On Monday the IA teams suited up for the final investment presentations in the board room with one common goal: persuade our client of choosing the best socially-responsible company. The reality of the situation couldn't be more authentic. Yet we had just come back from a vacation break, broker team #2 had managed to (against all odds) put our proposals together. Putting together a keynote was clever. Given that for the TED TALK we explored the program's features this allowed us to add relevant transitions that broke apart the flatness of 'finance' and spiced it up with a little informality. It was vital, for us who provided numerical data to find this balance. |
I have to admit I still feel accelerated before talking in front of people. However, in this case, I learned to manage my nerves positively using the audience effect. For my convenience, as soon as I got started that extra adrenaline pushed me to have a stronger delivery. I had previously researched my company in depth and had hundreds of facts about future projects, their commitment to the society, their employees, the environment and finally how their stock was going to perform based on the P/E ratio, stock forecast and comparisons to other holdings in the same industrial sector... |
Here's the catch →being over prepared is not always beneficial - having too much information can blind you the moment you loose people's attention. As Ira Glass said in his lesson on story telling: To capture a GREAT story you might have to go and look for many but you only choose the BEST ONE to put out there. We, had to discard the irelevant facts and only choose the most incredible assets of BMW, First solar, adidas and starbucks to display. | I really loved the idea of representing a company I believed in because this came out as I spoke and allowed me to be more persuasive. My group also had a solid performance since the companies we had chosen to diversify our portfolio were extremely different, we all rose valid points to our arguments and I was even impressed by the naturality of my teammate Augusto and how he exposed Adidas through a relaxing informality that calmed the atmosphere for everyone. #VERY #PROUD As I went on with my part, I even felt the urge to stand up and actually had a little fun with playing the role of the expert. I learned that even if the topic is as serious as an investment proposal, joking around and adding playful media effects is key because no matter how high someones position is, every one hates awkward and stiff relationships. So why build that wall? |
In a final note, I'm glad that we struggled. Why? It lead to real learning: made me dig into new topics, expand my knowledge on financial literacy, become a better collaborator and grow as a communicator. I learned from my peers; found that even if I am 100% prepared it all comes down to how you build up the atmosphere. Im glad I can say that all the Struggle and frustration was worth it: this monday I didn't see regular schools students but real financial advisers. I couldn't be more impressed on our growth as an academy!