The Art of Business Human Is Better Than Perfect by Pete Machalek, Principal of SagePresence My partner and I were recently helping a group of architects prepare their sales pitch. One particularly young member of the group was doing just fine, and that was his problem. He was very controlled and very scripted, and, as a result, he was boring. It was hard to listen to him. After the run-through, he said he could tell he had lost us, and he asked what he could do to change things up. So we suggested he lose the script and just hit his talking points with whatever words came to mind. We asked him to bear the specific time frame he had in mind, but other than that, to just follow his instincts. When we had him go through his material again, he was completely transformed. The guardedness disappeared, and in its place was an improvisational quality that most of us have naturally 28 | Exploring TOSCA www.tctosca.com when we’re not performing but just living our lives and talking to people. His sentences were imperfect, but they were real. He was passionate, and excited. And as a result, we were hanging on his every word. It’s easy to get the wrong idea about what to shoot for in a performance. There are some circumstances where it’s fine to just do what’s expected of you. But when you’re looking to really make an impact, to be noticed as distinct from the competition, being slick and perfect can’t be the goal. You’ve got to be real. Pete Machalek is founding partner at SagePresence, a company that helps professionals build business through the power of story, connection, and dynamism. Learn more at SagePresence.com. Written to perfection effective copy for social media manuscript critiques editing and proofreading + Susan Thurston Professional Writing Services 612.298.6234 sthpoet@gmail.com susanthurstonwrites.com
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