Boston tweet-up in August

Following the great success and interest in our first Social Media seminar, I am planning to organize a tweet-up in the first half of August.

Please get in touch with me by email or leave a message below, and suggest topics of discussion as well as preferred day/time.

Wahyd Vannoni
Director of New Media / Coach

http://speechimprovement.com/pages/wahyd_vannoni.php

The Speech Improvement Company, Inc.

1614 Beacon Street
Brookline, MA 02446
USA

Phone: +1 617-739-3330
Fax: +1 617-232-9430

http://www.speechimprovement.com

Connect: http://www.linkedin.com/in/vannoni

Sales tips from Dikram Husseindjian

Dikram Husseindjian is a former VP of Sales at Apple Inc, Canada.

Dikram is now senior partner at Embrase a consulting firm in Montreal, QC. “For the past eight years he was National Sales Manager at Apple Canada, leading the sales team to top performance in revenue and profitability growth. Prior to joining the information technology sector, he spent 5 years in marketing and product management in the manufacturing sector for companies that include Honeywell, Bristol-Meyers and Hunter Douglas.”

He was invited by iNovia Capital and gave a one-hour long presentation on sales strategies.

One of the mistakes Dikram says sales representatives make, is that they keep the CEO of the company they are trying to sell to, involved throughout the sales process.

While Dikram says that a sales representative should start to enter as high as possible, including CEO level, he recommends that after this initial step, the CEO be not involved with details in the middle parts of the sales process. Instead, he should be called again in the closing stages of the process.

The sales process itself is composed of six steps:

Discovery -> Qualifying -> Evaluating -> Decision -> Purchase-> Deploy

Throughout this process, three key variables will have varying degrees of importance.

Solution Fit: critical at first but decreases in importance.

Price: important at the beginning and end of the process.

Risk: rises for the potential purchaser as time passes.

In short, sales is about strategy and formalising procedures rather than a series of improvisations.

Dikram Husseindjian is a partner at Embrase.com

Hearts, minds, wallets

During this second day of presentations, Austin Hill, suggested a way for start-up companies to think about their pitches to investors.

HEARTS –> MINDS –> WALLETS

The key he says, is to first appeal to the “hearts” of the potential investors through a narrative that will get them excited about their service of product. Then you have to back the story with data and a concrete business plan to win theirs “minds”. If these are performed convincingly, they are the way to the money; or their “wallets”.

Incidentally, Austin doesn’t think start-up companies not to mention valuation at the end of their pitch. Instead, he suggests they say that there are different ways of valuing the company and that “we will be happy to discuss these in more details in a further meeting”.

What transpired from this second day is that start-up companies need to develop a narrative around their service or product but that they shouldn’t give away all that they have. Rather they should think about their pitch as “teasing” the VC’s into wanting more.

Wahyd, Austin Hill and Josko Bobanovic

J’arrive a’ Montreal

Earlier this year, I had been invited by iNovia Capital to be among three panelists to assess a series of presentations by start-up companies.

iNovia Capital “has over $158M under management across two seed and early stage funds (MSBi Investment Fund, L.P. & iNovia Investment Fund II, L.P.) and MSBi Valorisation.”

My host is Joško Bobanovic, a principal in the firm. Some of the presenting companies form part of his portfolio. These are:

Metafoam
Nanoledge
Plastic Knowledge

I will be joined by Austin Hill and Bernie Li.

Wahyd at CIBC Tower, home of iNovia Capital

A new radio show for WETIN

We are thrilled to hear that Lau Lapides and Laurie Schloff will be hosting a new radio show with Emerson’s station WETIN.

The show titled “Talk Shop” is a 1 hour radio show on Emerson’s new station WETIN Web radio streamed live from 7:00-8:00 PM the second and forth Wednesday evening every month. First program will premier March 25th and will kickoff the program with a discussion on Speech and the City coming up on April 4.

