In this case, the promotion of James's company's services is enhanced by the informative nature of his answers instead of him just crowbarring in a persuasive sales pitch wherever possible.

Another very good blog I recently discovered is Tiger Two Tiger - Surviving the Jungle of Online Reputation. In a recent post, Nancy Williams wrote about visiting the Web 2.0 Expo in Berlin and the difference between education and pitching. She lists networking as the fundamental requirement for attending an event like this and education as the second and she uses a wonderful phrase to dismiss those going in for the hard sell:

"We take the time out of our working life and spend the money because we want to come away enriched, inspired and possessing more knowledge than we did before we came. It is on the basis of this second fundamental requirement that I judge the speakers. And the big issue I have found is that being pitched at does not fulfill my educational requirements".

Remember that last sentence!

Public Speaking Tip #254:  A presentation that informs (or entertains) may be a far better advert for your goods or services than a straightforward sales pitch. Selling is often done on the basis that whatever is being sold can solve a problem for the prospective customer - so why create an additional problem by alienating them?

Thank you once again, James, for solving my own problems!