Presence in Absentia – The First Nine Slides

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Last Monday I presented a guest lecture at UW-Milwaukee to the brilliant students in the BUS-ADM 468: Internet Marketing course. It was an amazing experience and I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to present and share business applications for what I am passionate about: digital. The most rewarding part about it was sharing my experiences in the search industry and seeing the students absorb the content while taking notes. None of this would have ever happened without such an amazing set of mentors and positive influences to push me when I feel like giving up. The experience solidified my yearning to teach and affirmed my belief that when I’m “retired”, I would thoroughly enjoy making a difference in higher education and supplementing tried-and-true digital marketing strategies to marketing and advertising syllabi.

Ironically enough, while enrolled at UW-Milwaukee as an undergraduate, I often wondered how theory written in texts could be applied to business. One thing to keep in mind is that I did not major in business, marketing, or advertising. I majored in International Studies and Political Science. In fact, I have only attended about a dozen lectures in an MBA program though I’ve been enrolled since 2009. I guess I am taking the slow-and-steady path.

The First Step is the Hardest to Walk

I mentioned being enrolled in an MBA program. Upon graduation at UW-Milwaukee, I was accepted to a join graduate / MBA program at Valparaiso. To pay the bills, I began working at a local digital marketing agency and instantly fell in love with the profession. Having been mentally unstimulated in courses up to that point I decided to hedge my bets and go full-on marketing. I couldn’t be happier with that decision.

I remember my first marketing class like it was yesterday. It was a business leadership class and the first read was Servant Leadership: A Journey Into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness. It was one of the most influential books I had read in my professional career. Despite my inexperience and “newbie” status to business and marketing, I felt inspired and ready to kick some ass.

While I did indeed move back to “the homeland” from Valparaiso, I learned something about myself that I never had to think about. Because I majored in a non-business program during undergrad, I was not required to do presentations or group work in classes. This put me in a precarious situation as a first-year MBA student.

During week six of lecture the professor dropped a bomb: 40% of the final grade in the class would be based on group presentations on Servant Leadership. I didn’t think anything of it at first. Hell, I was pumped about it. The book wasn’t just a book – it was a way to lead. Over the course of the next few weeks I did my due diligence and not only read the entire book – I memorized it. At the time I knew that I did not memorize it because it was an assignment… it was applicable to the real world. I was absolutely stoked and nothing could stop me.

“Presentation Mode”

Throughout the group’s planning process, I was the guy that volunteered to compile all of our notes and put it together into “presentation mode”. Perfectionist? Yes. It was a fault up until a couple of years ago when I realized it was part asset, part fault. Back to the point. I put together a slide deck that summarized the group’s findings, and made it presentable. When we met to go through roles and responsibilities I proudly showed off the deck. It was then where I was asked one of the toughest and most resonating questions of my life: “What section are you going to present on?” As rudimentary as the question was it was difficult to answer. I honestly hadn’t thought about it.

The First Nine Slides

After experiencing a cold sweat and turning white as a ghost I chose “the first nine slides”. The first nine slides included an introduction, background, summary, and goals of the story.

Whew, that sure sounded like a lot to cover in nine slides.

In hindsight, it wasn’t. As prepared as I was with the content, I had absolutely no experience communicating to an audience, be it peers, colleagues, or strangers.

To get through this hurdle, I did what I do best: research. “Presenting in class”, “presentation tips”, and “public speaking medication” were a few of the searches I typed into Google. Note the reference to “medications”. Yes, I did some research on taking the easy way out. I quickly realized that the type of fear, insecurity, and lack of experience I felt couldn’t be magically cured by medication. It took years to “fix” the issue, and it was a rough, intense beginning.

Present in Absentia

The day of the “big” presentation, I ended up skipping class. I texted my group mates with a BS excuse on how I had gotten food poisoning.

The reality was that I decided to run.

I decided to run from a first experience that I was ill-prepared and inexperienced for. I did the same thing, multiple times, over the next couple of years. It started during undergraduate studies for my first ever public speaking opportunity and to be completely honest, I thought I had outgrown it.

