Three Presentation Tricks & One Special Treat

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‘Tis the witching hour. Here are three sales demo/presentation Tricks to try at your next meeting and one really special Treat good only until Sunday 11/2 midnight.

That Old Black Magic…

Imagine you are going through your presentation and your client becomes particularly interested in a point you have just made. In fact, others at the table clearly also want to talk more about that topic. That response, of course is wonderful, but there is one problem: how do you gracefully shift the focus of attention from the PPT screen to the people at the table?

(Drum roll)

Hit the “B” or “W” letter key. When you hit the former, your screen will go to all black. When you hit the latter, the same magic will turn the screen to all white. Voila! Attention is now where you want it to be.

(When you are ready to resume the physical presentation, hit any key and your original image will appear.)

Sit, Casper, Sit

Similar to the above. When a good conversation develops during your presentation and you want it to continue, and you have been standing, casually sit down with the group. For example, you have asked the group how they see themselves using your product or service. The VP of Marketing says he would use it one way. The VP Sales jumps in and says she thinks a better way of using it would be to do X. And the VP Business Ops sees yet a third way to use your service.

At this point, resist the urge to sell. If you start selling, you will be making a huge mistake. A better strategy is to sit down and be quiet.

Let them talk. Let them argue. Let them ask you questions. Respond to the questions, even ask a few yourself, but, overall, let them sell themselves on the value of your service and the best way to implement it. Remember, when you say something, you own it, but when a client says something, he owns it and client ownership is what you want.

When you feel the conversation on that point concluding, slowly stand up, re-cap what you heard, get agreement on your re-cap, and/or use what you heard to move on to the next point in your presentation or to next steps.

Avoid the Poison Pointed Finger

You are passionate about your solution and its elegant features, functions, and benefits. You point these out with enthusiasm. In fact, you point these out with a pointed finger. If you are not careful, you will point yourself right out of a sale!

Pointed fingers are hostile. Pointed fingers represent every authority figure in your client’s life who said, “Don’t do that!” Pointed fingers put people on the defensive. D-o-n-’t point.

Keep your passion, but replace that pointed finger with an open hand. You can use an open hand for emphasis on any topic and it will come across as friendly, inclusive, and trusting. Watch the Pope the next time he is in the news. When he reaches out to people,he does so with open hands,not pointed fingers.

Now for the Treat!

If you contact me by midnight Friday evening, October 31, I will be happy to set aside some time in the near future and“treat” you to a fifteen minute review of any presentation you have and answer any delivery, content, visuals, or messaging questions you have about that presentation. This offer is worth hundreds of dollars as a consulting fee, but is yours for free, so long as you email me by the 11/2 midnight deadline. amiller@annemiller.com

Happy Halloween – Don’t let the goblins get you!

Anne Miller

Words Matter – Make What You Say Pay!

NEW! While I am on the subject of Tricks & Treats to help you grow your business, I am excited to share with you my newest venture: The Simple Sales Presentation Plan. All my 25+ years of proven secrets, strategies, tips, templates & techniques to win big business is available for the first time —ONLINE— everything you need to create compelling messages that sell, influence & persuade.