Читать книгу Start & Run a Creative Services Business - Susan Kirkland - Страница 50

If you find yourself in a bad situation, you can always rely on your sense of humor — as I had to do once when I came down hard (literally) during a presentation. After I designed a logo and ad campaign for a recent corporate acquisition, I presented it to my captive audience, who were forced to use my in-house talent because they had already spent $25,000 at a local advertising agency with no results. I introduced the logo and supporting ads, elaborating on my ideas as the boards were passed around the table. When the room grew silent, I could tell by the looks on their faces that I had exceeded their expectations.

Most people can sense when you know what you’re doing. A minor objection was raised about verbiage, but I quoted existing literature and the objection was moot. (The more work you complete, the more you see clients with an uncontrollable urge to change something, whether the change is valid or not, just to remind you who’s paying the bill.) As I started to sit down at the end of the presentation, my chair rolled out from under me. I fell flat on the floor with my feet straight up in the air — Chevy Chase couldn’t have done it better. I looked up from under the table, laughing out loud at my own misadventure. Everybody was relieved I wasn’t hurt and that it didn’t turn into an awkward situation. When your work is good enough to make up for this kind of faux pas, you will have no trouble finding assignments.

If, while giving a presentation, you find a room going silent, accept the silence as praise. There is a scientific basis for the silence when people are enthralled. Language skills resident in the left side of the brain are temporarily inaccessible when emotion takes hold; when you’ve succeeded at emotionally involving your audience and trapping them in the right side of their brains, they are literally speechless.

Find the fun in your work and no matter what the circumstance, enjoy yourself.

I’m not advocating adding slapstick to your presentation, but I want to encourage you to keep a firm grip on your humanity. Creatives have a tendency to take themselves too seriously, with the intention of showing everyone how serious they are about their work. Find the fun in your work and no matter what the circumstance, enjoy yourself. Each day will be filled with adventures beyond your control. You can meet them head on by clenching your teeth or by happily dribbling the ball down the court like a professional, ready for whatever gets thrown at you.

Though creative disciplines don’t encourage it, be flexible as a human being, both with yourself and those you deal with. Bad things do happen, and if you act like it’s the end of the world, you’re probably spending too much time obsessing about mistakes and shortcomings and things you can’t change. Do the best you can, and knowing that, will lend solace. Take it from a person who’s fallen flat on her ass: The sooner you get up laughing at your own foibles, the sooner you’ll move on to your next great adventure and golden opportunity. Or heed a piece of advice from Patrick Dennis’s play Auntie Mame, “Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death.” Dig in to the smorgasbord.