Want to know three critical skills that could significantly differentiate you from the rest of the competition? This presentation was given to students at California University, San Marcos, CA in April 2013.

1. Undergrad Lecture:
Three Essential Skills to
Thrive in the New Economy
Paul Barsch
Marketing Director

2. “How are you…faster, better,
or cheaper than other people
who want to do what you’re
doing in the world?
What are you offering that’s
hard to come by? What are
you offering that’s both rare
and valuable?”
Let’s Start with Questions
LinkedIn Founder
Reid Hoffman

3. Conceptual Framework
Table Stakes
• Areas in which you
have parity with others
Difference
• Areas in which you
are unique or
different than
competitors
• Not necessarily
something a buyer
wants, but hopefully
so
Preference
• Proof points where you
are different on things
that matter to your end
customer
• 1-2 items in most
cases

4. Conceptual Framework
Table Stakes
• Areas in which you
have parity with others
Difference
• Areas in which you
are unique or
different than
competitors
• Not necessarily
something a buyer
wants, but hopefully
so
Preference
• Proof points where you
are different on things
that matter to your end
customer
• Unique package of
skills, abilities,
experiences few others
have
• 1-2 items in most
cases

5. • The Fear Factor
• Why Public Speaking?
– Requirement
– Advance your career,
cause, or business
– Stand-out in the crowd
– Get to the point –
succinctly
– Everyday is full of
speaking opportunities
Speaking

6. Writing
• Business Writing is
different than novels
– You want to cut to the
chase, be crisp in your key
message and then follow
with details.
• Practice
– Shorter emails
– Shorter blog posts
– Shorter trip reports
• Your writing skills can be
your personal showcase
The Pyramid Principle by
Barbara Minto
Graphic courtesy of “Tender Success” website

7. Listening to Understand
• Our multi-tasking world
• How do I know you’re
listening?
• Conflict Resolution*
– Close your mouth, open
your ears!
– “I hear you”
– “I understand you”
– “You make perfect
sense to me”
*Courtesy of Harville Hendricks, PhD

8. • Speaking
– Use a “laboratory” for making “non real world” mistakes
• Writing
– The Logic of Writing, Barbara Minto, The Pyramid Principle
• Structure for: governing thought or main point, followed by question,
then supporting answers
• Listening
– Brain is sequential processor. You’re not multi-tasking, you’re
just switching tasks. (Brain Rules, John Medina)
– Ten minute rule. Discussion points should be easily digestible
chunks.
Recommendations

9. About the Presenter
• Fortune 500 marketer Paul Barsch
directs professional services marketing
for Teradata, a $2.4B company and
the world’s leading analytic data
solutions company focused on
integrated data warehousing, big data
analytics, and business applications.
• At Teradata, Paul is responsible for
driving marketing support of IT service
delivery models including outsourcing,
hosting, managed services and cloud.