Media Training Worldwide

Talking Points
http://www.financial-planning.com/pubs/fp/20050601026.html

Video can help you impress clients who want to put their money where your mouth is.

By Pat Olsen

June 1, 2005- Dan Sondhelm will never forget the young financial planner at one of his media boot camps who thought he would take the world by storm. It was at the height of the technology bubble. When Sondhelm asked the planner, a recent college graduate, if he had ever seen a bear market, the young man responded, "A bear market--what's that?" Big mistake. "It was cute, and I laughed," the marketing consultant said, "but he would not want to say that if he were in front of a client or on CNBC."

The planner was trying to appear cool, but instead he seemed flip. He would have been more effective had he answered that despite his age, he was quite knowledgeable--or that he and his colleagues worked as a team and among them they had a wealth of experience.

Today, there are numerous occasions when speaking ability is put to the test, whether at a conference, for instance, or at an open-invitation dinner for prospective clients. When forced to see themselves as strangers do, financial professionals are often shocked to learn they aren't nearly as friendly, clear, or charming as they'd like to believe. It's difficult for them to phrase complex ideas in a concise, catchy way and feel confident that they do not appear shallow or silly. That's why more financial professionals are using video-based training to get a competitive edge.

In public situations, presentation is everything, according to strategists like Sondhelm, a partner in SunStar, a marketing-consulting firm in Alexandria, Va., that specializes in videotaping financial professionals. Sondhelm has been called in by financial organizations such as Wachovia and Nicholas Applegate Capital Management to help executives hone their skills for media appearances. His company also works with individual planners who want to improve their speaking skills. The communication techniques you garner from one of these videotape sessions can also help you one-on-one with individual prospects or reporters.

But the initial response to seeing oneself on video can be shocking, Sondhelm says. "Men say, 'My hairline is thinning,' and women say, 'I can't believe I have bags under my eyes.' Young people say, 'I said, "you know" a lot.' " Sondhelm's focus is not on a person's physical attributes or distracting mannerisms, however. He helps clients develop and refine their message, then trains them always to keep that message in mind, no matter what specific topic they may be talking about.

As planners new to public speaking become more comfortable dealing with clients and prospects, any distracting mannerisms will disappear, he adds. That comfort only comes from knowing how to conduct oneself and keep emotions like fear well hidden. "That's why the camera is so perfect. People can see how they actually come across," he explains.

TRAINING DAY

For training, Sondhelm either brings financial professionals to his Washington television studio or rents a studio near their location. The first time that he tapes, he acts the part of a media professional, reporter, or prospect and throws out questions about the person's company, the market, and some personal finance subject like retirement issues. Clients usually do fine answering these questions, he says, but they need to be taught to include selling points. Sondhelm attempts to raise the bar, demonstrating to clients how they can address a question, then shift to a message that's more important to them. If the adviser has a specialty, such as divorce or retirement or women's issues, he or she can learn to answer questions and then revisit them from the context of his or her own expertise.

Sondhelm brainstorms with clients to come up with "bullet points"--a set of phrases that define their investment philosophy and other ideas they want to emphasize. When they watch the initial tape again, it's obvious when the planner hasn't put across the targeted message. By the end of the day, the client may complete five rounds of interviews to perfect his or her delivery.

A day of training can cost $5,000 or more, depending on the level of services desired and whether Sondhelm travels to their offices. And one-person advisory firms actually hire him at that steep price? "They sure do," he responds. "It's quite cost-effective for them not to lose customers and to attract new clients." (Sondhelm's company has 15 years of experience. Trainers with less financial expertise may be less costly.)

One independent adviser contacted the media expert and assembled a few friends from different regions to obtain a lower, group rate. The messages Sondhelm helps devise are generally consistent for each group, but he tailors them for each regional adviser. Group training offers individuals additional feedback, Sondhelm says. But don't try to get a cut rate for a shorter session. A large company once told Sondhelm, "Our people are busy. Can you do one each hour?" He said no, stressing the benefit of group training.

Media Training Worldwide in New York is another outfit that videotapes financial planners and other professionals. Company president T.J. Walker, who is the author of Presentation Training A-Z, says that most financial professionals have little problem talking to one prospect, but put them in front of a group and it's a different story. Like SunStar's young clients who report saying "you know" too frequently, new planners who undergo Walker's training initially utter "um," "uh," or "er" too often. To remedy this problem, he gives them a "tic-buster" the size of a business card that they attach to their watch. The offending words are written on the card and covered by a red circle with a line through it. After wearing the card for a while, his clients are able to eliminate the bad habit.

Some financial planners freeze during the first minutes of taping, Walker says. "They just stop moving their hands, their head, everything. They speak in a bland monotone and are boring," he says. Being videotaped thaws them out and trains them to focus on what they do normally. "It's not about acting," he says.

TELLING YOUR STORY

The key for planners is not to throw out a lot of facts and figures, he says, but to tell a story. No matter how smart people are, they don't remember abstractions.

If you want to get a point across, tell the story of a client--say, a couple who didn't start saving for their retirement until they turned 55. Then, relate how you advised them. If you're talking about saving for college, for example, bring up a couple you helped whose son is attending the University of Pennsylvania (or some similar well-known, expensive school). Specific details like these help listeners to remember the point that you are trying to get across.

Walker also teaches clients to answer difficult questions. First, listen carefully, he says. Suppose someone says, "Don't you feel lousy about all the scandals in the industry today?" Rather than dodging the question, Walker says, redirect it to how improvements are already being felt, and so forth.

Pran Tiku, president of Peak Financial Management in Wellesley, Mass., trained with Sondhelm in 2002, when the market wasn't being so kind to him. A business consultant recommended that Tiku seek media exposure to differentiate his firm from competitors, so he hired SunStar. "It was a positive experience," Tiku says. "We're very reluctant to promote ourselves and don't normally say too much about what we do."

Sondhelm was emphatic, Tiku recalls, about the importance of talking more about his firm, and the consultant worked with him until he was comfortable projecting his firm's message. Since then, Tiku has appeared on CNBC's "Power Lunch with Bill Griffeth" and on New England Cable Network.

New Jersey-based freelance writer Pat Olsen has written about business and technology for The New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle Magazine, Business Traveler, and other publications.

Six Do's and Don'ts Of Interviews

Do come up with catchy phrases that get your points across fast.

Do leave your audience with a "water cooler" message that allows them to summarize what you said for others.

Do give examples. Tell a story that people can remember.

Do stay on message. Don't veer off on a tangent.

Don't read from notes or PowerPoint slides.

Don't do a data dump of facts and figures.

Source: Media industry experts