CFO Coach: Stories and Pauses

I recently read an article about how to ramp up public speaking skills.? Two of the suggestions ? emotional stories and pregnant pauses ? jumped out at me as two very effective strategies I use in coaching my clients through the job search and salary negotiating process. ?
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I?m a big believer in differentiation as a way of standing out from the competition in a job search or as a top three candidate in the interview. The effective use of stories and pauses can certainly differentiate you from the pack. Let?s take a closer look.

Emotional Stories

Granted, the ?emotional stories? one delivers in a speech are not the same as the ?emotional stories? one offers in an interview (or in his marketing documents), but there is a connection: emotion.

What a company cares about is whether or not you can solve its problems, challenges, issues and/or situations. Its emotion is PAIN. When a company is in pain, and you are the person who convinces them ? through stories ? that you can take away their pain, you have moved from the pack to pretty much standing alone. And perhaps even standing on a pedestal.

Stories take you from saying ?yes, I did that,? or ?yes, I did those exact kinds of things,? to walking the talk. I call the strategy ?C-A-R+SI.? Challenge - Action - Result + Strategic Impact ... and it is powerful, and differentiating, positioning.

In marketing documents (resume, cover letter, LinkedIn profile), stories also work well. In our nanosecond world of communication, stories-backed-by-facts of how you solved problems quickly resonate in an initial scan. In an interview, getting down in the dirt (how really bad were those problems?) can leave the interviewer trying to figure out how quickly he can bring you on board without worrying about what it will cost him to get you.

Responsibilities and duties don?t sell. Facts, in and of themselves, won?t close the deal. But emotional stories can often accomplish both.

Pregnant Pauses

Is there anything more uncomfortable than silence during a conversation? Have you been on the receiving end of that lull in a conversation where your brain goes into overdrive trying to think of what to say next... and soon?

Used well, pregnant pauses are an effective salary negotiating strategy.

In anticipation of his upcoming salary negotiations, one of my clients began practicing the use of pregnant pauses on his co-workers and his children. He drove them crazy. And he became very skilled at simply remaining silent when he didn?t get the answer he wanted.

Fear that the top candidate has just now been offended by the salary offered - or - just the discomfort that silence creates is often too much pressure for an unskilled negotiator. Before as few as 15 seconds of silence has passed, he might find himself upping the ante in order to bridge that uncomfortable silence.

The next time one of your team members or direct reports or children offers you an answer you don?t want or which might not be entirely true, respond with a slow, thoughtful r-e-a-l-l-y, and then be silent. Start counting to 30 (to yourself of course) and just see what happens.

Emotional stories and pregnant pauses just might become your new best strategies.

Cindy Kraft is the CFO-Coach. Reach Cindy at Cindy@CFO-Coach.com, 813-655-0658, or at www.CFO-Coach.com.
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Source: http://www.afponline.org/pub/res/news/CFO_Coach__Stories_and_Pauses.html

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