CGM blog: Something happened…

20 Jun CGM blog: Something happened…

I just love our Business Media Club meetings.

Starting the club was one of the best things we’ve done at Chris Green Media. Not only is it a great exchange of ideas and offers an opportunity to provide affordable and insightful communications and marketing training, personal development and fantastic networking – but its real beauty is the interaction between members.

Something unique happened at our Birmingham club meeting last week, for instance.

The theme was making presentations and speeches, which could have been a dry old subject focusing on the do’s and don’ts of public speaking. Instead, I wanted to focus on one key question – who are you?

If you believe in character marketing as we do at CGM, you quickly realise that people buy into people rather than from them.

Capability is okay, proficiency and professionalism are necessary and being a good fit is always an advantage – but what really seals the deal so often is our understanding of the people we do business with – their passion, knowledge, expertise and driving force behind what they do.

So ‘who are you’, followed by ‘why’, ‘how’ and only then ‘what’  is one way to provide answers in a personal introduction or presentation.

So… something remarkable happened towards the end of our meeting as each delegate in turn presented themselves to the group using this different framework.

Jayne explained how she faced several tough years as a single mum but has bounced back thanks to the encouragement of her ‘little girl’ and now works in a marketing role she really enjoys.

Mike described the way a career in retail went wrong resulting in long hours, alcoholism, disenfranchisement from his family leading to divorce and depression – and now works with similar folks to prevent them falling into the same trap.

Dave was brought up by a stepfather who died when he was a small child, but was subsequently influenced by a kindly relative (now a centenarian) who proved an invaluable role model and moulded Dave in ways which now influence his work as a business consultant.

Gurjote told how having graduated in psychology he’d lost the appetite to work in this field, and after his father rejected the chance for him to join the family print business until he’d earned his spurs, spent six years in recruitment before writing a plan to regenerate his father’s business which was accepted last year and which is now being put into action.

Andrea said she started her own charity to help children with low self-esteem after being bullied in the workplace – the final straw being ordering too few loo rolls.

Mark outlined how he rapidly grew a psychological and emotional cleaning company to cleanse your mind and your home as an antidote to a dispiriting career in car sales and has now moved on to new ventures.

I’m precising hugely – but you get my point. It is too easy to judge people simply by their role and what they do rather than the dynamics behind it – and yet we can readily change perceptions by switching the context of a speech.

The meeting finished with a warm glow – a feeling that we all knew each other that little bit better. Kindred spirits, even – guards lowered, empathy expressed, refreshed and raring to go with a new vision for marketing based on character rather the capability.

Chris Green is an award-winning author and broadcaster – and managing partner of Chris Green Media – which inspires organisations to communicate better by connecting deeper.