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Nightmare Fuel: How to Save Sales Pitch Decks Gone Bad

Posted on by Rick E

Sometimes you lose prospective clients due to clunky sales pitch decks. You may have exerted all your effort on calling them and following up, but you may have already committed mistakes that cost you their trust. Don’t worry.

Once identified, it’ll be easy to wake up from these pitch deck nightmares:

Avoid the Information Quicksand

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Rapid technological advancement and increased connectivity leads us to believe that oversharing is a good thing. In sales, it’s an entirely different story. While working with a narrative builds rapport and puts the audience at ease, overdoing it could trap you in a chatty, irrelevant loop that diverts your flow.

Stop boring your audience to death. List down at least three value propositions that are relevant to you and your target market. Make sure your visuals are simple and understandable, enough for anyone to immediately get your main message.

Find Your Core Identity

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There’s plenty of competition out there. If you can’t make an impact on your leads, you’ll end up losing them. To avoid getting sucked into anonymity, highlight your brand’s best features and show how they’re unique from other offers. Supplement these with an engaging pitch deck that both catches the eye and shows off your content.

You can add testimonials from past trusted customers who give positive feedback on your services. These will help draw your listeners’ attention to the benefits of investing in you.

Vanquish the Personal Bias Phantom

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Don’t fall into the trap of assuming that your audience’s perspective automatically aligns with yours. Remember that these are people you have yet to win over. Since they aren’t invested yet in your services, they won’t appreciate a lengthy discussion of your history or anything that moves away from finding out your relevance to them.

Assume that you’re starting with a blank slate and you have to explain some things that would otherwise seem clear to you because of your knowledge of the company. Put yourself in your prospects’ shoes. Do thorough research on their background, needs, and interests as early as your planning stage.

Let them know that you understand where they’re coming from, and that that’s where you’re headed, too.

Turn on the Night Light

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Making a sales pitch can be very challenging. Plenty of presenters end up digging their own graves. But with enough practice and awareness, you’ll be able to map out feasible solutions. Stave off the nightmares with just a glimmer of light. Reel in prospects with the right amount of information that can showcase the best parts of your offer.

Don’t offend them by injecting too many personal assumptions in your pitch. Instead, convince people that you’re better than the rest. Make your brand look like the best option, and be the best option available.

References

“Conducting Market Research.” Entrepreneur. September 30, 2010. Accessed October 23, 2015. www.entrepreneur.com/article/217388

Sales Pitch Q&A Tips: 4 Reasons to Master Negotiation

Posted on by Rick E

Your sales pitch is the last hurdle before you can seal the deal, but even that has a final step: the Q&A.

In every pitch, clients always have questions or concerns. These can be about how your company does business or the package options you have to offer.

Listening to and clarifying their questions will help them understand your position, making them more likely to trust you and close the sale. Experienced sales executives will always plan for these scenarios for 4 main reasons:

1. Clients Always Want Options

People will always look for a better deal to get their money’s worth.

You could be the best supplier of electronic gadgets in the industry, but if you don’t have any favorable options to offer your clients, like a bundle purchase deal with lower price points, or gadgets that they need, chances are they’ll give their money to the competition.

This is why having a fixed set of options rarely works: If you say you can’t give something to a client, you will have a harder time convincing them to invest in you. According to business consultant Larry Myler, giving alternatives is one of the negotiation techniques that salespeople use as a common ground for both their desired outcome and the clients’ desires.

2. Listening Lets You Learn Their Expectations

Our last article talked about knowing your audience’s expectations to help you give a more understandable pitch. While it’s good to know these beforehand, nothing beats getting these firsthand when you need to address their questions on the spot.

This lets you come up with better responses, whether it’s clarifying your previous statements in the pitch, or suggesting alternatives to the options you offered them. Listening also helps you get a better handle on what your clients expect from business partners.

For example, they may have objections to the pricing of your mobile service provider package, but if you let them explain why, you might have the advantage of using that information for either justifying the package or offering them something that fits their budget.

3. You Control the Argument

Learning to say no is another important skill in the Q&A. As the presenter, you need to be clear on what you can and cannot offer to remain in control of the deal. Let’s go back to that example of the mobile service provider: Your package may only be offered at a certain range, but a client might want to lower it further.

