At the thinkbank, our interns don’t fetch dry cleaning or coffee (though they may make a late afternoon beer run now and then). From day one, they do many of the same things the rest of us do. Which is why, on Wednesday, November 12, our account services interns, Nick and Lindsay, and our PR intern, Erica, were given the task of presenting three different marketing plans plans they also played a key role in developing to several decision makers from our client, Fulton Bank, including Marketing Director Jay DiRico.

When we told them a month before that they’d be pitching the ideas, they thought we were joking. We weren’t. The following are their accounts of the experience.

LINDSAY

To be honest, I thought everyone would forget about Paul’s idea that the interns should present our Fulton Bank ideas to the client. But when we were told that we really would be presenting, I almost broke down.

Our practice presentations two days before were brutal. At least I thought so. Sweaty palms, stuttering, anxiety and fear, a ton of um’s and so’s, Erica’s giggling, Uh, I totally lost my train of thought, and, I’ll be the first to admit, some tears.

I must thank everyone involved in this first run-through because it truly prepared me for the worst. After we received some feedback, Nick, Erica and I practiced running through our slides probably a dozen times with Hollywood snoring and slobbering on our new couch. Changing slides, reorganizing slides, adding pictures, adding video clips.

I stayed until after dark and came to work the next day early. I suppose this is agency life.

The day before the presentation was a lot of nervous energy for me. After getting all of the kinks out of my presentation and not getting home until after six, I practiced some more. Did I over-prepare? No, my mom was actually a huge help as I pretended she was our client’s marketing director.

I went to bed early and woke up early to get ready for the big day. I suppose this is agency life.

We all gathered on Wednesday morning, and waited patiently. Who am I kidding? I wasn’t patient, I wanted to get this over with! Everyone was wishing us luck. Some were sincere. Others tried to scare us. I won’t mention names but someone told us that the executives were in horrible moods. I heard another story about CEOs flying in to watch our presentations from out of state. Someone else told me that this is our biggest client, so you’d better not screw anything up! A bit of intern hazing at its finest.

After pitching to the client, I felt nervous, confident and honored all at the same time. But right now, I feel proud of myself and the other interns. We certainly impressed the hell out of the client!

I suppose this is agency life.

ERICA

I told my mom last week that I was freaking out about this pitch coming up. Interaction with a client already! my intern status felt like a tag of ultimate insecurity. She came home a few days later with a video called Overcoming Anxiety and Your Fear. I laughed at the 80s self-help film in VHS form and decided to mentally prepare on my own for now. I wasn’t crazy yet, just anticipating.

They say practice makes perfect, so I tried to practice.

Two days before the presentation, Paul’s main advice was for me to have more fun. He didn’t think I seemed nervous, which was a plus (because I was!) and I decided that having fun shouldn’t be so hard.

Wednesday finally came, and after watching the Fulton members slowly trickle in and shrugging off co-workers attempts to scare the shit out of me, I was more than ready.

A couple head nods on the intro and I hit the ground running. My note cards are instantly forgotten, and the rush of presenting is upon me. I heard the client mention his nieces during Lindsay’s presentation (oh, the perks of going second!) and made a mental note of it.

Maybe your nieces watch this show

Bam.

I also took Paul’s advice and read the news that morning, reading about the decline of retail jobs, especially this Christmas, and relating it to Gen Y and their job search. A nod from Paul.

Bam.

With some smart improv and the moral support of the other interns and co-workers, I think we all made a lasting impression on the folks at Fulton. As a group, we overcame our fear and anxiety, or at least funneled our nervous energy into a small win for Pavone.

And I still might watch that video my mom brought home.

NICK

In the build-up to the Fulton intern presentations, I was a beacon of confidence. I’m just kidding. I was nervous, just like everyone else was, given the importance of the situation. However, to me, the nervousness really only made me more excited for the opportunity.

I will admit that hearing how cool the Fulton executives were made it that much easier to feel relaxed as the meeting approached. Having a down-to-earth audience is the best thing you can ask for.

I prepared accordingly with my PowerPoint slides and talking points, but honestly, the key to successful public speaking for me is to not overprepare. I am not a note follower or reader; I strive to make the presentation conversational. In my opinion, it makes me more engaging and brings to life the topic I am talking about to the client. This works especially well in pitches.

The following is an inner-monologue of my thoughts during the presentation:

11:30am  Just met the clients. They seem nice and open to hearing our presentations. This should make it a lot smoother.

11:45am Ok, Lindsay just started, the presentations are off and running. I feel kind of weird just sitting behind her like this while she talks. Man, I wish I had some of that food. I only had a bowl of Cinnamon Life cereal before I left the apartment today. What kind of dressing is in that sandwich? Caesar? Oh yea, make sure I touch on the ArchImages.

12:05pm He’s grilling Lindsay on questions about Fulton and her opinions. It is pretty funny because I think h’s getting a kick out of putting her on the spot. She handles it well though. He just gave me a preview of questions to prepare for haha (villainous laugh).

12:10pm Erica is off and rolling. She seems much more engaging this time around. Hats off to you. Man, waiting is agonizing. As much as I am interested in what the other two interns are saying, I just want to get up there and start talking. He grills Erica the same way he did with Lindsay.

12:30pm It’s my turn finally! Why is everyone leaving the room? Am I that ugly? No, they were just grabbing a drink. I knew that. I knew that. My presentation starts with some small talk. After a couple minutes go by, I decide to grab hold of this meeting, Alright well I’m going to start if everyone is OK with that. Comes off a little abrasive I think, but Jay is a real nice guy. He laughs about it. The presentation feels smooth. I feel confident and the clients seem to be engaged.

I decide to break the mold a little bit and get Jay involved in my speech. Picture this. Alright Jay, I’m going to use you as a dummy. Did I really just call the Fulton marketing director a dummy!? Everyone is laughing with me I hope. After it’s over, he seems impressed and asks if we can set something up for all the interns to give their presentations to the president of Fulton Bank. Wow. We must have made some impression. I’ll have to make sure I leave the dummy reference out of the next presentation.