obagoudya.info

The clock doesn’t lie!

If you are giving business presentations, no doubt you’re working within a timeframe. Your clients and prospects are busy people. They want to get the most value out of time spent in your presentation.

Professional public speakers often record their talks — and practice delivering to fit within specific time slots. One hour? Got it. Twenty minutes? No problem. Ten? It’s a snap.

What is it that professionals know — that you can use too?

These 4 secrets can help you time your performance for perfect success.

Secret 1: Time Your Opening

Most likely, you will use the same opening, even for presentations that vary in length. When you practice your initial start and focus on your key points, you can develop a highly persuasive introduction.

In addition, your opening sets the tone for your entire presentation. When you start strong, you’re going to grab audience attention. Then, you are in a good position to hold attention for the duration.

Secret 2: Rehearse For Every Timeslot

Even if you are very familiar with your topic and presentation, rehearse and practice for each timeslot. Your stories will vary. Audience interaction will expand and contract based on time available.

During face-to-face delivery, you are likely to speak more slowly than in rehearsals. This is due to adding impromptu comments, adding stories, and interacting with your audience.

Alternatively, if you are extremely nervous about presenting, you may talk faster — and race through your talk without taking a breath. To avoid this downhill slide, practice so you are comfortable with the best pacing for every amount of time.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking; “I could do this in my sleep.” If you could, you just might sleep through the alarm signaling the end of your allotted time.

Secret 3: Practice Questions and Answers

Answering questions is one of the most critical areas to stay within your timeframe is answering questions. Practice giving brief and concise answers with your presentation coach or with peers.

Focus on the questions you anticipate most from each specific audience. Practice giving shorter and longer answers – while still remaining personable. This provides several options for being able to manage your time – and create interaction with your audience.

If you are giving an extremely short summary, it is acceptable to say, “I’m so sorry I don’t have time for questions right here. But I will be available to answer your questions one-on-one.”

Alternatively, you can provide your contact information and say, “I’m sorry our time is so short. I’m happy to answer you questions personally. Just contact me directly.”

These comments encourage participants to ask their questions — at a later time. In addition, comments such as these also show your willingness to share your expertise and make the best use of the limited time you have to present your information.

Secret 4: Work With an Expert Coach.

Whether you are new to presenting or highly experienced, a professional coach can give you objective feedback. He or she can instantly spot small changes, which can dramatically improve your performance.

One of the most fascinating areas of feedback will be on how to be effective in any time slot. In working with your coach, be sure to ask for timing feedback. This can help you increase confidence and be ready to happily adapt an hour presentation into a 10-minute summary.

Develop your presentation skills so you can communicate effectively to any audience. Timing is one of the trickiest areas and is critical for success in business presentations. 

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could send your best salesperson to meet with all your top prospects? Because most sales territories are divided up geographically, or by industry, this isn’t usually an option available to most sales managers. With that in mind, let me put the question another way: how many more “top customers” would you have if all of your salespeople were better presenters?

What I’m getting at is that most sales managers, much less the front line producers who work for them, don’t view presenting as a sales skill. And that’s a shame, because working with groups is one of the best and easiest ways for your team to improve their bottom-line production.

For one thing, selling to groups is just more efficient. Why close one or two prospects, when you could make a bigger presentation and be working with ten, fifteen, or even fifty? The point of selling isn’t to spend as much time as possible with each individual prospect; it’s to generate signed order slips. Working with lots of buyers at once is a great way to do that.

Even more importantly, however, is the impression that a strong presenter makes. Often, a good speech given by an effective salesperson can help to close more orders than they would have individually. That’s because most people, by their very nature, are affected by the psychology of a group; they see other people excited to buy, and may become eager to buy themselves.

And finally, becoming a great presenter makes any salesperson more confident. Given that selling is largely – if not completely – a mental exercise, it makes sense to have your producers be as sharp as possible. Having the confidence to get up in front of a group and make their case helps them in other selling situations, too.

So how do you turn your sales team into a group of top notch presenters, bringing in tons of new business along the way? It won’t happen overnight, but here are a few tips to get you started:

1. Hire a sales trainer who specializes in presentations.

There’s never a substitute for specialized instruction, and just a few hours spent with the right person can get them moving a long way in the right direction.

2. Have them practice giving presentations in the office.

Why not end each weekly sales meeting with a presentation by one of your salespeople? They might be hesitant at first, but speaking to a group of peers that they’re familiar with is going to be easier than getting up in a room full of prospects, and allow them to practice their speeches on a friendly audience.

3. Emphasize the opportunities.

A lot of salespeople probably would give more group presentations, if only they realized how effective they could be. Show your team that working with multiple prospects is a great way to triple or quadruple their sales, and they’ll probably show a lot more enthusiasm for the effort.

4. Help them to overcome fears and weaknesses.

Public speaking remains a major fear for a lot of people – even normally outgoing sales professionals. Some of the men and women on your team are probably going to need more help and encouragement than others; bring each one along at their own pace, and the effort will eventually pay dividends for everyone.