The Bow Tie Guy on my TV
Andrew Klein, professional MC and presentation skills speaker and director of SPIKE Presentations, presents his front line observations on conferences in a regular feature in BEN.
AS A Presentation and Pitching Skills trainer, one of my messages is try and be a little different. Not ‘gimmicky’ different, just do the little things differently to your competitors so your presentation stands out.
This message was brought home to me this week as I travelled to Auckland for a speaking gig and stayed in a cute hotel in the waterfront area - the M Social... now my favourite hotel in Auckland. Here’s why...
As a person who works in the conference industry, I stay in a lot of hotels. Over time you start to notice that some hotels simply do things better than others.
Generally, most hotel rooms are very similar - bed, shower, large TV screen, way too many pillows, light switches you can’t find and air-con units that you need a Mechanical Engineering degree to operate.
Most hotel rooms are fairly inter-changeable. So as a business traveller, I do notice when things are different.
Until my stay at the M Social, one thing I had never really paid any attention to is the message on the TV screen when you enter your room. You know the one I am referring to? The usually generic screen with the hotel logo or a photo of the pool lit up at night, that says “Welcome Mr Klein. We Hope you Enjoy Your Stay” (or words to that effect). I’ve never paid much attention to it and I usually grab the TV remote and flick on the tele.
But the one at the M Social caught my eye, because it was a little different, it had personality, fun and no hotel branding. It featured a colourful, arty picture of a guy in a bow tie with quirky font and it said more or less the same as any TV welcome screen message, but with less formulaic wording.
“Welcome Andrew Klein. It must be fate that brought you here and we are very glad to have you. Kick back, have a great stay”. Same message, just presented a little differently. I’m guessing most hotels have given little or no thought to their TV welcome screens in years. But this hotel has and well done to them for that.
The TV welcome was typical of the colourful, quirky way the hotel has been renovated. Scrabble tiles for signage. Brightly coloured murals on the walls. Reception staff dressed professionally but casually, and slightly more modern furnishings than at most hotels. Plus the staff were incredibly friendly.
Whether it is a hotel TV welcome screen note or the way you present, it is the little touches of difference, of personality, of authenticity, of creativity that will be remembered and appreciated and that can make a big difference.