Anticipating the short-list interview

Getting technical staff engaged in developing the short-list presentation

Most experienced marketing and technical folks have a good feel for the prospects of any project they decide to pursue. They know if a contemplated pursuit is a shot in the dark, if the project seems to have their firm's name written all over it, or the pursuit lies somewhere in between.

Many "also-ran" firms enter the short-list interview in first place—it's "their project to lose"—and then they lose, for one of two reasons:

1. They didn't spend enough time developing the script and show; or
2. They didn't rehearse enough to make the best presentation possible.

The hours spent developing the presentation and preparing for the interview are hours billed to overhead, and technical people hate to let overhead tasks take time away from their "real" (i.e. billable) work. However, as the people who will actually speak during the interview, it is important for them to be major contributors to the script and the screen show.

I have found that, when you are convinced that you will receive an invitation to interview, the best way to involve technical folks in developing the short-list script and screen show is to get the them thinking about the presentation during the proposal stage. Every topic brought up during the proposal phase—whether related to staff, experience, approach, or team organization—should include two questions:

1. Does this have a place in the short-list interview?
   
2. If so, what is the topic's place and who addresses it?

Every process considered for inclusion in the proposal should beg the question: "is this topic better served by a flow chart or other graphic rather than just one or a few paragraphs of text?"

These questions will not only help you determine what belongs in the presentation long before you even get the invitation letter. They will also help you determine what does not need to be in the presentation.

With this approach, your interview/presentation can be 90-95% outlined by the time the proposal goes out the door. Major changes only happen if the client/owner asks specific questions in the invitation letter.

Based on this outline, and given the fact that any team member asked to speak will speak only on his/her area of expertise and how that informs the project approach or management style, completing the script should not be an onerous task. The difficulty is rehearsing—mostly in helping speakers understand the importance of rehearsing. Here are some things that tell the client your full team didn't rehearse enough:

1. Your group assembles outside the presentation room and your project manager introduces your principal to other team members.
2. Your team members get looks on their faces indicating surprise at what's being said by other team members.
3. The hand-off from one speaker to the next is ragged—like someone didn't know his/her part was coming up next.
4. The speaker stumbles over the material as if he/she has never thought about or spoken on that subject before.

These four items tell a client that you—and especially your principal—didn't think they or their project was important. And they give the project to someone who treated the possibility like it was important to their firm's ongoing success.