The power packed “Double L Team” will take on the world of communicating with two segments lasting roughly 15-20 minutes in length including fun, thematic music suited for the show. The first segment we will interview a “How Leaders Talk Guest” focusing on how leaders in their industries and organizations talk and communicate. The second segment we’ll invite a “Great Voices Guest” who will discuss and demonstrate how they use their voice in their given industry for profit or philanthropy.

Lau and Laurie are super, high-energy, fun and interactive hosts who will use humor, anecdotes, share expertise and invite live callers to call in and ask questions.

“Our purpose for the program is to interact, engage, educate, and provoke our audience to think, question, and take action to change, promote, and strengthen excellent communication skills in whatever industry they are in.” says Lau.

Stay tuned for more information about this program.

Speech and the City

Announcing a unique event in Boston…

The Women’s Connecting, Learning, and Empowering Forum.

As the job market grows even more competitive, learning how to communicate effectively and present a professional image in the best way possible is crucial. Learn how to strengthen what makes you unique and market yourself and your personal image to get that dream job! The Speech Improvement Company of Boston invites you to join us in this unique “First” sponsored by Boston University to celebrate and redefine how women communicate in the new millennium. This event will be a dynamic opportunity for women to network, learn, and socialize, while strengthening their professional and interpersonal communication skills.

This amazing event will offer a consortium of speakers, interactive workshops, demonstrations, and one-on-one personal coaching experiences with leading industry professionals.

Hosted by the College of Communication Student Assembly and Women and Finance, this exciting event will take place at Boston University, The College of Communication, 640 Commonwealth Avenue, on Saturday April 4, 2009 from 11AM-4 PM. We are pleased to provide a pool of experts to help you communicate for success! Workshops and meetings will help you leverage your communication strengths in the challenging job market to enhance your personal image and style.

Here are just a few of the innovative and energizing workshops and speakers we have lined up:

“Communicating with Confidence in a Difficult Job Market”
“The Power of Your Professional & Personal Style/Image”
“Mastering the Interview”
“Finding work through Social Media & Personal Branding”
“Effective Presentation & Speaking Tools to Keep You One Step Ahead”
Please RSVP and pre-register for this event by going to our dedicated page and receive a discount ticket for $5.

Drop ins are most welcome on the day of the event and you may purchase your
tickets at the door for $10. All proceeds will go to Heading Home in Cambridge, MA. Check out our exciting spring lineup of communication programs designed specifically for women at Speech and the City Executive Women’s Certificate Program!

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER.

Please contact me directly at 617.739.3330 or email me at

Lau Lapides, Executive Speech Coach & Program Coordinator

lau@speechimprovement.com if you have any questions or innovative ideas!

1614 Beacon Street, Brookline (Boston), MA 02446 (617) 739-3330 1-800-LETS RAP fax (617) 232-9430

www.speechimprovement.com • email: info@speechimprovement.com

WBUR – Social Media Meet-up

Announcing the next WBUR Meet-up

WBUR November 2008

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WBUR Social Media Meet-Up

Thursday February 5, 2009 at 7:00pm

WBUR

890 Commonwealth Avenue

Boston, Massachusetts 02215 Get Directions

Note: Google Map is better. Click here to view location. Entrance to WBUR is on St. Paul Street, right around the corner from Landry’s Bicycles

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Official start time: 7:00 p.m.

Expect: A tour of the station followed by some free-flowing conversation about new media and public radio.

Bring, your insights, cameras and laptops. You are invited to share some of your media/social media projects with the group.

Questions? Tweet @WBUR or email Ken George: wburnewmedia@yahoo.com.

Effective Presentations Certificate Program

Effective Presentations Certificate Program

Workshop

Jan 29 – 30, 2009, 9:30 AM

The Effective Presentations Certificate Program is designed for business professionals who need to be comfortable and effective presenters. There will be many opportunities for individualized practice and coaching in this informative and interactive small group workshop.

Register Now