Written by Natalie Merritt-Broderick
Follow up to Oct 18/17 DWIB Event.
General
- Know the importance of your service / product
- Be authentic
- Know your audience
- Selling isn’t about you, it’s about the client
- Be passionate about your service / product
- Confidence comes with practice
- Learn from people you admire
- Think of the interaction as fun and exciting
- Engage people when telling them about your product / service
- Rapport – build a connection with the other person
Things to consider when speaking to others.
- Having notes when speaking is an individual choice – if you feel comfortable and well versed in a topic and can ensure all you want to cover can be done without notes – awesome
- Filler words – they take away from your communication and distract others from getting the full value of what you have to offer – examples are um, ah, so, you know
- Be organized
- Be clear in your message
- Avoid acronyms
- Speak clearly and use words and/or terminology the other person will understand
- Keep eye contact – people like to know they have your attention
- Humour – know when to use it and in the right context
- Speed of talk – slow vs fast
- Volume of speech – loud vs soft
- Hand gestures, use if appropriate
- Practice in front of others and ask for constructive feedback
- Talk in front of a mirror or to your plants, practice anyway you can
- If you make an error, correct if necessary – and don’t apologize unless ‘truly’ warranted – we say sorry too much in Canada
- Cell phones – should be on silent or turned off