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I was inspired to put this worksheet together from a discussion thread on linekdin. to quote the thread owner Tony Robinson Sales trainer, coach and consultant ;

What is it that you really sell?

Some years ago a Harley Davidson marketing executive, when asked this question, famously said..”what we sell is the ability for a 43 year old accountant to dress in black leather and ride into small towns and have people be afraid of him.”

Harley Davidson don’t sell motorcycles….they sell dreams and lifestyle…and they have been very successful at that!

Similary shovel salespersons sell holes, not shovels, so what is it you are really selling the customer?

You can clarify your offer using the worksheet. Start from the left column, your product, service or solution, plus the features and benefits you think th ecustomer may be interested in- no surprises there, it’s what most sales people have been trained to do.

Then go to the customer’s side. What is their situation? How can they gain pleasure or avoid pain or both- the two drivers for purchasing.

For example, why would anyone buy an Armani suit? They’re very expensive and made of ultrafine marino woolen fabric that wears faster than a more sturdy suit. One reason may be to gain pleasure – to have a feeling of lightness, revelling in the craftsmaship of a finely woven garment that others can’t afford. Another reason may be to avoid pain, the pain of humiliation as your merchant banker friends snigger behind your back at your lack of big city savvy.

It’s the alignment of your product benefits to the cusotmer’s pain or pleasure that helps the sales process, so it deserves some thinking time. Column 3. Then you need to decide how you are going to present it.

I hope the worksheet helps. I’m going to use it in my next Sales 101 course – thanks for the inspiration, Tony

My presentation friend David Upton introduced me to this concept.

If it’s bleedingly obvious what the picture is, don’t put a caption on it, the audience will think you’re doubting their intelligence.

Here’s an example:

There is plenty of good information on how to apply captions here

In the previous post we talked about personalising your presentation with “you’ phrasing and how to avoid “umm” and “err”.

Radio announcers can teach us much more about how to conduct an effective PowerPoint presentation.

Radio Voice

The first thing is that you don’t need a “radio voice” to be successful. The trend over the last twenty or so years is to be yourself, you don’t need training to modulate your voice to conform with an industry standard. Australian announcers like Wendy Harmer and Hamish and Andy, don’t have what is perceived as a “Radio voice”. You know, the four ball modulated gravitas. They are successful because they sound like themselves.

The lesson you can take away for your PowerPoint presentations and other public speaking engagements is that you should just sound like yourself when you’re relaxed among friends. Not too relaxed, though!

Improving your Microphone Skills

Having said that, there are obviously techniques to improve performance. For instance if you are using a microphone, beware of what the industry calls “plosives”, the

“P” “b”  “k” “t” sounds that cause small explosions of air to direct into the microphone making loud distracting noises.

You’ve all probably come across the drunken relative making a wedding toast  using  a loud mike. Something like this:

Plosives

By being aware of them, you can either hold the mic to one side or modify the effect by sounding the plosives more quietly.

During your rehearsal hold the mike where you would normally, and adjust its position while saying the tongue-twister “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers”. That will let you know whether you are making unattractive plosives.

Never, ever, tap the microphone or whistle into it as you could damage some of the more advanced models. If you want to check whether it is on, rehearse beforehand, or as a last resort say something like,”Hiiiiiii”, increasing your volume as you go.

Lip smacking (eeewwww!)

Don’t drink sugar or milk drinks before you get up to speak because that can cause “lip smacking”, making wet clicking noises with your lips and mouth to relubricate. Most unattractive and off-putting. Drink plain water instead.

Nest article we’ll talk about the  “theatre of the mind” and how radio announcers use it, and how you can adapt it to your own presentation style.