Crafting the 30 Second Lead

Monday, March 14, 2005

Carmine Gallo, 10 Simple Secrets of the World's Greatest Business Communicators, http://www.gallocommunications.com

Former CNN business journalist, Carmine Gallo, has written 10 Simple Secrets of the World's Greatest Business Communicators. The book shows readers how to capture the charisma of dazzling corporate speakers like Steve Jobs, Larry Ellison, Jack Welch and John Chambers.

When journalists introduce a story, it’s called The Lead. In television, it’s typically no longer than fifteen to thirty seconds. It’s meant to be so intriguing that you’ll want to hear the rest of the story. If all the leads are interesting, you’ll stick with the entire newscast. If you watch the whole news program, you’ll keep advertisers happy. Happy advertisers keep the staff happy because they retain their jobs, get raises, and if all goes well, they get to attend an awesome holiday party at the Four Seasons instead of Tico’s Tacos. And to think it all starts with a great lead!

The easiest way of developing a strong opening for your next presentation, talk, workshop, or meeting is simply to create a compelling lead that you can say in thirty seconds. If you can say it in twenty seconds, even better. The lead should be a short description of your service, product, company, or cause that your grandmother could understand. It must be clear, concise, and compelling. The world’s greatest business communicators have their leads down cold. You can, too.

After interviewing more than two thousand executives and spokespeople in my career, I’m convinced the best stand out by crafting a lead that answers the following four questions in thirty seconds or less:

1. What is my service, product, company, or cause?
2. What problem do I solve (or what demand do I meet)?
3. How am I different?
4. Why should you care?

Answering these questions will help you start strong while giving the rest of your presentation a direction.

During a corporate workshop in Monterey, California, I worked with a group of executives on the company’s opening pitch. After about an hour of brainstorming, we came up with a powerful thirty-second pitch—but only after answering the four questions. Let me start with the result:

Language Line Services is the world’s largest provider of phone interpretation services for companies who want to connect with their non-English speaking customers. Every twenty-three seconds, someone who doesn’t speak English enters the country. When they call a hospital, a bank, an insurance company, or 911, it’s likely that a Language Line interpreter is on the other end. We help you talk to your customers, patients, or sales prospects in one hundred fifty languages!

This takes less than thirty seconds to say and gives potential customers a reason to learn more about the company. Watch how simple it was to put this example together after answering the four questions:

Question 1: What is my service, product, company or cause? “Language Line is the world’s largest provider of phone interpretation services.” If your company doesn’t offer a tangible product, but a service, say so.

Question 2: What problem do I solve? “Every twenty-three seconds, someone who doesn’t speak English enters the country.” Every service, product, company, or cause must solve a problem or satisfy a demand that’s being unmet. Otherwise, you might as well be making buggy whips in the automobile age.

Question 3: How am I different? “When you call a hospital, a bank, an insurance company, or 911, it’s likely that a Language Line interpreter is on the other end.” By not directly saying “we’re number one in the industry,” the pitch takes a softer approach but still lets the potential customer know that the company is a leader in its field. Odds are, you’re the not the only one doing what you’re doing. Be different.

Question 4: Why should you care? “We help you talk to your customers, patients, or sales prospects in one hundred fifty languages.” Wow! Now I want to hear more. If you can’t tell your audience why your product or service will improve their lives (or their financial well-being), they will dismiss you faster than movie audiences tuned out Gigli.

It’s that simple to start strong. Answer those four questions and you’ll stand out. Your listeners just want to know, in a clear and concise pitch, what you do, what problem you solve, how you’re different, and why they should care about you or your message.

Chamber of Commerce Catastrophe

While writing this chapter, I attended a chamber of commerce luncheon in which a local firm was featured as the company of the month. The chamber’s executive director read a description of the company from its website—hardly a stirring introduction that showed no personal touch. Nothing new, I thought. This is the same scenario repeated in thousands of meetings around the world every day. At least the CEO of the featured company had a platform to pitch his company. He would surely dazzle the crowd, wouldn’t he? As is often the case, the CEO fell flatter than a Ray’s New York style pizza.

On this particular day, the CEO first thanked the group and proceeded to “pitch” his company. He said his company provides web design and hosting, and if anyone in the group needed help, call or visit the website. That’s it. I’m not kidding. Not a word more. He didn’t seem nervous, he just hadn’t mastered this Simple Secret. He blew an opportunity to start strong and end with a call to action.

A quick Google search will turn up 5.5 million sites under the term “web design and hosting.” Everyone does it. What made this guy’s company any different? Get this—I only learned at the end of the luncheon that this particular firm designed the chamber’s website and won an award for it! Look, you don’t have to boast like Donald Trump, but c’mon, give me a little something.

Imagine if this particular CEO had mastered his thirty-second lead by saying:

“Thank you for making my company, XYZ, the featured firm of the month. It’s especially timely this month as we helped the chamber of commerce boost its membership. We work with local companies to improve their sales by designing more effective websites [What is our service]. Every business needs a website if it’s to be taken seriously, but research shows that the vast majority of websites fail to improve business as much as they should. Our clients have a different experience [What demand we meet]. We design and host more local websites than any other firm. In fact, most of you are familiar with the chamber’s website that we designed. We’re proud to say it has a won an award as the best chamber of commerce website on the West Coast! [How we’re different]. But we’re not in this to win awards. We’re in it to make our clients money. On average, our clients find that sales soar 25 percent within two weeks of launching their website [why should you care].

Okay, so it might take a little longer than thirty seconds to say. Maybe forty seconds. But you get the point. It’s clear, concise, and compelling. A lead like this will grab the audience’s attention, keep them interested and possibly get their business.

Copyright © 2005 by Carmine Gallo.
Reprinted from the book 10 Simple Secrets of the World's Greatest Business Communicators with permission of its publisher, Sourcebooks, Inc. (800-432-7444).

www.gallocommunications.com
carmine@gallocommunications.com

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