I began feeling the noose tighten a few days before the group was scheduled to present our summary. It was the MBA equivalent of a book report. In hindsight, it was entry-level MBA group work to gauge a student’s ability to work on a team and communicate effectively. Wow. It was easy to write that and break it down now, but I guess anyone can be a ‘Monday morning quarterback.” With that said, I’m a strong believer in the thought that everything happens for a reason. I’ll thank my parents for that, as it was ingrained in me at a young age.

Everything Happens for a Reason

Would I ever be able to get in front of a class and contribute? It seemed like a long shot back then. Couple that with the fact that I had always had the ambition for politics, and self-realization kicks in. A change needed to happen. I needed to address this or everything that I had hoped and dreamed about in terms of career development would be left unaccomplished. It’s an unpleasant thought, but unfortunately it happens to most. Panic, anxiety, lack of confidence and / or experience takes a toll on the best of us. Luckily for me, I found solace in repetition, repetition, and repetition. I sincerely believe that I had failed, and flat-out avoided, public speaking for a reason. Because everything happens for a reason.

Coming Full Circle

With that being said I’ve come full-circle in my personal and academic life. Two years ago, I would have literally “flipped my shit” at the thought of facilitating key account client meetings, participating on a pitch team, or presenting in front of seasoned professionals at an industry conference. Today I do just that and absolutely live for it. I no longer consider it pushing myself out of the comfort zone… it’s natural.

The most effective piece of advice that I can offer is that practice makes perfect. Think about it this way: athletes, from little league through high school and even the pros, practice and train every day. That’s how they become great at what they do.

20 More Things I Should Have Known at 20

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Back in May, Julien Smith wrote a post about 20 thing he wish he would have known when he was 20. The post stuck with me. So much, in fact, that it took me almost seven months to digest them, put them into play, and write something about my personal experience. Detailed below is a list of 20 more thing I should have known when I was 20.

