Thread by @joenatoli

Rules for Pitching to #UX Stakeholders Dept.

To me, EVERY meeting is a working meeting. So the very first time I speak to a room of stakeholders during a consulting gig, I am absolutely not doing the dog-and-pony show of presenting with slides.

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I am here to do one thing and one thing only: make an IMPACT.

Leave a firm, lasting impression that they will not ever meet another consultant cares as much about helping them succeed as I do.

Which means I’m here to talk about *them.*

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What they need. What they’re struggling with. What they think is wrong and what needs to be made right.

This also means that even if I don't have the gig yet, instead of sitting politely + taking turns, we’re going to dive in together + interact. Trade ideas.

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Think through things, explore. what’s being proposed and leverage the brainpower of every person in the room.

Once again, this is a *working* meeting, and we are going to use it to WORK the problem at hand. Again, whether they hire me or not.

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This gives them a very real, tangible, concrete sense of what it’s like to work with me. I am minimizing their risk. If we communicate and collaborate together well here, it’s a safe bet we’ll do the same once I’m under contract.

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If I’m helping a #ProductDesign team “sell” improved #UX work to decision makers, the only way we get a green light is if (1) we come off confident + composed, (2) we communicate instead of trying to educate + (3) they can see the outcome of what we’re proposing.

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To do that, I follow 8 specific rules, which I share in “8 critical rules for pitching to stakeholders," available at my UX 365 Academy, my affordable alternative to grossly overpriced (+ underdelivering) bootcamps:

learn.givegoodux.com/p/8-critical-r…

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If you want people to pay attention to anything you say, you absolutely must lead with something that matters a great deal to them.

Something that they (1) know or strongly suspect is occurring + (2) desperately want to accomplish or minimize or eliminate.

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Put another way: you have to prove that what you do addresses BUSINESS problems, opportunities and goals — not UX problems, opportunities and goals. In this training video, I show you how I make sure that happens before I leave the room.

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ABOUT #UX 365:

Typical bootcamps cost anywhere from $3,000 - $15,000 for anywhere from 10 weeks to 6 months.

UX 365 is just $168 for a FULL YEAR.

For $228, you get a live monthly group session w/me, where we work together on whatever you’re dealing with/working on.

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You get every course, training video,e-book, cheat sheet and guidebook/workbook I’ve ever created.

You get new, no-bullshit training content every month that comes directly from three decades of #UX consulting with the largest companies in the world.

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Stuff that works where the rubber hits the road, in the less-than-perfect reality we all work in.

I hope you’ll join me at the #UX 365 Academy + see how a small investment can make a huge difference in your career trajectory.

learn.givegoodux.com/p/8-critical-r…

Onward + upward.

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