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Someone wrote me an email and asked why we chose to give away an Apple video iPod as a gift. There actually is a good reason-one that I took from baseball! Several teams are now downloading a pitchers best performance or a hitters great game and having the players review them on their iPod’s. I think this is a great idea and one that we want to encourage presenters to use.

We believe in reinforcing what is working well in your sales presentations and being able to see and hear your best performances is a great way to ensure continued success-wouldn’t you agree? Consider this: Alex Rodriguez is the third baseman for the New York Yankees. Last year he was voted the most valuable player in baseball. This year he is struggling and for the last week or so is going 2 for 20 with 14 strikeouts! He is in a major slump and is really beating himself up mentally. What is his solution for trying to break out of this slump? He watched one of his worst performance for hours. In this game he struck out 4 times and committed an error! I would offer this up as proof that when you want to take your presentation skills to the next level watch your best performance, not one that you will mentally beat yourself up.

Steve Mertz

Reinforce Your Great Public Presentations!

Technorati Tags: Sales Presentations Training, Public Speaking, Apple iPod, New york Yankees, Alex Rodriguez

Sales Presentations Training is now available on a monthly subscription basis. This service includes an initial individual consultation for thirty minutes over the phone. We can help you tune up your presentation, work on your opening , help you develop memorable stories or work on a fabulous close. The monthly service also includes a monthly group sales call where we will cover a specif topic and have time for questions.

This service is a great addition to our one on one coaching-especially for those who need a tune up in between coaching sessions. This service will be most beneficial to the experienced presenter looking to take a presentation to the next level.

We have two options available for you. You can pay on a monthly basis for a cost of $97 per month or you can pay up-front for the twelve month program for a cost of $970.00 We have a secured transaction site for your telephone coaching membership and accept Visa, Master Card and PayPal. We are also offering a special incentive for the first 100 subscribers. You will be entered in our drawing to win a new Apple Video Ipod! All you have to do is to be one of the first 100 subscribers to win. Once that occurs we will pull a name and award you the iPod-Good Luck!

We will also be offering telephone coaching on an individual basis over the phone. The hourly rate is $300.00 and this would be appropriate for beginners as well as polished presenters. The sign up for that will be available this week. For now, click here if you would like to subscribe for our monthly coaching program. Operators are standing by…Call Now!!

Steve Mertz

Welcome to Telephone Coaching

Technorati Tags: Sales Training, Presentation Skills, Public Speaking, Telephone Coaching, Apple iPod

On Wednesday of this week the University of Colorado Medical school got a $6 million dollar gift from the Gates Family Fund. It was a huge media event and quite a coup for the medical school. I saw a clip on the evening news of the chairman of the department of neurology explaining how this gift would catapult CU to be a force in stem cell research. There was just one problem…He had his back to the audience and to the cameras.

He was reading a PowerPoint slide that looked to be about 12 point type and the slide was loaded with information! Let’s consider a few points about his public presentation.

1. Never turn your back to the audience

2. Do not read slides to your audience-they will start reading ahead of you and besides that I’m pretty damn sure that the audience there was very capable of reading all by themselves.

3. Let’s just assume for the moment that the average age of the audience was 50-distinguished physicians, administrators and some other potential large donors. Take 50 and divide it by two and his PowerPoint type should be 25 point!! Make

it easy for all those distinguished folks to read your slides that hopefully are enhancing and clarifying your presentation.

Last point, at this media event Dr. David Norris was no longer the chairman of the department of neurology-he was the chief evangelist and fund raiser for the University of Colorado Medical school. I saw him acknowledge and graciously thank the Gates family but I did not hear him lay down a challenge for other “Daddy and Mommy War bucks” to meet or beat the gift. What a great opportunity to issue a call to action!

Steve Mertz

Call to Action Friday!

Technorati Tags: Public Speaking, PowerPoint, Presentation Tips, Executive Speech Coaching

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I was recently speaking with a mutual fund wholesaler who asked for advice. First, a definition, a mutual fund wholesaler is responsible for convincing brokers, financial planners, etc…to sell their mutual funds to clients. Typically, the wholesalers offer to buy lunch to advisors and make the case for their funds-wholesalers have a ton of competition, just like in your businesses!