  1. Get in a routine. Before reading Julien’s post about how to read a book a day, I woke up at 8am every morning, showered, and got to work right in the nick of time. Since then, I’ve opted to take some “me” time in the morning. I read, get updated on current events, drink coffee, and prepare for the day ahead just waking up thirty minutes earlier. It’s not that big of a sacrifice to get started on the right track.
  2. Keep your inbox at zero. We all have email. The volume at which we receive messages varies from person to person, but the noise is still there. A couple of months ago I began using my inbox as an ad-hoc project management systems and task manager. Whenever I received an email, I looked at it, prioritized, addressed, and archived it. Going to bed at night with zero emails allows you to clear your head and not have to “double think” about what you may have missed.
  3. Get your body into shape. You only live once.  Treat your body with the respect it deserves by being active and getting into shape. Studies show that exercise increases lifespan. Spare the extra four hours per week and hit the gym. It helps your body, and it helps your mind.
  4. Get your mind into shape. Focus, clarity, and sense of direction aren’t unachievable attributes of the mind. Take a yoga class. Think that’s feminine? Say that to my face. Yoga clears your mind (and body) of the daily toxins consume each and every day. Plus, it’s a great way to meet women.
  5. Learn how to tie a tie. A real tie. I work at a marketing agency and ties are required for client meetings. The first few months I walked into work, my boss always criticized the knot I used for my tie. It was sloppy and embarrassing. Go to YouTube, search for “How to tie a half Windsor”, and behold the power of the internet.
  6. Keep your quarters clean. I lived at home through undergrad in college. Living at home for 23 years was both a blessing and a curse. One time after a serious night of drinking and folly, my dad came down to the basement and saw the mess I was living in. He told me that a man is only as clean as his living quarters. Since then, I do my best to ensure that I don’t live in a hell hole.
  7. Speak to your audience’s level. Last month I spoke at an online marketing conference for the first time. Because there was so much visibility with the appearance, I lobbied my agency for some presentation coaching. My coach, well-known in the Midwest, gave me one piece of advice: “speak to your audience”. If your audience is advanced – speak with your industry jargon. If they are beginner, do a 101.
  8. Set goals. I’ve always been a driven person. I started looking for jobs when I was 15 (before the legal age in WI). The concept of setting goals didn’t really hit me until I took a graduate class in business and my professor gave us an assignment on SMART goals. Not sure what they are? I wrote a geeky online marketing post about it, but at a high level, SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Specific. I create SMART goals for both personal achievement and professional advancement. So far, it’s kept me on track and has gotten me to where I am today.
  9. Stand up for what you believe. I mentioned before that I’m an online marketer. The concept of standing up for what you believe sounds like it may be foreign to me, but it isn’t. Both personally or professionally, I will not take on an account that I couldn’t back in a conversation with friends or family. I’ve turned down clients, both through freelance and at the agency that I work for, that stood against the principles I believe in. Money doesn’t buy happiness, and it certainly doesn’t promote integrity.
  10. Live like every day is your last. The mid-to-late twenties is always a tough time in terms of losing grandparents and relatives. After sitting through two funerals this year, I’ve learned that life is short and you need to live it while you can. Take that snorkeling trip to the Galapagos Islands, ski in Vail, Colorado, or climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. You only live once. Make sure you live it while you still can.
  11. Ambition is not a fault, it’s an asset. When I was fresh out of college looking for a job in a tough economy, one of the hiring managers that turned me down said that I was “too ambitious”. I took that feedback to heart, but it was wrong. You can never be “too ambitious” and you shouldn’t change who you are for a job. Those who change their worldview change their potential.
  12. Always look your best. Maybe this is the “metro sexual” in me talking, but appearance is everything in life. At home. At work. In your social life. Details are noticed, so why not have the upper hand?
  13. Anything worth doing is worth doing well. When I was in third grade, my teacher told me that I was destined to become a doctor. Completely flattered at her statement, I asked her why. She said that it was because I had “crappy handwriting”. Taken aback by the comment, she told me that anything worth doing, is worth doing well. Since then, I’ve taken her advice to heart and whole-heartedly agree. Why half-ass things that you do, personally or professionally? There’s a word for that. Slacking. Don’t be a slacker.
  14. Buy a decent pair of running shoes. In 2010 I decided to propose to the my long-term girlfriend at the time. I thought that if I was going to propose, I would do it big. What bigger statement would there be than to propose after a marathon? During the eight weeks up to the big event, I went to a local running shop and was taken aback by the cost of running shoes. The salesman told me that a decent pair of shoes would be well worth it for both training and the race. Looking back, I was stupid for even questioning it. The running shoes supported by over-pronation, and helped me cross the finish line and propose to my future wife.
  15. Set limits. Seriously. Nine months into my marriage I was urged by my wife to go to a doctor for “workaholism”. As a newly married husband, I complied (after a few battles, of course). I told the doctor about the “workaholism” and asked him for medication. I’ll never forget his response: “Anthony, if I medicate you, it will change who you are. I believe you have an addictive personality. You need to set limits.” Addictive personalities, or daily life activities that are pushed to the extreme aren’t bad. But there needs to be a point of control.
  16. Learn from past experiences, don’t regret them. I consider myself an intelligent person. If I make a mistake, I’ll learn from it and adapt. I have no regrets and I’ll carry that chip on my shoulder until I’m dead. On a personal note, an experience I learned the most from was marriage. I married the wrong girl, for the wrong reasons. Did I learn from it? Yes. Will I repeat it? No. Learn and grow from your mistakes. Failure is not a negative – unless you repeat it.
  17. Get your shit straight. The weekend after I realized that I fucked up with my marriage, I went to a friend’s house. She’s a girl. After a few glasses of wine, I ended up staying by her place. When we woke up in the morning, we spoke few words of it. It ended with her telling me to “get my shit straight” and then we’ll talk. Six months later, we’re friends and plan double dates. If you have loose ends, unresolved problems, or lack direction, then you need to get your shit straight so you don’t veer off-course.
  18. Strip yourself down. Julien’s post about twenty things hit me at a transitional time. When he spoke about reducing expenses and living on the cheap, I took a radical view. After I left my ex-wife, I drained my bank account and donated the majority to charity. I wanted to strip myself down and start anew. My best friend asked me out for drinks that night, and I told him, and only him of my actions. He told me it was a good thing. With $21 in my pocket for the next two weeks, it was a reality check in the sense that I had lived such a materialistic lifestyle though I was raised in a middle class family. Sometimes you need to sacrifice to truly appreciate where you’ve been and what you’ve done.
  19. Never settle. I’m getting my first tattoo next month. Having studied in the Middle East, being fluent in Arabic, and having a past of setting in my personal life, I’m having “تسوية. أبدا” (Never Settle.) tattooed on my shoulder. Like I said before, you only live once. Why settle for the low hanging fruit? Shoot for the stars and the ability to achieve is endless.
  20. Try everything at least once. On a date this weekend, I took a girl to a local Italian restaurant. They are known for their “ragu” with a different type of meat every time. The first time I tried it, it was Italian Boar. The second was duck. This time, the server told me it was rabbit. As someone with a weak palate, I said “rabbit?” to my date after the server left. Knowing that I had been hyping it up, she told me to order it, because I should try everything at least once. I tried it and I loved it. Imagine the possibilities of trying things that you aren’t accustomed to.

