What are you pouring?

What are you pouring? 01/17/2011

Every time you walk into a winery tasting room, you are attending a presentation. The person pouring your wine may not know they are giving a presentation but that's what is going on. They are putting on a show.

The entertainers deliver a monologue. They share their knowledge and follow a script. Their goal is to impart wisdom. They don't bother to find out about their audience. It is all about them. They make you want to go back to school.

The connectors engage the audience members in the presentation. They make you part of the act - they ask questions and build a comfortable dialogue. They tailor their presentation based on your level of knowledge and neither talk down to you or over your head. They make you the star and as a result you will buy whatever they are selling.

Think about how it feels when you have excellent service. That's the feeling you want to create when you give a presentation. Don't be an entertainer - be a connector. If you will always focus on what the audience needs and put yourself in their shoes, you will succeed.

I'm still trying to figure out where these guys keep their PowerPoint slides when they're pouring. Maybe they're behind the bar.

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Geni Whitehouse
Countess of Communication

Brotemarkle,Davis and Co. LLP

Author of How to Make a Boring
Subject Interesting : 52 ways
even a nerd can be heard

Read about my next book and evil plan - hatched on Pi day of 2011.

I am an accountant on a mission. I want to permanently remove the blight of BORING that has attached itself to members of my profession.

But the boring blight doesn't stop there. It's everywhere. I've found it in wineries (although it's a tad more palatable when served with alcohol), in science labs, even in Art museums. And technology people carry the "B" gene too. But the condition need not be fatal.

I work with CPAs through my strategic partner, Mentor Plus, an
organization that has been providing
CPAs with the skills their clients
crave for more than 19 years.

I lecture around the country to
accountants and technology
audiences and I have a ball.

I was a partner in an Atlanta CPA firm when I realized technology was
my true passion and I have been
fighting the nerd versus geek battle
ever since.

And through some stroke of absolutely amazing luck, I now find myself in Napa -- the most gorgeous, hospitable place imaginable.

Are you on Twitter?

You can follow my nerdy life
there : evenanerd

Contact me

geni@evenanerd.com

I am a graduate of the Jeff Justice
Comedy Workshoppe and the
Persuasive Speaker course taught
by Speechworks. I highly recommend both of these organizations.

I am not unbiased, nor do I wish to be. I have done work for anyone and everyone in the software industry or the accounting profession. But if I am not impressed by what you do or can't find an angle that is interesting or unique, I won't work for or with you. And if you are stodgy or boring, there are not enough dollars or even euros to make me help you.

See samples of my
writing here:

www.salestaxradar.com

www.mybizcounts.com