A Salesperson of Your Life – Pt. 2

As mentioned during my last column, enjoy it or otherwise we all have been salesmen.  Our life is comprised of a number of “sales presentations”, otherwise referred to as presenting ourself within the best light possible. Whether we’re out for any meeting, trying for any raise, or simply convincing our employees that the job should be accomplished – you are earning a presentation.

Being masterful at it may be summed up within the acronym IPRESENT!   During my last column we covered the steps “I” through “E”:
? I – involve your audience
? P – prepare your audience
? R – research your arsenal
? E – explain “Why?”
Let’s finish the acronym today.

“S” means State (mental) Management. The state of mind from the successful presenter should be congruent using the message.  If you don’t think that, try giving encouragement to your sales team when you’re depressed – it won’t work!  You should be aware and manage your own state of mind which of your listeners or communication channels won’t be open.  I don’t have space to elaborate on ways of carrying this out, but here are some key hints.  First, “AAI” – behave as if. Act the way in which you wish to feel, it’s amazing how this works.  Use music to create the atmosphere if required, dress the part, and lower your anxiety by whatever method works best for you.  Remember that you’re the main one in control, and presentation mastery isn’t about being perfect – it’s about achieving your objective.

“E” is perfect for eliminating the unknowns.  Fear of speaking in public will rank very well of all people’s listing of worst fears. You could find you’re unusually nervous, develop poor voice tone or negative body gestures, and become not able to react to audience feedback.  Managing your anxiety permits you to pay attention to your audience and their demands.  The basic method of do that may be the asking ourselves a summary of “what if?” questions.  Another method to overcome our fear would be to take ownership from the situation.  Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. Make sure your notes, and prepare yourself.

“N” is fudging just a little using the second letter from the word “know” – as with kNow Your Audience.  Whether it’s anyone or many who you are presenting to you should do three basic things:  Meet their demands, reduce tension, and steer clear of mistakes.  A good understanding of the listeners can give you an opportunity to tailor your objectives to satisfy their demands.  This also allows you to lessen the “audience-presenter” tension so that they will concentrate on what you’re saying.  With a definite understanding of your audience’s views you’ll be responsive to potential “hot buttons”.

“T” means “Tailor Your Presentation Throughout”.  Boring listeners results in missed objectives or total failure.  You should be flexible and attentive to your audience. To get this done you want to use techniques which will give you audience feedback; you must diagnose the reason for the issue you’re addressing, last but not least you must pick the means to fix do something about.

When you’re presenting watch out for non-verbal behavior for example clock-watching, foot-tapping, and cat-napping.  When these can be found acquire some feedback with, “Is it too warm in here?” or “Should I get the pace?”  That breaks the interest or insufficient, from the audience and brings it well to your talk.  One thing to consider would be that the mind can absorb a maximum of the seat can endure.  Sometimes an easy thing like going for a short stretch break will solve the issue.

The processes for achieving your most popular outcomes are in your fingertips, when you keep in mind that every day life is a number of presentations.

Tags: Life, Salesperson