Sales Presentations Training

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

Add to: | Digg | del.icio.us | Furl |

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.

If you tried to visit my old blog address at www.salespresentationtraining.blogspot.com you ended up here-you are at the right place. The transition to WordPress is now complete and thank you very much for your patience.

Steve Mertz

Thanks Again!

In sales presentations using PowerPoint, we all hope to have that million dollar slide. The one that enhances our presentation and leaves an image with audience members that they can’t forget. We have talked about the million dollar slide before in this post.

I wanted you to see this post from David Garfinkel-He is an excellent copywriter and a great read. Here is his post on Selling With Humor. The humor is a little dark but so are financial presentations about ending up busted and disguisted!

Update-We should have our new site completed this week and will make sure that you have a seamless transition. Thank you all for your patience.

Steve Mertz
Searching the Globe for Humor!

Technorati Tags:
PowerPoint, Humor, Presentations, David Garfinkel

I recently had an investment advisor send me an email and ask: “If I tell them everything I know-what is their incentive to make an appointment?” A little background might be in order. This gentlemen gives one-hour presentations, loaded with PowerPoint slides, to retirees. His ultimate goal is to have them make an appointment so he can present the benefits of immediate annuities.

Everyone in the financial services industry has had this question run through their mind at one time or another…Haven’t you? Here are a couple of my observations:

1. You only have an hour, don’t overwhelm your audience with all those great facts.

2. Engage the audience and let them participate in the presentation-He was just getting up there and “telling them the facts.”

3. Be very candid about the pro and con of the products-Tell your audience who would be the ideal candidate and who would not.

4. Anchor your major points with compelling human interest stories that your audience will remember-not a slide showing what the Dow Jones Average has done since 1926.

5. Tape and or video your presentation-If you can’t stand to watch and hear yourself for an hour-Imagine how your poor audience feels!

6. If your product and your “pitch” is a “me too” then it becomes a beauty contest-and you had better be one good looking dude or you will starve!

Any more questions? Write them in the comments section or send them via email.

Steve Mertz
Happy Friday!
Technorati Tags:
Sales Presentations Training, Public Speaking, Coaching

My buddy, Brad Montgomery, good looking guy on the left, made a simple but astute observation: Want to be Funny? Hang with Funny People! Brad is a great comedian and also a fellow Colorado blogger.
Many business presentations don’t incorporate any humor-and that’s a shame becasue audiences today are demanding great content delivered in a humorous way! The big shift is on. Last week I was talking with an owner of a speakers bureau. He told me that in the future he was going to emphasize speakers who could deliver great content with humor. I was glad to be included in this group-and really couldn’t we all use a lot more humor in business presentations? You don’t really want to look like Alan Greenspan, on the left, as you are presenting your brilliant sales presentation do you?

Here are some tips to get you thinking about adding some humor to anchor your key points:

1. When you see a cartoon or hear a comic say something, do you laugh out loud-even if you are by yourself? That’s a good sign that you may be on to something.

2. Practice your humor attempt on a few folks who won’t laugh just becasue you are the boss. Novices tend to step on the punch line so practice until you can snap that baby off!

3. Only use the humor if it anchors a point that you want the audince to take away-otherwise it could distract from your main points.

4. When in doubt-keep your humor short and sweet-don’t take 5 minutes to make a humorous point!!

5. Don’t tell your audince you are going to humor them-just surprise them with your comic brilliance as you make those fantastic points

I will be the first to admit that it is challenging to find clever and concise humor in many business presentations but it’s there you just have to dig it out. But if you are humor challenged remember my buddy Brad Montogemey’s advice: Hang With Funny People and have them give you some pointers! Good Luck.

Steve Mertz
Did Alan Greenspan Ever Smile??
Technorati Tags:
Humor, Presentation, Brad Montgomery, Public Speaking

At my favorite Starbucks this morning I couldn’t help but notice the disheveled gentlemen going around asking strangers if they were “Mark”. It looked to be a business meeting and I can’t think of a worse way to start a meeting-assuming he ever figures out who is “Mark”.

I’ve seen public speakers during their presentations who gave me the same impression. They had done nothing to learn the character of their audience. The easiest way to accomplish this is to ask the meeting planner for the names and phone numbers of five people that will be in attendance of your presentation. Call them and tell them they were recommended for you to interview. By doing this simple thing you can learn volumes about your audience and can customize parts of your presentation to your audience. Your audience will love you for it!

As far as the guy in Starbucks this morning-try going to Google and putting the persons name in Google images! Or, ask the person to describe themselves or what they or you will be wearing. If you don’t do any of that it appears that you didn’t have enough interest or respect for the person you are meeting.

Steve Mertz
Make Your Audince Feel Special!

Technorati Tags:
Public Speaking, Presentations, Meetings, Starbucks, Networking