Ep 18 - Shelley Woodrow
"I forgot the audience": Shelley Woodrow on what The Talk is really about
Key takeaways
- Shelley nailed a word-perfect 90 and still lost the client: they didn't feel a connection.
- The content doesn't guarantee the client: the people in the room are deciding who they want with them for two years.
- Before every talk she confirms three things: how much time she has, who's attending, and the objectives.
- With 90 minutes, she delivers in 45 to 50 and treats the Q&A as the connective tissue, not the leftover.
- She brings a booker to every talk, so she never switches from connection mode to closing mode.
This issue's newsletter
The Idea
The content doesn't guarantee the client.
Shelley Woodrow has done more talks than most Implementers will do in a career. She is a Certified EOS® Implementer in Las Vegas with about 420 sessions and seven and a half years in the field. On The Practice Builder this week, she sat down with Chris Beer to break down how she approaches the talk, from booking to follow-up to conversion.
One lesson stood out above the rest, and it came from losing what she assumed was a clear win.
Shelley was about a year and a half in when she walked into what she described as "a bake-off" she did not know was a bake-off. She had prepared for the 90 meticulously. Memorized the script. Hit every word.
I was so determined that I was going to memorize that 90 script, get it word for word, do it perfectly.
The next morning the prospect called, as agreed. She told Shelley they had chosen someone else, and then she explained why.
We didn't feel a connection to you.
Shelley remembers getting in her car after that meeting feeling great. She thought she had nailed it. And she had, technically. But the client was not grading the content. They were deciding who they wanted in the room with them for the next two years.
I was so focused on the content that I forgot the audience.
That feedback reshaped every talk and every 90 after it. She still prepares. She still times herself. She still confirms three things with whoever invited her: how much time she has, who the attendees are, and what the objectives are. But when she walks in, the job shifts. "This is about the people in the room," she said. "Who's in the room, and what do I need to do to connect with them?"
The mechanics back this up. When she has the full 90 minutes, she delivers the talk in 45 to 50 so there is real room for Q&A and conversation. She treats the back half as the connective tissue, not the leftover. And she never handles the close herself. She brings someone to every talk, even if it is her husband or her son, to stand at the back of the room and book 90s while she stays present.
She never switches from connection mode to closing mode. She stays in the room. The follow-through happens around her.
The Steal
Bring a booker.
Before your next talk, line up one person whose only job is to stand at the back of the room and book 90s on your calendar while you keep talking to people. A practice manager, a friend, a family member. Shelley has brought her husband and her son before. It does not require a hire. It requires one person and a calendar link.
Here is why it matters more than it sounds. When the talk ends, you are in the strongest position you will be in with that room. People are walking up. They want to keep the conversation going. If you are the one pulling out a laptop or fumbling with a scheduling link, you break the thing that got them there. You shift from the person they just connected with into someone trying to close. The energy changes, and most Implementers have felt that shift without naming it.
The booker removes that entirely. You stay in connection mode. You keep answering questions, shaking hands, hearing about their business. Meanwhile, the people who are ready to take the next step walk to the back of the room and get on your calendar without you ever having to ask.
The talk does not end when you leave the last slide. It ends when the last person leaves the room. Stay in it.
Get it in your inbox every Tuesday
