Managers: Are your sales meetings knocking their socks off? If not, help is here! Organize your presentation with the three steps here, and watch your agent count go way up for your sales meetings and training presentations.

Who Is a Presenter?

Wea��re all presenters: Any time wea��re in front of two or two thousand, our goal is to persuade the audience to our point of view. However, most of the time, we just get in front of people and say whatever we think of first. That lack of attention to presentation organization leads to some big presentation mistakes, and costs us a�?salesa��. Instead of stumbling through a presentation, why not organize it to grab their attention, persuade them to your way of thinking, and motivate them to action?

Grab Their Attention in the Opening

Have you thought about your opening?A� Are you hiding in your office because you dread doing that sales meeting? When we havena��t organized our presentation, we come up with some really boring, off-putting openings, like:

I wona��t take much of your time, but

We have a lot to cover today

We wona��t get through the outline

I know you dona��t want to listen, but

Ia��m not really prepared

You just open your presentation book, point to the pretty pages, and say, a�?herea��s a keyboxa�?A� (Ia��m not kidding. Ia��ve seen ita��.)

Great openings, yes? Yet, wea��ve heard them dozens of times. You dona��t have to settle for whatever comes a�?naturallya��. Instead, make your openings

Provocative

Interesting

Different

Engaging

A Middle that Educates your a�?Audiencea�� to your Point of View

In the middle of your presentation, add those stories, statistics, and visuals that support your point of view.A� By the way, as you create that presentation, jot down your point of view.A� What do you want to persuade your agents to do?

Why use Visuals?

There are two reasons to use visuals in your presentation:

We believe what we see

We retain the information much longer

As you organize your presentation, ask yourself:

What are the main, and frequently, unspoken objections my a�?audiencea�� will have? How do I educate them to show them the reasoning behind my point of view?

The Ending: Back to the Beginning

Have you thought about your wrap-up? Or, like many presenters, does your ending sound like this?

Well, thata��s all. What do you think?

Wea��re out of time. Thank you. I hope youa��ll list with me

I dona��t have time to close.

I couldna��t get to much of the material, but you can read it

In fact, even the most professional presenters frequently have trouble with their endings. One of the main reasons is that they run out of time. Another is that they havena��t thought the ending through.

How to Do a Stunning Ending

Crafting an effecting ending is the second most important part of your presentation. (The first is the opening). To craft a great ending,

Go back to your beginning opening theme

Summarize the benefits of going ahead with you/take action

Motivate your a�?audiencea�� to take action

A Great Presentation is Crafted like a Pop Song

As a musician, I know that all pop tunes are constructed with this format:

themea��variationa��theme

This is known in the music business as the ABA format. Think of your favorite pop tune: Hum the beginning. Think of the end. Theya��re alike, right? Ita��s the middlea��known as the a�?bridgea��a��that is the humdinger. It wanders all around. Your persuasive presentation should be crafted like that pop tune:

AA�A�A�A�A�A�A�A� A compelling start (think Billy Joel, Neil Diamond, etc.)

BA�A�A�A�A�A�A�A� An interesting, developed middle, with stories, statistics

AA�A�A�A�A�A�A�A� Back to that theme, with a motivating ending

Now, youa��re all set to craft a great listing or buyer presentation, great recruiting meeting or sales meeting, or awesome product/service presentation to any audience.

P. S. Practice!

Many more tips on presentations and presentation skills are in my new resource, Knock Their Socks Off: Tips to Make your Best Presentation Ever.