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Hello and welcome to the show. So before we begin, the usual apologies because I still have this, my nasal kanji going on. Sorry, I mean, I say kanji now Kanji, my nasal congestion. Yeah, I got my nasal congestion. It's all going on. So this is one of going to be one of those sniffling episodes. Then it's also going to be a commentary on another LinkedIn post, just like the older episode. And this one is going to be a commentary on one of those.
You know, LinkedIn has been putting out these things where they put a question. If you comment on it, you earn a certain number of credits or points or whatever. But The thing is, you answer enough questions, then you get to be you get a badge on your LinkedIn profile, you get to be featured as some sort of expert and things like that. So in the beginning, I would see these questions and I'd try to answer them from the sales and business development perspective, of course, with the hope of, you know, winning one of those covert head badges on LinkedIn to say that you're a top influencer or you're a top sales voice or a top voice in communications or you know, this and this and that and that.
But it's quite a bit of work. So for me, I just started ignoring them. But I figure some of those questions are really good. So rather than just ignore them outright, I think I'll just take those questions and then answer them over here on the podcast. So that for those of you who are following me on LinkedIn, you see one of those questions and you ever wonder what, what would my response be? Then you, you could always catch my response in these episodes.
But by the way, my own recommendation is don't be like me and don't be lazy. If you see these sorts of questions and you have a well thought out valid point of view, you might as well go ahead and answer because I've seen some people leverage these questions to give themselves credibility on LinkedIn. So I know people that do these things. And then you get that badge and it says, you know, top, top voice in Nigeria on communications or something, or top specialist in so, so, so and so, and for those of us who are trying to use LinkedIn for business purposes, I think would be a good idea to take part in these sorts of things.
Even though it's quite a bit of work, I think it's going to be worth it at the end of the day so that when people check you out on LinkedIn, you know, you see that your LinkedIn profile, first of all, is verified. So if you have a passport, so those of us in Niger, if you have an NI think it's an NCC passport, that's the passport that has a microchip, you know, the one that you know, people don't have to look at and type out all the information.
You can just take the passport and then scan, you know, when you're at the airport and then all the details will just show up. So if you have all those new school passports, then use that, verify your LinkedIn profile, answer a bunch of all those questions so that when it opens up and you know, people search for you, they say, you know, Christopher, you know, verify profile top voice in Nigeria on marketing. You know, something like that.
It would really help to boost your credibility. So don't be like me, don't be lazy. And this episode is just going to be me answering the question that actually I should have gone on LinkedIn to answer so that I can get my own badge as well as a top voice on sales and business development in Nigeria and things of that nature. So the comments or rather the question, yeah, the I was going to say the question in question.
Yeah, let me just say it anyway. So the question in question today is there's a scenario where you are facing a critical client and you're in a high stakes sales pitch. The question is can you master the art of persuasive public speaking? So let me read it again. Facing a critical client in a high stakes sales pitch, can you master the art of persuasive speaking? Now, one of the reasons why I don't like answering these questions is because the questions I'm phrasing in a certain way and make too many assumptions.
People go ahead and answer the question and there are a bunch of people who are talking about how you can master the out of persuasive public speaking. But in my own opinion, going straight and focusing on persuasive public speaking kind of misses the whole point. Like, and before I go and explain everything, let me go into the Geek list or the Nerd list for today and explore stuff that I have on the playlist. So on the playlist on Spotify,
I'm currently listening to this Irish band from 2001. The Script. Yeah, that's what they're called, The Script. They were really famous, at least in the UK anyway. They were famous with this song The Man Who Can't Be Moved, and it's a correct banja, but it's mostly soft rock, you know, all these heartbreak songs and things like that. For some reason, I don't know any girls who listen to the script. So it's mostly boys who like the script because of course it's songs about guys being heartbroken and stuff like that.
So if you're a Nigerian guy listening to this podcast and the babe has known you strong teen in the past, like real strong teen, then you might enjoy listening to the script. So soft rock, you know, real nice. Then still on this Netflix thing, Jack Reacher. I'll try and finish it up today. Like somebody said on social media one time now how you know when you're becoming an adult is when it takes you four days to watch a 2 hour movie.
So I guess I'm officially an adult now. OK now so back to the question facing a critical client in the high stakes sales speech, can you master the art of public persuasive public speaking now? Now thing just misses the whole point. You shouldn't be going straight to persuasive public speaking. We need to have the right expectations when it comes to these sorts of things. So First off, is this thing truly high stakes?
Because a lot of people say when the money is big, then The thing is high stakes. But that's not necessarily the case. When you say high stakes, it's not just how big is the reward, it's also how big is the potential loss. So because it's the money IS1M or 1 billion doesn't necessarily mean it's high stakes. Well, it depends. If you're coming from a 10K background and then we're now talking about one M or 1 billion, then you know,
understand how that looks like. It's big, But I think the right frame of mind to take is that you actually have got nothing to lose. You invested time and money into this deal, just like you have invested time and money into any other deal. So so long as you are not risking a significant amount of your own money in this, then really it's just another deal. And the fact that the 000 is high doesn't mean if you start shaking.