If your company knows that the proposed discount is unacceptable due to cost reasons, it might be better for you to refuse and suggest another package. While it’s true that you need to think about your client’s expectations, your company will most likely have their own standards to uphold, making an ultimatum necessary.

By dictating the terms of the offer, you make the deal profitable for both sides. It also boosts their perception of you as a reliable seller.

4. You Project Yourself as a Partner

In every pitch, the objective is all about offering solutions to a problem. This is why every seasoned sales executive takes time to know their clients as much as they can in order to solve their difficulties.

Getting clients to talk about what they need is always a good starting point. Keynote speaker Sherrie Campbell lists presenting yourself as a partner who’s willing to listen among her strategies for mastering sales negotiations. .

If your client can’t agree with your offer, you can always ask why, or replace your offer with a better one. This leaves a better impression than using a “take it, or leave it” approach because you involve clients in coming up with a solution.

The Lesson: Listening Always Helps

Handling the pitch’s Q&A is just as important as giving it. This lets you know your target market and what will convince them to invest in you. Listening to their concerns lets you adjust your offers as needed.

Instead of simply handing out a limited set of options, you give them more possibilities that can sweeten the deal for both sides. At the same time, you have to make it clear that there are things that you can’t compromise on, like a lower price for quality goods.

At your pitch’s last stage, you can impress your clients with your delivery. If you can give them that last nudge to bite into your offer by hearing them out, jumping that final hurdle will be easier for you. Handling this step needs every advantage you can get.

To sharpen your selling edge, take a few minutes to get in touch with a professional pitch deck designer and spice up your pitch deck.

References

Campbell, Sherrie. “7 Psychological Strategies for Mastering Sales Negotiations.” Entrepreneur. November 6, 2014. Accessed August 7, 2015.
Myler, Larry. “Four Ways To Win Any Negotiation.” Forbes. June 1, 2015. Accessed August 7, 2015.

Featured Image: “Signed Contract” by Mads T.F. on flickr.com

Enhance Your Sales Pitch by Appealing to Emotions

Posted on by Rick E

Fulfilling your passion goes beyond projecting confidence during a sales presentation. Using emotional appeal is one of the trade secrets of professional presenters and businessmen. By creating a set of common values, emotions, and beliefs about your product, your clients will have an easier time identifying with your brand.

It also helps you connect to your audience faster and sell more effectively. This marketing trick, which business gurus Michael and George Belch have cited as transformational advertising, also improves your persuasiveness as a presenter.

How to Properly Associate Emotions

More than just describing and summarizing your product’s benefits, effective sales presenters add an associated set of emotions to your pitch. In his book, Cutting Edge Advertising, Jim Aitchison notes these as anchors that remain consistent with your audience’s existing standards or beliefs.

This technique relies on giving clients the impression that you believe in the same things they do. Your creative pitch presentation ideas thereby establish your creativity, while making your pitch more memorable.

Combine a Rational and Emotional Appeal

You need to clarify how clients can benefit from your proposal. According to product management expert Roman Pichler, good products are often focused on the user rather than the product itself.

Make this more effective by sharing emotional benefits from using your product. This is similar to what mobile AT&T did with its “reach out and touch someone” campaign, which encouraged its subscribers to keep in touch with family and friends.

According to Aitchison, be familiar with your product and the situations in which your customers will use it. Knowing these lets you decide what kind of emotions you want to associate with your product and your brand. This forms the basis of what emotional benefits to pitch to your clients.

Make Your Brand Own the Emotion

Once you identify what emotion to bring out, it’s time to bring the passion out. Do you want your pitch presentation to sell a warm experience where families can bond together, similar to how McDonald’s does its advertisements? Or, like brand communications specialist Carmine Gallo’s example, do you want to sell a comfortable third place between home and work like Starbucks?

These brands have defined their emotional benefits from ideas that stem directly from their products. More than selling fast food or custom-hand-crafted coffee, these brands emulate a specific personality that like-minded people can relate to. Find out what you want to be known for by getting to know the people who think like you do.