Do you have things that you should have known when you were 20? If so, please share. I am interested in hearing what you have to say.

Integrating Search & Social

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Last month I presented at my first online marketing conference about aligning search and social to improve organic visibility and increase traffic. Jason was kind enough to help me with a quote for the presentation on how search and social don’t necessarily get along. His words spoke volumes to both me and the audience:

“By far the biggest stumbling block is the combination of clients not understanding the technology and SEO types passively talking over their heads. It’s hard to find a good SEO practitioner who can both translate what the tasks and value are and not be arrogant or impatient with the client’s understanding. I’m kind of a go-between that serves in that role and many SEO folks get cocky with me, too. It takes a unique person to master SEO. It takes a rare breed to master that an humanize it.”

As a search engine marketer who’s been in the industry for about five years now, I know where he, and you are all coming from. I’ve dealt with SEO specialists and agencies in the past who’ve kept the “secret sauce” to themselves instead of going the route of education with the client. The truth is – there is no secret sauce. Search engine optimization is about analyzing your site’s visitors – not chasing Google and Bing.

Read the rest at Social Media Explorer…

Lessons Learned: Presenting at a Search Marketing Conference

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I never thought I’d be writing this type of blog post. However, in the hopes some of you can learn from my own experience, here’s a story of just how “the story” is more powerful than delivering all its other parts.

Presenting at a search engine marketing conference, like the SMX East 2012, had been a goal of mine since I got into the industry just under five years ago, but even though I felt like an expert in the field for what I was presenting, I never thought I could do it. Taking the stage and presenting in front of peers that likely knew more on the topic than I did? Yikes! Hell, I evenwrote a post about my journey and preparation (Caution: it’s a long one…).

Read the rest at Search Engine Journal…

Doing the Unthinkable: My First Marketing Presentation

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It takes preparation, hard work, and perseverance to turn a Prius into a Mustang

My first public speaking appearance ended in catastrophe. It was 2007, and I was leading a student organization at UW-Milwaukee while in school. Because I led the group, I was expected to introduce the speaker. Having had absolutely no experience speaking in front of a group, I clammed up, started sweating profusely, stuttered, and completely bombed the intro. The horrific experience left a mark on my confidence and in turn forced me to avoid any type of public speaking. This was especially difficult, as I led a couple of student organizations, and also was an active member of the UW-Milwaukee student government.

After the flop, there were many “sick days” from class when I was scheduled to present in small groups. I also tried to limit participation in large group settings, and refused to speak up in class and participate in discussion for fear of failing. In a way, the experience stunted my emotional, educational, and personal growth.

