Are you Presenting AND Communicating?

Do you consider yourself a great presenter AND communicator? It’s a tough question to answer honestly.

The fact is, if you want to communicate a message that sells, you must both present well, AND communicate well. Strangely, communication is a selling skill that is often overlooked: How to get others to listen to you. Or better stated, WANT to listen to you.

All your life you heard the lesson: It’s not just what you say, it’s how you say it.

Presentation is what you say.

Communication is how you say it.

Here’s a great way to clarify communication skills. Think about the teachers you had in school. Sometimes the most brilliant ones were the worst communicators – and as a result, left you short of both education and inspiration.

Now, think of the teachers you loved. You couldn’t wait to get to their class, and you hung on their every word. In fact, you still remember him or her and you talk about them. They were great communicators.

Here are several “check in” questions to get you thinking about your communication – and I’ll throw in a few challenges:

• How clear is your delivered message? Not how clear to you, but how clear to them.

• What’s the attitude behind your spoken words? What’s the tone of your words? How do they sound?

• Are your gestures in harmony with your words and your delivery? Do your gestures indicate and confirm a relaxed, confident style and a belief in what you are saying?

• How succinct is your message? Short and sweet or way too long?

• Does your message or your words sound scripted or insincere? “Conversational” is the best communication strategy.

• How organized is your message? Are you fumbling or on a roll?

• Does your message have a start and a finish? A finish that ends in a commitment from the prospective customer?

• Do you make solid and consistent eye contact? Especially when asking for the sale or confirming the offer.

• Are you making statements or asking questions? Who are the questions in favor of? NOTE WELL: Questions create interactive dialog, and will tell you, both by body language and gestures, the level of genuine connection – the smiles, the willingness to talk and tell the truth.

• Are you asking for confirmation that what you’re saying is completely understandable?

• Do you talk too fast? Only your recording yourself will tell you that.

• Are you using industry buzzwords and acronyms that could create misunderstanding? Classic example of miscommunication.

And the ultimate self-tests of communication:
• Have you ever recorded your meetings so you can hear your own communication skill level? Most salespeople have not. It’s too scary!

Here’s a Tweet I really liked: A passionate message without clarity will fall on deaf ears. #communication

The object of communication, especially sales communication, is for others to UNDERSTAND your message, AGREE with your message, and then TAKE the correct ACTION. To buy!

Onward & Upward!