It’s always a good idea to check out your non-verbal selling skills by doing a videotaped run-through before key demos and presentations.
Here’s a checklist of some key elements to attune to as you check the quality of the non-verbal selling skills you project on your taped run-through:
1. Voice: the deeper and more resonant your voice, the better. (Don’t want to sound sexist, but that goes for women as well as men. Resonance projects confidence and control. If your voice lacks body, then you need to invest work in that area.)
2. Tempo: It’s good to speak slowly at the start, as this projects confidence. Then let your tempo build as you get to the heart of it, where your natural enthusiasm for the product causes you to get excited.
3. Voice energy: Does it sound upbeat, energetic? Or bored, tired, tentative, depressed. Or, worse, “above it all”? ( Here the focus is not so much on the words, as to the non-verbal selling skills or impact the voice carries on a level beyond words.)
4. Posture. Stand straight (as Mom told you!). Move your hands slowly in broad, sweeping movements, not in short, choppy fidgets.
5. “Own your time.” Don’t rush, even if you get behind schedule: the half-second you save by talking faster isn’t going to make a difference, but the insecurity projected by your hurried mannerisms reflects poorly on the product.
Adapted from SALES PRESENTATIONS & DEMONSTRATIONS: Self-instructional handbook by Michael McGaulley. Available in both ebook and pbook versions via Amazon