Confidence Building

Let’s fast forward to October of 2009. Having graduated from UW-Milwaukee the previous year, I was a little over a year into my professional career in marketing and advertising. I had just started my second gig at Johnson Direct, and was asked to come in and share some of my online marketing knowledge with what would be my first solo client, Milwaukee Tool. The client contact I worked with was understanding of my “junior” level status, and wasn’t critical in my delivery – in fact, she was supportive and complementary. It was at this time that I slowly started rebuilding confidence in myself and my ability to communicate effectively.

After a few meetings, I worked closely with my manager at the time to improve my communication skills. She believed that the best way to learn was by getting “deep in it”. With the head honcho’s blessing, she threw me into more and more client meetings and discoveries. This early period of confidence building allowed me to learn the basics and prepare me for the future.

The Learning Curve

In October of 2010 I joined Fullhouse Interactive (recently acquired by Laughlin Constable) as a search engine marketing strategist. In this role, I acted as the lone search engine marketer for clients from medium-sized business to Fortune 100’s. The way the organization was structured was typical agency-fashion: the creative and functional teams had a go-between with the client in the form of an account team. With this type of structure, it gave little room for improving client-facing skills, but luckily I worked on some big accounts with a rock star account girl that brought me into client meetings and presentations.

Having been in the search industry for two-plus years at this point, I had a decent grasp on what I was doing and how I was doing it. To be honest, I considered myself more senior-level in terms of search engine marketing. No amount of skill, however, could ever prepare me for a big presentation to 10 manager-level and above participants at a locally based Fortune 100 company. Having prepared the deck myself, I went into the meeting guns blazing and confident in my ability to present. A senior account director gave me some pointers beforehand and I felt I was adequately prepared.

Big. Mistake.

After going through the first few slides, the client asked questions about how the data was organized and picked out some of what I thought were just mundane errors. The client had a reputation for being detail-oriented, but a slight presence of over confidence on my end led me to rush through building the deck. When all was said and done, a one hour presentation last almost two. This was entirely due to questions from the client and their skepticism over the quality of my work. This experience helped me to anticipate an audience’s reaction before it even happens. This is something that’s huge when presenting to key clients, large groups, and the general public. Assume everyone knows nothing and they are clinging to everything you say as if it’s new to them.

You bet your ass that from that point forward, I checked, double-checked, and triple-checked my deliverables prior to sending to make sure that all of my I’s were dotted and T’s were crossed.

Knowledge, Content,  and Delivery (x3)

In May of 2011 I joined Zeon Solutions, where I currently work and love every minute of it. I work with literally the best search engine marketers that the Midwest has to offer and service a top tier list of clients. While extremely talented coworkers and truly amazing clients are enough to make one happy at their job, there is one thing that makes it better: the ability to learn from one of the most talented communicators I’ve met – Ross Monaghan – and train others on my team.

Having the opportunity to learn from the best has its perks, but it also has drawbacks. I’m not talking about drawbacks like “Oh, I’m learning from the best and they know it because they’re arrogant”, but more along the lines of thinking that I was good until I learned that I knew absolutely nothing. With a hit to your pride as the only drawback, the perks are endless. At first, I sat in on dozens of “Search Engine Marketing 101” slide decks, client meetings, webinars, public presentations, and pitches. I studied not only what he was saying but how he said it. One time, I even transcribed a pitch word-for-word in a Notepad file and said I was taking “notes”.

When I first began learning from Ross, I thought that the art of building your client base was entirely the ability to sell. But it isn’t. Not by a long-shot. It’s the ability to understand the business of the organization you’re trying to pitch. There were numerous times in the journey where we decided that we couldn’t help and turned down business. It wasn’t because we didn’t need the revenue, but it was because we didn’t believe we could help the client move the needle. Why take on an account if you can’t help?

Soon after I graduated from the “sitting in” phase, I found myself willing and able to co-present. The feedback I received from it was at first critical, but with positive feedback sprinkled in. After what seems like hundreds of meetings and pitches, I’ve taken the feedback I had received and ran with it. I’ve since become adept at running meetings, presenting to clients and new business pitches to the point where earlier this month, I was invited to speak at SMX East in New York City, one of the largest conferences in the industry. This would be a huge step for me personally, and take a lot of preparation, hard work, and perseverance.