So it doesn't necessarily mean that this thing is high stakes. Whether it's high stakes or not will not just be how big is the reward, but also what is the big potential for loss. So don't start giving yourself heartache or heartbreak just because you know the zeros are plenty. So we don't always have to be afraid from the get. So the money is big, yes. It doesn't necessarily mean that you should be scared. So don't get scared from the beginning.
Not everything is high stakes. Even though the money is big then #2 this whole thing of sales pitch, it says you're facing a critical client and you're in a high stake sales pitch. Now, in my own opinion, and if you've been listening to this podcast for any length of time, I hope by now you will agree with me that if you are at the level of sales speech, you are already in the losing proposition. Already you are losing if you try to engage in a conversation.
This whole thing of a sales pitch is that you are assuming all kinds of things. You're assuming like you know who this person is, you know the problem, you know what they're trying to solve, blah blah blah. And the sales pitch are trying to be cool, trying to be slick, trying to be all that, but just fascinate. This whole thing about sales pitch, trying to engage people in a conversation and try and move this thing forward step by step, one by one.
This whole thing of making the sale hinge on one pivotal moment where you stand up and you make a masterful pitch and you wow them with your eloquent and everything are big. This it's it's unnecessarily the fact that is what will make this whole thing high stakes because everything now hinges on how you handle yourself in this pitch or in this presentation. For me, I like to do the work at the relationship stage, at a conversational stage so that by the time we get to this whole presentation meeting, it's more or less a formality.
For me, the presentation is I'm just trying to confirm, OK, these are all the things you've been talking about. Did I understand everything properly? OK, if I understood everything properly, then in order for us to achieve XYZ, I'm going to need 123 from you guys. Are we all good on those terms? OK, cool. So how, how soon can we start? So for me, I like it that by the time we get to the level of proposal page presentation,
whatever you call it, The thing is just a formality because in the small, small conversations that we've been having up till now, we've pretty much just sealed the whole thing. So stop making things turn on this grand sales pitch that you're going to have to do now. Yes, I understand that there are some businesses where you cannot avoid it. Like I think in, I don't know how it still runs in advertising, but back when my mom was a communications professional, you know, was the tradition that the client would invite three different three different firms or three different agencies each to make a pitch.
And then from there they will decide. So there'll be a day, the three competitors will show up on the same day and then there'll be a pitch and then they'll decide. And just, that's just how it was. So like, what's this thing called these people that used to make gala UAC United African Company. So that was the sort of thing. So like UAC, you know, there'll be a day, you know, Monday, 21st June or something and then the three companies will be there.
So my mom had worked with TQC, that's the quadrant company. She'd work with marketing communications and advertising. And she also work with, there are three or four companies under the Troika Group and my mom had worked with all of them and then they had a bunch of competitors. So that's, that's just how it was. So UAC will say, Oh yeah, all of you come, come and pitch, and then you guys show up and then you pitch. So if you're in that space,
then, well, my ideas still work anyway. I would still try to make sure that in the small, small conversations with the key stakeholders leading up to it, we show that I want to be sure that I'm a contender, you know, for the deal. But outside of these sorts of situations, please stop making things rely on some grand sale speech, and then you're worried. How well am I addressed the PowerPoints? Is the PowerPoint well composed,
My eloquence? My elocution? Is everything on point and all this unnecessary headache? Then there's this whole thing of persuasive public speaking. In my own opinion, if we are making a pitch or a presentation or a proposal, I don't classify that as public speaking because I still want us to have this mind frame that if we're in front of a potential customer, we're making a presentation. This is not a public speaking event.
We are still having a conversation. And at this stage you should have established relationships, individual relationships with every single person at the table prior to this meeting. You should have been doing multi threading. So if it's a presentation where MD of the company is there, head of procurement is there, what else, I don't know, three or four people from the business. It is my hope that at this stage you already have been talking whatsapping, emailing one-on-one with every single person on this panel and have established relationships in this sort of situation where you already know everybody and we're all cool.
We can't really call this thing a public speaking event. So I really think that persuasive public speaking does not apply, or rather should not apply in these sorts of situations. You should have established relationships with everybody ahead of time. This thing should just be a simple conversation. You should show up to confirm that your understanding of the situation is correct and you know where everybody's heading,
everybody's head is at, you know, things like that. So the final assumption that this question makes is that there's such a thing as a perfect pitch or there's a perfect PowerPoint. Now, this is 1 area where I'm going to disagree. OK, no disagree. What's the word diverge? Diverge with some professionals out there. Because my wife is in the legal in the legal space, once in a while she does have to make presentations at different kinds of all I say stakeholder events and things like that.
