Another business meeting, another company presentation?

You are going to attend another typical networking event during which the representatives from various companies will present their companies’ strengths and advantages of cooperating with them. You will join the ranks of the prominent speakers. Are you sure you want to be one of them and blend in with this crowd? What makes you think your presentation will stick in their minds or be at least remembered by the audience the following day? The answer is simple “ Astonish them”!

Don’t be frightened of your ideas even if they might appear ridiculous

In his book “Whatever you think, think the opposite” Paul Arden wrote that the greatest advice ever given was from the Harper’s Bazaar art director, Alexey Brodovitch, to a young photographer, Richard Avedon: “Astonish me.” “Bear these words in mind,” Arden wrote, “and everything you do will be creative.”

Astonish your audience

Why not astonish the audience at another regular networking session? Why not do something out of the box to make sure you stand out from the crowd?

Our sales specialist, encouraged by GOYELLO director Peter Horsten, took this piece of advice to heart and acted on it. He did something completely extraordinary at the networking event. After another dull presentation he took the floor, sat down and started playing his guitar singing “Wonderwall”. How unusual, don’t you think? Then he went on to presenting our company. However, again, he didn’t focus on the obvious values but on the most important aspect of doing business with us: that we are Crazy about IT but also take all clients seriously and the cooperation is based on the long-lasting friendships. The presentation later covered our work methodology such as Scrum and Agile.

This time everyone was listening attentively. It was so shocking to some people that they immediately came up to him after the presentations were over to exchange business cards. Their interest was aroused.

Maybe it’s better to be interesting than right?

Paul Arden, one of advertising industry’s great talents and the former executive creative director of Saatchi and Saatchi, was famous for ignoring all the everyday rules that restrict the rest of us before we even start. He advocated risk-taking, “If you always make the right decisions, the safe decisions, the one most people make you will be the same as everyone else” he wrote in “Whatever You Think, Think The Opposite”, the book has sold more than a million copies worldwide.

He also said “if you can’t solve the problem it’s because you’re playing by the rules” so be creative because after all “the person is only as good as his last idea”.