Two Magical Words

Two magical words that you need in your sales presentation. Every time I do sales presentation coaching, I ask a someone to give me an example. It usually goes like this. They have a good product or service and want to talk about how it works or how great it is. They will say it does this, we provide that, and I will say “for example”. The magical words “for example” should be coming out of your mouth too! Giving your audience a real example is a magical communication tool because an example can: Show proof that the product/service does what you say it does. Connect the audience to the… Read More

Continue Reading

The 90-second pitch

“That depends on the length of the speech. If it is a ten-minute speech it takes me all of two weeks to prepare it; if it is a half-hour speech it takes me a week; if I can talk as long as I want to it requires no preparation at all. I am ready now.”   Woodrow Wilson 1918 I received an email asking if I would do our marketing department a favour – they asked me to say a few words at our largest trade show, held annually in Chicago Illinois.  I expected that I would do a best practise story with colleagues, BUT it got really interesting when… Read More

Continue Reading

Want to make a video? Why not use PowerPoint?

PowerPoint has a variety of applications. In addition to designing slides for presentations I have used it to make promotional posters and to design logos and buttons for the animal welfare groups that I am involved with (see Life by PowerPoint). I have also started creating videos.  You can insert music to link to your slides (for the  examples below I used music from iStockPhoto.com).  For me, the biggest challanges in making videos with Powerpoint are telling my story in just a couple of minutes (I recommend you keep you videos to 2-3 minutes), and having the music timed just right. Re timing: using the Transitions tab you can select the transition… Read More

Continue Reading