Sales Presentations Training

We’ve had several questions about what our presentation skills training services cover. We wanted to emphasize some of our more popular services. Executive speech coaching continues to gain popularity for executives giving public presentations and honing their media skills. Executive presentation skills training is normally done in a one on one setting. The training can be done at your location or ours. We also offer group presentations training for those giving presentations to executive committees or seeking advanced presentation skills training.

Whether your intent is to overcome a fear of public speaking or to sharpen your communication and negotiation skills please feel free to contact us with any of your presentation challenges.

Steve Mertz
Technorati Tags: Presentation Skills Training, Executive Speech Coaching, Media Relations Training

Patricia Fripp has some excellent presentation tips in this months news letter. She discusses converting a Seminar to a Keynote. Regardless if you are looking to do this-you will find some excellent tips to increase your sales presentations. You can read How Can You Convert a Seminar to a Keynote here. Enjoy!

Steve Mertz

I Have Good Mentors!

Technorati Tags: Presentations, Coaching, Public Speaking, Patricia Fripp

I’ve previoulsy posted about Guy Kawasaki. Many people consider him to be a world class speaker. I’ve followed Guy’s career for years and as an entrprneur found him to be very inspiring.

I’m going to point you to a video of Guy speaking, it is 39 minutes long and will post my critique on Saturday. Some of the points you may want to consider are the following:

1. Does he have a killer opening?
2. Does he stay on subject matter?
3. Is he passionate about his topic?
4. Does he involve the audience?
5. Does he use memorable stories to reinforce main points?
6. Does he say anything that a meeting planner/audience might find offensive?
7. Does he speak for himself or for the benefit of the audience?
8. Does he respect the alloted time?
9. Does he use humor effectively?
10. Does his PowePoint enhance his speech?
11. Would you give him a standing ovation?

Here is the link to The Art of The Start Video.

I would be curious to hear your thoughts or comments…so don’t be shy

Steve Mertz
Have a Fabulous Weekend!

Tags: Sales Presentation Training, Presentation Coaching, Guy Kawasaki, Public Speaking.

For all of those of you who have wondered if there really was a Christie Ward, Sales Presentation Trainer extraordinaire-Please enjoy the following:

For the third year in a row, I was training business presentation skills to the new hires at Johnson & Johnson last week. One of my graduates from the program the year before stopped in to tell me about an experience she had shortly after being part of the group last year. Kelly said that a few days after the class, she was asked to give a presentation. Fresh from the class, she prepared a captivating opening, a solid close, created opportunities for interaction and used minimal PowerPoint. After watching a A PowerPoint parade of other presentations prior to hers that put you to sleep, she stepped up and delivered her well prepared talk. It was short, but it captured the attention of the senior executives in the room and literally catapulted her career. She has been seen as a rising star ever since. This bright young woman was in a room full of people many years her senior in age and experience, yet she was able to steal the show with her freshly minted presentation skills. She couldn’t thank me enough!

The next time you question the value of a presentation coach, think again. What is it costing you to NOT get a coach? How are your presentations perceived? Do you stand out as a rising star or sound like an old falling star that just needs to sit down and be quiet!

There are elements that make a talk successful. You probably even know what they are. You certainly know when someone Doesn’t deliver them! Next time you prepare to stand up in front of people who can impact your career, think about consulting a coach ahead of time. We can help! Just talk to anyone who took the time to work with us first.

Christie Ward
The Impact Institute

Tags: Sales Presentation Training, Presentation Coaching, Presentation Training, Denver Sales Training.

Patricia Fripp brought down the house at our Saturday meeting of the National Speakers Association-Colorado. She was the keynote speaker and then conducted an additional three hour coaching program in the afternoon! I had the pleasure of attending the session as well as taking her to the airport Sunday morning. She and I share a common passion of helping business speakers shine on the platform.

Here are some key points she shared with us:
1. When giving a speech make your experiences “universal”. For example, most audience members can relate to a carefree childhood.
2. Work on your material first then worry about a video of your presentation. You can get away with a less than perfect presentation if you have great material.
3. Great presentations are memorable and repeatable. Give them a phrase or memorable story that they can take away. For example, I’ve had people not remember me but they have said: “I remember your Starbucks Quiz.”
4. Paint word pictures-it’s a form of verbal short hand. For example, if I say Hawaii, your mind draws a picture of sand, ocean, palm trees-it doesn’t spell out H-a-w-a-i-i.
5. See your speech as an interesting movie-Would you go watch your speech?
6. Specificity builds credibility!

Steve Mertz
Coaching Great Sales Presentations!

The opening in a sales presentation must be “your best song”-Don’t waffle on the opening. Waffle is defined as To speak or write evasively.
Imagine if you and your significant other were going to a special concert, for the sake of argument, let’s say you had those $500 a ticket front row seat for the Rolling Stones. How would you feel if Mick comes out and the first song the band does is something you have never heard-something off their new album. You are disappointed and frustrated-you were looking for Brown Sugar or Street Fightin Man. 

Your audience feels the same way when you start your sales presentation with a weak, waffling opening. Condense your sales presentation down to a single sentence and then be sure that you start off with that point. Use a forceful and engaging opening to build on your presentation!