And then of course, my mom was also in well, not also because my mom was not in illegal space and my mom was a marketing, marketing communication professional like I said. And so my mom was one of these people who for her everything turned on the perfect pitch and the perfect PowerPoint. In fact, she used to say that she likes to kill people with PowerPoints, like come up with the power perfect PowerPoint presentation.
And of course that work for her. And I guess it makes sense because my mom came from a media and journalism background. So people who come from that background, my mom, my dad, I mean, you know, they went to school, they learned all these sorts of things. I mean like, OK, for those of you who used to watch TV back in the day, Niger TVI mean think Cirostoba. Now, Ciro Stoba was one of Popsy's classmates. I think if I remember correctly,
I think she was still about his classmate. So that is the ilk of Nigerians that we're now talking about. Or like I've seen a busy or Latti law. He used to have this busy or Latti law show on AIT. I've seen him as a wedding MC busy or Latti Law. That guy's on point. As in no stammering, no pausing, no mispronunciation. Carriage is on point, elocution is on point. As the guests were entering in for the wedding, he knew everybody by name.
I mean, the guy was just masterful. So for people like that who have received years of professional training and schooling and things like that, yes, they can build something around the perfect pitch or around the perfect PowerPoint. I mean, that is how they have been trained. In fact, with the level of training that they have received. Because like my father went to, he did a diplomat in London on radio production and stuff like that.
So in fact, if someone like my father should be hosting this podcast and he's sniffing or coughing or doing or like how I'm doing it, you should knock him on the head because you went to school for this thing. So you best be 100% on point. So there are certain kinds of Nigerians that yes, you can build this whole thing around perfect pitch and perfect PowerPoint before the rest of us who haven't spent a decade in school learning about elocution,
production, presentation, what else, all these sorts of things. When we head into the meeting, what we should try to do is confirm our understanding of this people's business context based on the conversation that we've been having before. Like I said, if there are four members of the panel, for your own sake, I hope you have been in conversation with at least three of the members of the panel before we got to this presentation stage.
Confirm that you understand their business context. Confirm that you understand the problems that they face or the vision that they're heading towards. Confirm that you understand, understand the downside if they don't do anything and also confirm you know the upside, the kind of goals that they're trying to hit, then you will now talk through. Remember, this doesn't have to be a masterful presentation. I'm talking about those of us who didn't go to school to learn elocution and to learn presentation skills and to learn, you know, every, every.
So show how your product or service can meet all these needs. Solve all these problems. Then allow for some question and answer. Answer all the questions that they have and then confirm what the next steps are. Don't leave a proposal or presentation with this whole thing of oh, thank you very much, Mr. Ayede. We've seen your presentation. We'll get back to you. You did get some next steps. You know, you finished, you say,
OK, if there are no other questions, typical clients we've worked with in the past have taken four days to review the proposal. Is that going to be fine in this case? And then you keep quiet and then you're here. And then if they say, OK, yes, yeah, four days is more than enough for us to consider the proposal, You say, OK, fine, no problem. So that means I'm going to be calling you guys Tuesday next week for your decision.
Is that fine? And they will say, oh, yes, Mr. Haley, that's fine. And then you know that you can pack your bags and you can leave. And we have agreed that the next step now is I call Tuesday so that we know what the decision is. Now, there are different kinds of next steps that you can aim for, but I'm just using as an example to show how you don't need to finish your presentation. And then they say, oh, thank you very much, We'll get back to you.
And then you smile and say, OK, thank you. And then you pack your computer and then you leave and you think you've done a good job because they clap for you and they say, we'll get back to you, confirm what the next step is. Then of course, if you win, then of course, you know, begin fulfilment now, start trying to execute on all the things you promised. If you lost the deal, the next stage is engage everybody in conversation, do a debrief,
figure out why you lost the thing. And that was one thing that lots of people, when they see me do, you know, they're shocked. Like the first time my mom saw me do this with one of the media bid that I lost. So it's like, wow, like you're really brave. And I was like, brief, Isn't it just what you're supposed to do? Because I called up the lady and I just went cheeky, very personal. So let's just say her name is Sakira.
So I was like, hey, Sakira, how now, blah, blah, blah about that kind of contract. You know, how far now you don't want me to pay school fees. Why now? And then we laughed over it. And then, you know, from there I went straight into asking questions. So was there any particular part of the proposal that you guys didn't like? And it turned out that the reason why I lost the bid was they could tell from the content of my proposal that I was going to subcontract the whole thing.