Turning the “Prius into a Mustang”

The day I got the email with the invitation to speak, I remember we were actually having a team outing. We went bowling to celebrate some big wins and the growth of our team, and then followed it with dinner. We were on our first game and, as I usually do, I checked my email to see if there were any fires going wild while we were out having a good time. When I opened the email, I froze and had a mixed feeling of emotions – “oh my, I’ve been invited to speak with the big boys”.

The first thing I felt was excitement (and in turn, validation) that I’ve been working up to at this point has been on the up and up. Five seconds later, I thought “holy shit, how are you going to pull this off?” I immediately told Ross. Not because I wanted to brag about it, but because I knew that after I told him I was asked, he would push encourage me to do it. After I told him, I looked at the team and realized there was no backing out. I couldn’t. It was too big of an opportunity to bring more visibility to us as young professionals, as a team, and as an organization.

A few months prior, Zeon brought in a professional development and coaching consultant, Sharon Ellis, to help our sales team and program managers communicate more effectively with our clients. I spoke with some of the leadership at Zeon and they agreed to bring her back for some one on one coaching with me. Sharon came in two weeks before the big day on October 4th. Immediately upon greeting her, I said with a straight face, “Sharon, you have two weeks to turn this Prius into a Mustang. Starting… now.”

The insight and coaching I got from Sharon allowed me to better communicate the message I was trying to get across. After all, I was asked to present because I knew the subject matter. Her help with delivery was instrumental to the success of the presentation, and I’d recommend her to anyone interested in learning more about the art of public speaking.

The Big Show

Anthony Piwarun SMX PresentationOn October 4th, I took the stage at the Javits Center alongside two others and a moderator. The topic was “Maximizing Enterprise SEM”, and my presentation was titled “Breaking Down The Silos: Bringing Alignment to Cross Functional Marketing Teams. It was based on a couple of posts I wrote for Search News Central, and most recently, Search Engine Journal.

The first of the presenters, David Roth, has been in search engine marketing for over ten years, most recently as a Sr. Director at Yahoo! and currently at Move, Inc. as the VP of Performance and Social Marketing. The other presenter, Craig MacDonald, is the Senior Director of Advertising at Microsoft, and has been in the industry since 2000. Whew, a tough act to follow!

To properly set expectations, I approached both of them at the table and said “hey guys, just wanted to let you know that this is my first presentation. Be prepared to cut the mic!” They eased some of the nerves and wished me the best of luck. First up was David. He spoke a lot about staffing up a team and upper-level management issues. After his 18 minutes were up, the moderator introduced me and it was go time.

Much to my surprise, there were no nerves. I wasn’t sweating. I wasn’t shaking. And I definitely did not stutter. Without notecards, I went up and used my slides as visuals… a means to tell the story. Unlike a client meeting or pitch, where you have points that you need to touch on for it to be considered a success, I went up there with a sense of calm knowing that I knew this stuff. I used real world stories, examples, case studies, and suggestions to help make my point. I ended up going a little over 20 minutes. Two minutes over the allotted budget – oops!

In the end, the presentation was a huge success. I helped educate the audience on the pain point an agency feels when trying to integrate multi-channel marketing programs while conquering personal demons and accomplishing one of my career goals at the age of 27. The best part about it all was seeing people in the 150+ member audience take notes and snap pictures of my slides for reference. I couldn’t have been happier with the opportunity, or the outcome.

Final Thoughts

The Flop was one of the most sobering moments in my life. I had plans to go to law school and get into politics at an early age. How could I do that if I wasn’t an effective communicator? At that moment, it seemed that all of my hopes and dreams were shattered and I was lost in doubt over my future. Little did I know that each professional opportunity I moved on to, there was an amazing group of mentors and leaders there to not only support me – but guide me in the direction to where I am now.

Preparation, Hard work and perseverance were the keys to success in accomplishing what once seemed like one of my hardest goals to achieve. Now I can honestly look forward and say, when’s the next conference?

Download the presentation: http://www.slideshare.net/ZeonSolutions/breaking-downsilossmxeast2012notes