His comment was this: It’s extremely hard to get people to come to a free lunch and watch a PowerPoint presentation. The same can be said for advisors trying to sell to clients! Your business may not be a mutual fund wholesaler but we can all face the same problems. Here are the suggestions I offered the wholesaler:

1. Quit offering free lunches-make it more exclusive.

2. Work with advisors who already believe in his product.

3. Forget the PowerPoint canned presentations and offer more Presentation coaching tips to producers.

4. These coaching tips could be success stories, critiquing their public sales presentations, helping make hand outs more informative and persuasive.

5. Offering input on how advisors can put together a great feedback sheet from their audiences. Audiences will tell you what they did and did not like about your sales presentations-you have to know how to ask for their input.

6. When the wholesaler does get in front of advisors for a luncheon meeting I gave him some presentation tips that will enhance his presentation and yet not be too stiff.

He was initially surprised at the advice-However, he is a good presenter and since the advisors he works with already have product knowledge he can offer valid presentation skill tips to help increase product sales. I reminded him that all sales people are in the communications business and the more eloquent and persuasive we are, the better our chances for conversions!

Steve Mertz

Coaching for Increased Sales

Technorati Tags: Presentation Skills, Career Training, Public Speaking, Mutual Funds

I was reading a question posed by a blogger yesterday. He asked: “I always wondered what percentage of speakers who ask the audience questions prior to their speech, actually fine tune their speech at that moment.”

He speculated on what some of the reasons presenters ask audience questions:

1. Cheap and fast market research

2. Grasping level of audience knowledge in subject

3. Discovery of demographic of audience

4. Waking up the audience and gaining their attention

Here is his conclusion: “Anyway, do you feel that some presenters ask these questions but make no effort to tailor their presentations after asking? Sometimes I do…”

So, for all speakers who are giving a public presentation…beware, your audiences today are more sophisticated and demanding-they know this method could be a cheap ploy! I am a big fan of audience involvement but not for cheap and fast market research! This post of presentation openings may be of interest to you.

Before speaking to an audience I don extensive research on their knowledge level, the demographics of the audience and the theme of the conference. All of this information can be gained from the meeting planner as well as interviewing four or five audience participants before the presentation. One of the masters of audience research is David Glickman. For example, if he were speaking to an audience about “application protocol interface” or API, he might come out on stage and show a copy of Application Protocol Interface for Dummies! He would then say something like “I read this fascinating book on the flight over here.” Having done his research he just prints this phony cover and places it over the book. Believe me, your audience will love you for knowing about this innocuous term.

Wouldn’t you rather leave your audience with this impression instead of : “Anyway, do you feel that some presenters ask these questions but make no effort to tailor their presentations after asking? Sometimes I do…”

Here is the link to the audience participation question.

Steve Mertz

Do Research before Your Presentation!

Technorati Tags: Sales Presentations Training, Audince Participation, Public Speaking, Great Speech Openings, David Glickman

I’ve been working on a new public presentation and wanted to share some behind the scenes insights with those of you who may be preparing your own presentation. This presentation will be geared toward small business owners wishing to use blogging to increase their web presence and generate income from their blog.

Before the Presentation Preparation

I was able to gather four individuals who had an interest in the subject and use them for my test group. In preparation for my presentation I had notes on the key points that I wanted to convey. Initially, I had twenty key points that I wanted the group to take away and implement. My time expanded from one hour to two and a half hours. This was because of the questions and relaxed nature of this group. But in a control group like this-you have the luxury of bringing in a ton of key points. I will be using PowerPoint during this presentation but will add the slides after I have the main message constructed. Please note as we have discussed before-I did not start with my slides and work my presentation around the slides!

Real Time Analysis of the Presentation

For a first run the presentation went fairly well. I was interested in gaining the groups insights and paying particular attention to their ah ha moments as well as their “what are you talking about moments.” It was a very interactive session which helps my learning curve even more.

The beauty of having a very interactive session is gaining immediate feedback and noting what is and is not clicking with the group. Key to this learning curve is the fact that one of the group members recorded my presentation as well as taking copious notes. The recording is an essential tool of your preparation. It allows you to hear yourself under fire and see where the major disconnects appear in your presentation.

Feedback from the Presentation

At the conclusion of our session I asked the group to send me an email telling me in their own words what their main “keepers” were. In addition, I asked for the most beneficial points as well as what I should eliminate. In previous posts I have mentioned how critical it is for speakers to get evaluation forms from their audiences and this email feedback certainly filled that requirement. All of this information has greatly helped me and will help me craft the final presentation. As you can see there are a lot of tedious tasks that go into a successful public presentation but every presentation we do is a sales opportunity and we as well as the company we represent will be judged! I hope this will help you craft your fabulous presentation.

