Presenting with assertion rather than explanation

For presentation coaches, the conversational dynamics of persuasion and salesmanship teach powerful lessons.

I was reminded of that recently by a close friend who works for one of nation’s fastest growing wealth-management firms. She compared the sales styles of the two partners who manage the office that employs her.

The approaches they use during client meetings couldn’t be starker. In essence, the more experienced of the two tells his clients what to do. The junior partner tries to persuade his clients to assent to his advice by rationally explaining to them why it’s the right course of action.

Guess which partner is more successful?

In the interest of anonymity, we’ll refer to them as Mr. Assertion and Mr. Explanation, respectively.

Mr. Assertion is a former Lutheran minister who expresses himself with ecumenical certitude.

Mr. Explanation has an economics degree and a conviction that fact and reason is the winning formula.

Mr. Assertion, when selling a financial instrument, tells the client it’s the “right thing to do,” presents the paperwork, assures him that everything is in order, hands over a pen and points to the signature line.

By contrast, Mr. Explanation, when selling the same product, discusses how the financial instrument operates, its expected returns, fees, and why the product is right for the client’s portfolio.

Mr. Assertion – as required by industry guidelines – also talks returns, fees, etc., but he glosses over them in a headlong sprint to close the deal and get his client on the right path, post haste.

Mr. Assertion wastes little time.

Mr. Explanation will burn an hour talking about the Greek debt crisis and its potential ramifications for the U.S. equity and bond markets.

It doesn’t hurt that the lean, angular Mr. Assertion stands about six-and-a-half-feet tall and is topped off with a head full of white hair. He is an expert in his field and wields that self-assurance during every client exchange.

My friend says clients don’t always understand what Mr. Assertion is talking about. They sometimes come to her to ask, “Do you understand what he meant by…” But clients don’t resist his counsel because their bottom line reaction is, I trust him.

Mr. Explanation is no slouch, by any means. He has a great command of the wealth management business, yet he is averse to operating with the assertive manner of his partner. It simply isn’t his style. He isn’t comfortable with it.

Mr. Assertion sells himself.

Mr. Explanation sells products and expectations.

To answer the question I posed earlier, yes, Mr. Assertion is the more successful of the two (as if that wasn’t obvious by now).

The more important question, of course, is why. That’s pretty obvious, too. People aren’t sold on products and services as much as they are sold on the purveyors of those products and services. Confidence is attractive. Assertiveness, when backed by credibility, can be an irresistible force.

The lesson for presenters is this: When we take the stage we can embody the expertise we have come to impart. Or, we can try to convince audience members that we possess expertise by inundating them with facts, figures, metrics, comparisons and all manner of empirical knowledge.

In the final analysis, Mr. Assertion owns the stage.

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