Steve Mertz
Play Your Best Song

I have added another link to a great blog written by Bert Decker called Create Your Communications Experience. Bert has a great post today titled The Power of the Pause. which I’m sure you will find useful in your sales presentations. As a matter of fact, I think it is one of the most powerful techniques and encourage clients to practice this technique. This is one of the most powerful techniques for drawing your audinces in to your presentation. Try it-you will be amazed by its power! 

I would be remiss if I did not mention Lou Heckler, a fellow member of National Speakers Association. Lou is an excellent coach and has provided me invaluable tips on the technique of “The Pause” in presentations.

Finally, I am going to give you another great resource to see this technique in action. But before I do…Let me give you this warning: Don’t review this in a public workspace!! Someone will be offended by the politics, language and/or religious aspects. Go on over to and watch a short video clip of Steven Colbert at Comedy Central. I might suggest the clip of him interviewing Governor Mike Huckabee. Keep in mind that this guy lives in front of the camera but you will see that he is a master at using The Pause in his presentations. I should also mention that he is quite good in using his hands in his presentation. Usually, moving your hands around in a presentation can be quite distracting to your audience. But, if used correctly, it can be a very powerful addition to your sales presentation.

Remember, before you go see Steven Colbert, do so without offending others and check your politics, etc at the door, and one more thing…Enjoy and Learn!

PS I hope that Bert and Lou won’t be offended by being mentioned in the same breath with Steven Colbert.

Steve Mertz
A Fan of The Pause!

In my recent post of Your Opening Says Everything I mentioned the value of being inclusive with your audience. In other posts I have written about the value of
Drawing Your Audience In. You may be thinking Why or saying Mertz, I hate your opening, it’s lame! Here’s the reason-Studies have shown that your audience or committee, forget 90% of your talk after two days! Ouch-You can hardly believe that you paid me $6,500 a day to coach your executive team on that huge contract and the committee won’t remember 90% of it after two days.

What they will remember is significant interaction they had with you. Audiences today want an experience and not an event. That’s why it’s so critical to do your homework before your major sales presentation. For example, if you have found out that a committee member is very sensitive to cost over runs-use it to your advantage. For example: “Joe, in our conversation you mentioned that your last project was over budget by five million dollars. Here are the practices we have in place to ensure you will not have a repeat experience.” Chances are pretty good that Joe will be impressed by your listening skills and your solution to his problem.

And one more thing-You may recall I recounted a very lame sales presentation that a friend of mine attended, called Is This Your Sales Presentation? Had the financial advisors gone to each member of the front row and introduced themselves they would have had a more inclusive and productive sales presentation.

Next time you are presenting try it-Introduce yourself to the front row, one by one, remember a few names and mention them in your presentation-It is Magic!!

Steve Mertz
Significant Audience Interaction Planner!

Tags: Sales Presentation Opening, Interactions, Engaging Audiences, Opening Techniques.

Your opening for your sales presentation says everything. Specifically, will you include your audience or perhaps alienate them? I do a lot of work in the financial industry so we will pick on them for this example. Consider these two openings:

Thank you for coming this evening. My name is Steve Mertz and I’m a Vice President of investments with Merrill Lynch.I’ve been with Merrill Lynch for fifteen years and as you know Merrill is the largest financial firm in the United States. This evening we are pleased to have Louie Navellier with us to speak on managed accounts and the benefits they can bring to your portfolio. Let me tell you a little about Louie… We have all heard a variation of this opening haven’t we?
Next, let’s look at this opening which I have used when speaking about money talk.

Good evening, on the way over here I passed two of those stores that sell that expensive coffee-their name is escaping me, help me. Yes, thank you it is Starbucks. How much do you think the average American spends a year at Starbucks? Turn to the person on your right and come up with a figure. Ok, what are some figures you came up with? The average American is said to spend between $1,500 and $1,800 a year at Starbucks! Now do this, visualize your portfolio and ask yourself if it generates enough in interest and dividends to pay for your Starbucks outing. This evening we will demonstrate proven strategies for generating not only Starbucks money but also your other retirement needs.

I’ve immediately engaged the audience and more importantly, I’ve given them permission to participate in this event. I’ve also built community and made people feel at ease with the person they are sitting next to whom they may have just met! I did not waste valuable time introducing myself and my firm because on my handout I’ve included that information in the bibliography.

If my opening speaks to you please feel free to steal it or tweak it to your liking. I’m confident that if you engage your audiences immediately your sales presentations will be more effective! What are your favorite opening techniques? Please share your ideas.

Steve Mertz
Openings Are Everything!

Tags: Sales Presentation Opening, Starbucks, Engaging Audiences, Opening Techniques.

Debbie Weil was one of my first exposures to corporate blogging. She was recently blogging about how your personal appearance can be so much a part of your schtick if you’re a speaker or presenter-Now you know the real reason I wear those crutches! She includes a very funny video for your viewing enjoyment to this point.

She also mentions that she is currently working with a tremendous speaking coach, to take her speaking skills to the next level. She comments: “It’s humbling, a little painful…and fascinating (in a weird way) to watch yourself on video and realize how many ways you can improve your delivery.”

That’s why I encourage you to tape your sales presentation before you give the real deal in front of that important client! Lastly, let me make an important point-you have to actually watch your video and be willing to work on improving your skills!

Steve Mertz
I Couldn’t Resist!

Tags: Debbie Weil, Personal Appearance, Video, Sales Presentations.