In a Nutshell: Bank on the Power of Belief

Combining rational and emotional benefits are more effective because they can both inform and rouse audiences. By driving home that you believe in the same things your audience does, you make them remember you better.

Once you find that emotion your brand or product can stand for, you can start playing to your passions for better pitch presentation ideas that help you sell faster. Already have your big idea? All you need to do is to get the help of a professional pitch deck specialist to bring them out.

References

Aitchison, Jim. Cutting Edge Advertising: How to Create the World’s Best Print for Brands in the 21st Century. 2nd ed. Singapore: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004.
Belch, George E., and Michael A. Belch. Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated Marketing Communications Perspective. 6th ed. Singapore: McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2003.
Gallo, Carmine. The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010.
“Product Owners, Focus on the User Benefits, Not the Product!” Roman Pichler. 2012. Accessed September 15, 2015.

An Inside Look at How Clients Invest in Your Sales Pitch

Posted on by Rick E

Effective presenters take time to know their client’s expectations. This lets them select the best tactic for delivering their sales pitch so they can solve both their client’s problems and their own. Presenters have this advantage because they know how clients connect with their sales pitch proposals, giving them better pitch ideas.

It’s the same process that advertising agencies consider when making customers connect with the brands they advertise. This connection between brands and customers happens on three levels, the most powerful of which according to a study conducted by advertising giant McCann-Erickson, is Emotional Bonding.

1. Product Benefits

Business gurus George and Michael Belch suggest that on this level, clients connect with your brand based on the benefits it can offer.

At this stage, clients have the least amount of loyalty. They are most likely to switch to the competition if they offer something you don’t have.

2. Brand Personality

The next stage is when your clients assign a personality to your brand. This personality is based on the principles and beliefs your brand will stand for.

Brand communications expert, Carmine Gallo, presents a few examples: it can be the cozy hangout Starbucks is known as, the tough off-roaders of Jeep, or even the classic refreshing drink that Coke is touted as. This is when clients start to associate traits or values they share with your brand.

3. Emotional Benefits

At this stage, consumers and clients alike develop emotional attachments to your brand. This is the highest level, where clients constantly seek you out after you’ve done business with them repeatedly.

At this stage, your previous clients will have no problem looking forward to your future pitches, much like how Apple users always looked forward to the late Steve Jobs showing off his new gadget. This level of trust leads to a positive psychological movement towards your company.

It’s arguably the hardest to achieve, but you get the benefit of clients paying their undivided attention to you whenever you present.

The Main Connection: Develop Trust

Connecting with your audience with a business pitch doesn’t happen overnight. After all, repeat customers are what keep companies alive.

Offer a product with the benefits your clients need, define a relatable personality for your brand, and deliver consistently to help you gain your client’s trust in your company. That’s when the long-term emotional connections happen.

To help you get the most out of this advantage, get in touch with pitchdeck.com today!

References

Belch, George E., and Michael A. Belch. Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated Marketing Communications Perspective. 6th ed. Singapore: McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2003.
Gallo, Carmine. The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010.
“Proprietary Research Technique Called Emotional Bonding.” ZABANGA Marketing. Accessed September 8, 2015.

3 Leadership Qualities That Spice Up Corporate Pitch Decks

Posted on by Rick E

Great leaders are the world’s most influential people. Presidents, CEOs and other senior-level executives are chosen for their leadership and charisma. These professionals know exactly how to handle both themselves and their colleagues. Since they understand how people generally behave, they’re able to manage them effectively.

But what do powerful leaders and persuasive presenters have in common?

Speakers Can Be Powerful Leaders

“Every time you have to speak, you are auditioning for leadership.” – James Humes

A good public speaker is also capable of being a good leader. However, it takes proper training and serious practice to be an effective presenter. While it’s true that skills can be acquired, having the proper attitude and behavior can make a bigger difference.

One’s character is more important than his abilities. A speaker can’t be at his best if he ignores proper ethical guidelines. This is why it plays a vital role in any type of communication: to build a meaningful connection and establish a good relationship with your audience.

While everyone can lead, not everybody can lead effectively. Here are three leadership qualities that speakers can apply when giving their pitches:

1. They Are In Control of Their Emotions

Presenters who are deeply conscious about how they behave and address their audience display full understanding and respect. They know what emotions to keep in check and what to project in public.

