Presentation Skills for Sales People: 4

Tweet

Email

Look for similarities between yourself and your prospects.  Why?  People are more likely to comply with requests made by those who appear to be similar to them.

What are some possible similarities?  School affiliations, geographical connections, sports, pet peeves (such as traffic jams), dogs.  Just avoid politics, religion, and discussions about your intimate affairs.

For instance, a story to illustrate the power of similarity.  My daughter refused to swim as a child.  We got her lessons, tried to teach her ourselves—nothing.  Then we took her to a birthday party where all the kids were swimming.  Presto—in she jumped.

How do you find similarities?  You engage in conversation—the great social lubricator.  Diplomacy is based on it.  Through conversation, you discover each other’s common humanity. 

However, if you do this with the intention of taking advantage of the information you gather, you are doing the right thing for the wrong reason.

“The last temptation is the greatest treason: to do the right deed for the wrong reason.”   – T. S. Eliot

What makes a man a manipulator is not his persuasive skill, but his intention in using his skill.

Go figure!  You can do the right thing for the wrong reason.

Sims Wyeth is a speech coach in Montclair, NJ specializing in presentation skills and public speaking training in order to give accomplished people the knowledge and skill they need to become accomplished speakers. Learn more public speaking tips at www.SimsWyeth.com.

• Archives

Tags: effective communications, effective sales presentations, persuasive speaking, persuasive speaking skills, presentation skill, presentation skills training, presentation skills training nj, presentations skills, sales presentation skills training, sales presentations