Dave Kurlan is a top-rated speaker, best-selling author, sales thought leader and highly regarded sales development expert.
I would guess that the only thing that is more common than an underperforming sales force is the discomfort that people have before they speak. And I'm not even talking about speaking in front of an audience. This discomfort can even manifest when presenting to one intimidating individual!
Speaking doesn't have to be so difficult, especially when you are talking about what you know - your own area of expertise. Just follow my simple rules and you'll be awesome!
- Don't use Notes - They'll distract you and make you anxious!
- Avoid Power Point unless you need it to guide you or for big, long presentations!
- When Using Power Point use as few words as possible - it's for graphics, not words!
- Have an opening story - get their attention!
- Have a closing story - make them laugh!
- Have 3-5 Primary Talking Points for the middle - that's all you have to remember!
- You'll be Great if you simply talk about what you know - you're the expert!
- Engage your audience - If it's not compelling, leave it out!
- Ask questions - It holds the audience's attention
- Be Confident - nobody knows the material better than you. They don't know what you're supposed to say!
As a side note, my article from last month,
10 Lessons from the Candidate Who Smelled Like He Peed on Himself, was nominated for
Article of the Month for July, the 2nd time in three months that one of my articles was nominated. Maybe it's the title. You can
vote for it with one click right here.
(c) Copyright 2009 Dave Kurlan