But they would have preferred that I handled the thing myself rather than subcontracting to someone that I did not know. And of course, I told her that Sikira, I was thinking that budget was a problem now, that's why I did it like this. And then she said, of course, but next time it is you that we know. So just put it there. Put your transports, put your accommodation and put everything and then let us decide. I was like OK, cool, well no problem, next time I'll do it like that.
I didn't get a chance to propose to that particular team, but I did got get another bid through with another crew and happened to work with Secura again. Secura is not a real name by the way. So got to work with Secura and I'm hoping that that's going to leave room for. More profitable business relationships between me and her own team in the future. What is a simple debrief conversation? Depending on the level of rapport or the level of relationship you've built with them.
It doesn't have to be excessively formal because how I started the conversation basically was secure, how you do know, blah blah, blah. That kind of project, How is it going? Is going on good? OK, no problem about Kai secure you will give me strong thing you would want me to pay school fees. Why now what happened? And that's how I started the conversation. And then from there, you know, you laugh back and forth and then I started asking specific questions.
You know, was it this part of the proposal did not understand this correctly? No, you understood this correctly. You understand that correctly. So what was the main reason why I lost out is because from this section, this section, this section, we could tell that you're not you're the one who has no way to fulfill it. And we had the conversation, so we should be having all those conversations. The debrief really, really important.
If you've not been doing it, make sure you do it. In the beginning. It might seem scary, but look, we're big boys here. We're big boys and we're big girls. Just let's do what needs to be done. The first debrief conversation you might be scanning in my phone book after a while. Don't worry, you will. You'll get the hang of it then. But ultimately, whether you win or whether you lose, take whatever feedback you get and then roll it over into the next engagement.
And this is how we get better over time. So the correct attitude is you leave to fight another day because the money is big. Nothing that this whole thing is big, big, big, big. Don't enter this whole thing shaking. Don't worry, God takes care of us all. He will bring another big deal for you, even if this one, even if this one doesn't click. But don't just go in assuming it's high stakes because the money is big. If you're going to risk losing plenty of money, then yes, it is high stakes.
Then stop entering these things with the sales pitch mindset. Just assume that you guys are having a conversation, that the conversation is just continuing. It's just that before conversation was was a 11, but now the conversation is all of us are sitting at the table at the table. Assume it's a conversation. Don't try and practice persuasive public speaking skills and this sort of thing continue as if it's a conversation, except if you're like my father or you're like my mom, you went to journalism school.
They taught you people everything, how to sit down, how to dress, how to talk, the right words to say, how to be persuasive, how to this is this. And you know, whatever it is that they teach people in journalism school, if you're an everyday ordinary person like me who doesn't have that kind of Polish, that kind of education, that kind of, you know, whatever, just go in there and assume that this is a conversation and just continue the conversation.
So Madam President, Madam CEO, Madam, this person, if I understand how our prior communications and our prior emails correctly, this is what the organization is trying to achieve. You're faced with this and this and this and that, and you're hoping to achieve so, so, so and so in Q2 of 2025. Is that correct? And you know, they'll say yes, this is correct, or that is not correct. Well, either way, I'm just saying it's a conversation.
Have a simple conversation with these people. And yeah, that's it. Just have a simple conversation with these people and over time, if you're getting feedback, taking dressing, taking correct, taking correction over time, you should be all right. So that's the way that I would have answered this whole thing of you're facing a ridiculous client. It's a high stake sale speech. How do you master the art of persuasive public speaking?
And that is also another reason why I'll stop answering these questions because the way that they phrase it is not correct. It requires too much nuance. And by the time you're trying to nuance, nuance, nuance, you end up writing a book in response to to a question. And the wallet is not just worth it. So I will continue with what I have done today. The next time I see another one, I will just make a recording and put it up here because actually,
OK, it's 25 minutes. Yeah. I think it's a lot easier for me to spend 25 minutes trying to answer this thing over here on the podcast than trying to sit at the keyboard. Because to try and answer this thing adequately on the keyboard will end up taking like 45 minutes, one hour. Because the good thing about talking is you can't talk and ramble. People don't understand what you're saying. But if you write and ramble, then it's you sound like an idiot.
So you actually have to write and then delete and then write and like write this paragraph and then write again and then write again. So anyway, yeah, that's it for today. I'll catch you guys in the next episode. Connect with me on WhatsApp. The phone number is 08064662140. Country code is +234 and then you can connect with me on LinkedIn. My name is Tavishima Ayede, the host of the show. You can confirm the spelling of my name from the link where you're listening to this episode.
So just highlight my name from the link. Like if you're listening on, on what's that thing called again, YouTube? So if you're listening on YouTube, you just take the cursor and you is it left click? I mean, is it left click and drag? It'll highlight my name and then copy and then paste a LinkedIn. My handsome face pops up. Send me a connection request and I'll be in touch with you. We can have a conversation in 24 hours, 48 hours.
So thanks for your time and attention. I'll catch you guys in the next episode.