Speak Up! Andrea Johnson Community Representative aka “The Blood Lady” or “The Goddess of Bloodletting” “The Goddess of Bloodletting”

 The number one reason people do not donate blood?  The number one fear of all time? Is it needles? The scary part is the general public would rather donate blood than do what we do! Let’s have some FUN!

In order for recruiters to increase units, add drives or build relationships they need to Speak Up!  Analyze Your Audience!  Public Speaking!  E=MC!  WIFM!  Closing the Deal!

 Research, do your homework › Don’t be afraid to ask: What do you want/need/expect?  Know who they are  Treat it like a job interview – learn who they are and have appropriate follow-up questions for what you couldn’t find  Pre-plan! › What is the speaking situation? One-on-one, teaching situation, group presentation?

Get Ready for Audience interaction!  Andrea’s motto: A boring recruiter doesn’t get blood, but an enthusiastic one does!  Andrea’s philosophy: You don’t have to be a perfect speaker but you have to be genuine and passionate.

Broad Overview - no works cited – successful tidbits picked up along the way  Voice & Diction  Eye Contact  Movement  Props  Pet Peeves

Common Pet Peeves Let’s name a few first  Um’s/you know what I mean  Pacing  Talking too slow or fast  Arrogance, not connecting  Monotone  Standing behind podium  Not aware of mic/volume  Rambling  Jumping from subject to subject  Bad jokes Andrea’s Pet Peeves What drives me crazy !  PowerPoint dependency  Memorized presentations  Saying Thank You What are my faults? › Too much hands › Too many crazy facial expressions › Talk to too fast Lets analyze me – scary!

 Be aware of your faults – we all have them and always seek to improve  Accept feedback  Know your material frontwards and backwards  Have fun no matter what you are speaking about

No this is not math class Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo Speakers Committee - original idea I created to enhance speeches given to area schools and businesses. I have used the concept for years in blood banking.

Captivate – Engage – Motivate  Captivate › Kick your speech off in high gear › Keep them begging for more  Engage › Don’t let them fall asleep in your speech › Keep them focused on what you want  Motivate › Close the deal › It’s about what you want, in a way they understand

 What’s In It For Me……… I mean the audience?  What do you mean this is a sales job?  We all have motivators or “hot buttons”  You did the research, know how to weave it in

 What are some common blood donor/CP motivators? › Prizes: t-shirts, gallon mugs, other gifts › Helping someone/community › Helping personal family member/friend › PR – my company saves so many lives… › Being # 1 at blood bank

 What are some common blood donor/CP de-motivators? › Not good enough prizes › Competition between blood banks › No directed donations/credits › Recruiter turn-over/customer service › Bad sticks › Bad drives –incompatible crews

 Learn their “hot button” and work with it  The biggest recruiter mistake of all time: Don’t focus on selling other features they could care less about just because you or manager like it more

 Be yourself – we don’t sell used cars…. though I guess it is used blood  Build relationships › Any managers in the house?  I don’t care what they say: people do business with people - not business: CP’s do business with recruiters not blood banks  I have seen drives stay with our blood bank but do worse when they are forced to change recruiters and they don’t build relationships  Don’t be afraid to ask what you want

 Leave with a punch › Referred to as a kicker in journalism  Make sure they can’t live without you  Get some sort of commitment › It could be exactly what you want or a simple follow up call › But also be savvy enough to know you may not get it in the extreme case, especially if you were not as prepared as you should have been

Let me practice what I preach! What questions have I not answered?

Andrea S. Johnson The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Blood Bank