Do you do presentations in front of people—such as in real estate offices? You may be a title rep, a home warranty specialist, a mortgage rep, a real estate manager, or a salesperson. In fact, almost all of us must get in front of people and present at some time. But, it’s not something we’re trained for. We probably don’t even realize we CAN gain a process, and get some training, to do a great job! So, we just haltingly get up, open our mouth, and hope something comes out…..
As a long-time speaker and member of the professionals’ National Speaker Association, and trainer of trainers, I’ve learned the importance of presentation—no matter what we do. Here are three big mistakes ‘amateurs’ make in presentations, and three major presentation tips that assure your sales presentations will be professional—and effective.
{See a description of my presentation to teach how to craft and give a persuasive presentation here.}
Mistake #1: Launching Right in Without a Great Opening
Recently, I was at a real estate sales meeting. I heard 5 presenters in a row all start their presentations by ‘rambling’ into them. I wasn’t sure what they wanted to say, why they were there, or why I should listen!
Solution #1: Grab a Great Start
What’s your ‘hook’? How are you going to begin your presentation? With a provocative question? With a relevant story? How does that beginning tie to your theme? Sit down and write down your beginning.
Start with a great ‘hook’—something that grabs their attention.
For example, I give a presentation (usually to affiliates) to teach people how to do a persuasive presentation. As a ‘hook’, I start at the piano. They certainly aren’t expecting that, and it gets their attention right away. Of course, then I segue to the rest of the beginning: Pose the problem, suggest your solution, and build a rosy future for following your recommendations. This works great, too, in an open house to grab the attention of the ‘looker’ who’s trying to avoid you.
Mistake #2: Not developing a cohesive solution to the problem and developing it in the middle of your presentation. Instead, these presenters I heard wandered around in a vast wasteland of incohesive facts, figures, and stores with no relationship or relevance to the ‘theme’ that should have been developed at the beginning.
Solution to #2: Get Persuasive
You need to be selling your point of view always to your ‘audience’. That means to structure your point of view persuasively. What stories, statistics, and facts do you have to shore up your solution—the solution you promised at the beginning? How persuasive are you here?
Mistake #3: Not Crafting a Great Ending
In some of the presentations I heard, there was no ending. The presenter just ran out of time and sat down! What if you heard your favorite tune and it ended about 4 measures before the ending? It would feel and sound weird, right? Well, a presentation without a logical ending feels and sounds ‘weird’, too.
Your ending should re-state your solution that you developed throughout your presentation. It should motivate your audience to action.
Solution # 3: Bring it Home with a Great Ending
Have you ever been at a presentation that just puttered out at the end? The speaker said, “Well, we’re out of time.” And you thought, “Good”. Remember, a persuasive presentation is just like a popular tune. Bring back the theme at the end. Close by reminding your audience of the rosy future they will have by following your recommendations. Your job during the persuasive presentation is to persuade.
Here’s my point of view: All presentations that anyone gives should be persuasive. You’re up there to persuade your audience to YOUR [oint of view, not just to regurgitate facts and figures. Otherwise, the audience could simply read a scientific report or watch a video (well, the video may be more interesting than a boring ‘live’ presenter…..)
Does your company ask their reps to do presentations? Are your reps trained, confident, and professional at them? I can help! Check out my presentation, where I teach you how to craft a great persuasive presentation. I offer this to local, regional, and national affiliates and trainers. See it here.
