To deliver a compelling sales presentation especially to executives it’s crucial that you project confidence. If you look nervous, timid or hesitant, your audience will begin to doubt you and your message.
Here are five sales presentation tips will help you to deliver your message with confidence, and win the respect of any audience.
Know Your Product, Technology and Market
Without the requisite product, technology and market knowledge it’s difficult to relax. As you present, you’re in constant fear that someone will ask a tough question and embarrass you.
As a rule of thumb, you should get to the point where you can answer 90% of the typical questions that may be asked by your prospects. Any less than 90% and you will risk losing the respect of your audience.
To help you get up to speed:
- Read everything that you can: data sheets, manuals and marketing collateral.
- Talk to others on your team and compare notes.
- As you present, be sure to collect questions that you can’t answer. Look up the answers later and get back to the prospect.
Speak Slowly
As you present, its best to keep your pace conversational or even a bit slower than normal. Speaking slowly will make you look thoughtful and competent. Conversely, if you speak rapidly, you will appear nervous and unsure of yourself.
Use Pauses
Pauses increase the impact that your words have on your audience. Pauses project confidence. By pausing for a few seconds between thoughts, you show your audience that what you are saying is important. To project even more confidence, be sure to establish eye contact with your audience as you pause.
Avoid Filler Words such as UM and AH
Filler words, are distracting to your audience and give the impression that you are nervous. For tips on how to avoid them, please check out this post on filler words.
Use Short Concise, Complete Sentences
As you speak, you want to be sure to express your thoughts in as few words as possible. You don’t want to weaken your messages by throwing in extra thoughts just to fill the silence.
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