It’s still LP Meeting season in private equity and hedge fund land, and I keep running into basic errors.

Here’s Mistake #99:  Not rehearsing together.

I just came back from a meeting in which the Founder spoke first, followed by the President of the firm.  They had not rehearsed together.

The Founder had been planning to discuss the macro-economics of the horrible year past.  Unfortunately, he also elaborated on various aspects of the investments in the portfolio.

When the President (the next speaker) reached the lectern, he had to do some quick thinking to rearrange his comments, since his fearless leader had stolen much of his thunder. 

This was partly the Founder’s fault for changing his talk at the last minute; partly the President’s for not insisting on a joint rehearsal; and partly mine for rehearsing with them both privately and not anticipating the need to collaborate and coordinate.

The price they paid for this error was a low buzz of complaining about the length of the meeting and the repetition of information.

It could have been worse.  Limited Partner Meetings are a key branding opportunity.  If the teamwork between Founder and President isn’t seamless, what does it say about the decision-making process in the firm? 

Could faulty teamwork lead to a much bigger mistake?

Sims Wyeth is a speech coach in Montclair, NJ specializing in presentation skills and public speaking training in order to give accomplished people the knowledge and skill they need to become accomplished speakers. Learn more public speaking tips at www.SimsWyeth.com.

I am a font.  I’m Copperplate31ab.

You’re a font—Southbee Two. 

I am elegant and stately—I live on wedding invitations.

You are playful and informal.  You live beside railroad tracks, and on those rock walls along two-lane roads.  High-school Romeos proclaim their love with you.

I win points for being subtle and intellectual. 

You get points for being real and authentic.

I get points for balance and restraint.

You get points for telling it like it is.

I get penalized for being professorial and aloof. 

You get penalized for being overly simplistic and intemperate.

I can succeed in places that you can’t, and you can win the war of words where I can’t even gain entrance.

I am a font—Copperplate31ab.  I grew up in Hawaii and California.  My father was from Africa, my mother from Kansas. 

You are a font—Southbee Two.  You grew up at Andover and Yale, and maybe a little in the White House.

How come I’m Copperplate? I should be Southbee.

And how did you get to be Southbee? You should be Copperplate.

We should stop trying to be the fonts we want to be, and start being the fonts we are.

Sims Wyeth is a private speech coach in Montclair, NJ specializing in executive speech coaching and public speaking training in order to give accomplished people the knowledge and skill they need to become accomplished speakers. Learn more public speaking tips at www.SimsWyeth.com.

Presence is intangible, yet we feel it.

People who are confident tend to have more presence.  People who are happy have more,  as do people who have a deep sense of purpose.

People with good posture have more presence. People who move with abundant energy have it, especially if it’s calm, assertive energy, (I’m quoting Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer.)

People have more presence when they expand rather than contract.  I think many presenters contract when in front of an audience, out of fear.  People who are able to expand, through experience, preparation, or their own innate qualities, are more engaging and persuasive.

Expansion and contraction are not necessarily physical acts.  They are psycho-physical.  They come from the inside and move outward.  If your inner state is buoyant, you’re likely to be more physically expansive, and project more presence.

Stillness can also create a sense of presence.  It can signal control and power.  However, if you are still and contracted, then you signal anxiety and uncertainty.

Finally, people who are endlessly curious also have presence, especially when they’re endlessly curious about a topic that other people are also interested in.

Ultimately, you have presence by being interested in others.  People like people who like them.  If you become a “presence” in their lives, then you have “presence.”

That’s the best kind.

Sims Wyeth is a private speech coach in Montclair, NJ specializing in executive speech coaching and public speaking training in order to give accomplished people the knowledge and skill they need to become accomplished speakers. Learn more public speaking tips at www.SimsWyeth.com.