Steve Mertz

Crafting a Presentation 

Technorati Tags: Public Speaking, Presentations Training, PowerPoint, Speech Coaching

When an audience of one or one thousand listens to your story they must
find it interesting, connect to it emotionally, and learn a lesson from
it. Your story must make an obvious point in your speech or
conversation.
 
Here is the sure fire formula that all good stories follow:

– Situation – what was their situation before your product or service?

– Solution – what solution did you offer?

– Success – how did they live happily ever after?

This same structure is great for sales presentations.

Where did I find these pearls of wisdom you may ask? I got them in Patricia Fripp’s newsletter today. Fripp is one of my favorites in the presentations training arena. You can read the rest of her tips by visiting here to sign up.

Steve Mertz

A Great Read

Technorati Tags: Presentations, Sales Training, Public Speaking, Patricia Fripp

On Monday of this week I met up with a buddy of mine who is a financial advisor. He was giving me an overview of his business and what was working the best for his clients. We had a great conversation and his enthusiasm and passion were clearly present! The funny thing is this…I’ve seen him do a sales presentation in front of potential clients and he is entirely different. How about you? Potential clients today demand to see more of the real you. Share your successes and failures with them. By bringing in real situations and solutions that you have provided clients you are endearing yourself to the audience. The thing that struck me the most was the conversational manner of our talk. He was sharing facts with me but he was showing his vulnerability as well as his passion. He really is a great guy to have an informative conversation with-We all must bring this same conversational tone to our audiences!

One of my favorite financial speakers was Peter Lynch, the legendary manager of the Fidelity Magellan fund. Lynch could take a complex financial idea and convey it simply and eloquently to audiences. I remember Lynch explaining to an audience to “buy what you know.” The example he gave was if you are shopping at the Gap store and the store is packed with satisfied consumers-you may want to do some research and see if this is a stock to add to your portfolio. A simple but poignant example which allowed Lynch to be one of the most successful money managers of all times.

Let you audience see you in the same manner as they would observe you and I having a conversation. Who knows, your conversion rate may dramatically improve!

Steve Mertz

Be Conversational with Prospects! 

Technorati Tags: Sales Presentations Training, Public Speaking, Peter Lynch, Sales Training

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I never speak behind a podium. It’s not my style and I love to involve the audience and make them part of my presentations. Garr Reynolds of the Presentation Zen has a great post today about podiums and removing barriers to communications. Consider this great quote from Phil Collins when you are giving your next major sales presentation:

“Most songs are vocally driven. Yes, it is physically possible to sing from behind the drums…But they (audience) want to see you. When you’re behind a drum kit, it is very difficult to connect to people. That is why I am out in front.”
- Phil Collins

So you ask, who uses podiums today-according to Reynolds: If you are aiming to look “large and in charge” then perhaps a podium is appropriate for you. If you are giving a financial presentation I would encourage you to never use a podium-your audience needs and wants to see and connect with you. Leave the podiums for the politicians.

I always encourage those who are giving presentations, and in particular, financial presentations, to do everything in your power to connect and bring your audience in to your presentation. Clearly, a podium can be a major deterrent to your efforts. Victoria Labalme gave me an excellent tip to bring the audience into you. She told me to purposely lower my voice and lean towards the audince and then tell them that “secret”. Your audience will press forward and listen with more intensity. Use the same voice that Martha Stewart would use when she was in jail swapping insider trading tips with her cellmate! You can read all of the post at Presentation Zen.

Steve Mertz

Burn the Podium!

Technorati Tags: Presentations, Garr Reynolds, Victoria Labalme, Phil Collins, Sales Presentations Training

Thank you to all the readers of my old blog and those of who who have followed us to WordPress. I owe you all a special Thank You because when I started this blog in March 2006 I knew there was a ton of competition to get a decent ranking out of Google. Guess what-if you go to Google and do a search for “Sales Presentations Training” that’s us at the #5 position out of 47,000,000 million! Thank you all very much and please feel free to suggest any topics you would like covered.

Steve Mertz

Thank You Google Gods and to you mom-47,000,000 searches-take tomorrow off!

PS If you want some search engine optimization tips check out my new blog called Search Engine Optimization for Startups.