investments – IR-connect

June 24, 2020March 19, 2023

Sneaky ways to boost your public speaking skills

Clients often come to me looking to work on their investor messaging. That can be written or verbal. Public speaking has always been a mix of voice and body language. With the current reliance on Zoom style meetings, I reckon the verbal aspects are currently more important – I mean, isn’t everyone wearing shorts with their work shirts since you can’t be seen? Luckily, there are so many ways you can practice, and since we’re at home, nobody will ever know.

The elevator pitch

The “elevator pitch” is the 30 second spiel you have ready for when someone asks “so what do you do,” or “why should I invest,” or whatever the burning question is. The theory is, you only have 30 seconds to grab their attention before the lift arrives at their floor, or in real life, before their mind wanders. No matter how strong the story is, you have to have a catchy soundbite. There are three steps to nailing this

1. Write it down, as it would be spoken

This is an absolute must. In speech, we tend to use very short sentences – say 8 words. Force yourself to write in a way that sounds natural.

2. Record yourself reading it

Any voice recording app will work here. Now listen back. Is it clear? Does it sound clunky?

3. Test on an audience

If you can, try to persuade a non-specialist to listen to it, ie someone who will call you out for any technical/ complex stuff that might have snuck in. Family members give better feedback than the dog (although the dog will probably feign interest more convincingly).

Bigger events

1. Practice

When I work with CEOs, we always do a practice auditorium speech in front of a room of advisors and colleagues. That’s not feasible for everyone, but we can generate a fake audience. It’s definitely worth checking out the VirtualSpeech app – you’re going to need a VR headset, but it’s so worth it. If you’re a bit of a geeky perfectionist like me, the analysis is going to blow your mind.

2. Get a good night’s sleep

Even if nobody can see your wobbly legs and there are no handshakes to give away your sweaty palms, a spot of meditation will calm those nerves. There are loads of meditation and guided sleep apps, and it’s such a personal matter, that you’ll just have to browse the App Store yourself, but they’ve come a long way from the whale music. Bedtime stories, hypnotherapy sessions ….

3. Teleprompter like a pro!

This was a recent revelation to me. Before you get too excited, I’m going to stress that I never recommend reading a verbatim script, but if you insist, make sure you write if for speech (check those sentence lengths). Or use it for speaker notes instead of index cards. There are apps which will give you prompts on your phone. Currently, PromptSmart seems the most established, but there are new ones being released. One final plea if you’re going to use these, watch where your eyes are on the camera!

4. Uhm blaster

OK, this is fun! How often do you think you use “like” or “uhh” … There are game-style apps that will call you out on these. Try the LikeSo app – let me know how addicted you get! It’s like CandyCrush.

I hope that helps, but if you’d like to work with me on your investor presentations, do get in touch.

November 22, 2019November 4, 2019

Five books that should be compulsory reading for IROs

Last week I gave some non-technical book recommendations (a surprising number of which are also movies). This time, I’ve got some technical books to suggest which I reckon should be compulsory reading if you’re working in (or with) investor relations. Sorry – no movie options this time!

1. The Activist Director by Ira Millstein

This is a very detailed book written from a wealth of experience. The author is a corporate lawyer so it’s as dry as you might fear, but persevere! The governance points are spot on.

2. The PR Masterclass by Alex Singleton

Written by a former journalist who is now a communications and PR trainer and consultant, this is a clear, common-sense guide. Whilst the Activist Director is (admittedly) a dry read, this is easy, and will help any IR professional understand what their PR colleagues are working on.

3. The Financial Times Guide to Investing:The Definitive Companion to Investment and the Financial Markets

Despite the ridiculously long title (presumably to catch every single keyword in the Amazon algorithm), this book stands the test of time and is still probably the most comprehensive book on investing.

4. The Financial Times Guide to Using the Financial Pages

I don’t understand why this book isn’t higher ranked. Probably because it fails to cram 27 keywords into the title. Anyway, I think it’s brilliant and my own copy is well-read.

5. Best practices for equity research analysts by James Valentine

Written by a top ranked equity analyst who worked in most of the big houses on Wall Street. Unlike the Wall Street characters whose heady lifestyles have been made into the book and movies I spotlighted last week, this is the grafter taking pride in the rigorous of analysis done at their desk. Valuations, price targets and recommendations. It’s less headline grabbing for sure, but essential reading.

These will take a lot longer to read that the ones I included last week, but they are reference books that will be referred to over and over again during any career in financial markets.

Happy reading!

November 5, 2019November 1, 2019

Five investing fears to throw out the window

Many people are, understandably, cautious about investing in the stock market. I’ve invited Elizabeth Pearson from Simple Successful Stocks who runs a variety of financial education courses for people interested in taking their first steps as equity investors to join me today to chat about common fears so over to her

It is easy to think that investing in the stock market is not for us. Here are the most common fears and why they are simply not true.

1. ‘You need pots of cash to start’

You can start investing with as little as £25 a month.

2. ‘You need piles of time to do it’

It takes a few hours to open a stocks and shares Independent Savings Account (ISA) or Self Invested Pension Plan (SIPP) with an online broker. You can then pay in a lump sum and/or a regular payment into a low cost, low-risk index tracker. You then leave it alone to grow and get on with your life!

3. ‘You need to work in the city, have a financial background or degree – it is only for people who already know’

The financial sector is full of incomprehensible jargon and pictures of men in suits. It is to their advantage that you think that investing is not something for the ordinary woman or man. Gone are the days where investing required calling a stockbroker in the city to make an investment on your behalf for a hefty fee. The internet has made investing available to everyone, to do at a time that works for you. Online brokers (like banks for investing) are really helpful and if you get stuck you can always call them. I made my first investment in my lunch hour at work. It is fun to be a secret stock market investor on the side!

4. ‘You have to be good with numbers’

Many people think they are not ‘good with numbers’ and therefore cannot invest. Sometimes we believe we cannot do something when the reality is not a reality. We may have had a bad experience at school or somebody made a comment which we then take on to be how things are. To invest you only need to understand some basic concepts (see compounding above) and you’re away! With a little bit of patience, you may see it is something you can learn, might actually like it and see you are much more than you thought you were.

5. ‘Investing is risky and you will lose everything’

The golden rule of investing is only invest what you can afford to lose. Being financially responsible and taking care of yourself means setting aside £1000 for expected unexpected events (e.g. your dishwasher breaking down). Then you need to have between 3-9 months of your basic living costs as a cash safety net. This is a reserve which you can draw on should you perhaps lose your job, or for some reason cannot work. This money is somewhere you can access it readily when you need it. Then you can start investing and getting money to grow, secure that you have money to protect you.

Disclaimer: Simple Successful Stocks are not financial advisors and the content of this article is for financial education only. Please read our full disclaimer below.

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