They’re also trained on how to properly handle negative feedback or ignore distractions that interrupt their performance.

As a speaker, you should learn the significance of being authentic while keeping a sense of professionalism. Playing to your passions also helps you control your pitch deck’s flow and finish it successfully.

2. They Are Competent

Leaders captivate listeners and possess skills that inspire their colleagues or constituents. They can’t do this alone, so they also have effective management skills. This helps them spread their message farther, and accomplish their goals easier.

Presenters who know their strengths don’t undermine their colleagues. Given their proficiency, they still strive to improve their abilities and learn new skills. As a speaker, find time to develop your potential.

3. They Are Opportunity-Seekers

Presenters who want to be successful don’t settle for what they have. They aim for the best. They don’t hesitate to grab opportunities that’ll help them achieve their main goal – to connect with their audience. This will also allow them to successfully engage them and hopefully improve their lives.

As a speaker, you should know how to give your audience win-win situations to build strong relationships.

Conclusion

Like great leaders, effective presenters know when to be passionate and when to be professional. They are also aware of their skills, yet still drive themselves constantly towards self-improvement. Most of all, they don’t hesitate when given the right opportunities, and can turn any situation to their benefit.

Learning how leaders take advantage can be applied to your performance as a speaker. Use them as inspiration to enhance your skills for more powerful corporate pitch decks.

To help you with your pitch deck needs, let Pitch Deck experts assist you!

References

Spence, Carma. “5 things great speakers and great leaders have in common.” Public Speaking Super Powers, October 12, 2012. Accessed June 9, 2015.

5 things great speakers and great leaders have in common

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/j/jameshumes154732.html#higgLr8yW0bcHgQd.99

5 Sales Pitch Tips You Can Learn from Infomercials

Posted on by Rick E

An infomercial is a type of TV commercial used to generate sales and increase a product or service’s demand. It can last from two minutes to thirty minutes, offering a persuasive approach to influence viewers’ purchase decisions. Advertisers use this method to sell and leave its audience with lasting impact, convincing them to take action.

Besides AIDA, you can also rely on infomercial sales methods to capture your client’s attention and turn them into leads. Here are some techniques to include the next time you make your sales pitch:

Understand the Market

This involves presenting your audience with problems for which you have solutions. It’s important to position your product as something that’ll make their life easier and more convenient. People are continuously looking for something that satisfies their needs. This leads advertisers to find ways to take advantage and capture their attention and connect with them.

This is similar to how Alan Monroe’s motivational sequence views fulfillment of needs. Since people avoid the feeling of discomfort, they’re more likely to look for a solution that’ll help them feel at ease.

Show Striking Visuals

There’s nothing more effective than displaying powerful visuals and letting them speak for you. This is an efficient and effective approach that allows sales professionals to demonstrate how a certain product works.

When giving your sales pitch, use appropriate and striking images instead of walls of text to explain important information. Remember, a picture paints a thousand words.

Highlight the Client Benefits

Caring about your audience means prioritizing their needs over yours.

When you deliver your pitch, emphasize your product or services’ benefits to let them think that they need it. Focus on the results provided to generate interest.

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Include Testimonials

At first glance, people are more likely to share their opinions if a product is effective or if it’s worth buying. This involves showing your audience how customers share their experience when they began using the product or availing the service.

The Jones Theory is one of the sales impulse factors that convince your client based on others’ opinion of your product or service.

Inspire Action

Providing your audience with incentives shows a sense of urgency, convincing them to act immediately. Once you provide reasons that interest them, they’ll be convinced to act on their impulses.

Including an effective call-to-action takes advantage of the built up desire and increases your chances of positive results.

Conclusion

Applying these selling techniques from infomercials will benefit you and your audience. They allow you to satisfy their needs, while also helping your message get across. Open your pitch with a question that emphasizes their problems to get their attention. Keep their attention and complement your message with interesting and powerful visuals.

Keep them interested by concentrating on your product’s key benefits and unique features. Demonstrate your product’s value by showing them testimonials of satisfied clients. Encourage them to take action and take advantage of what you can offer with a top-notch Call-to-Action.

The next time you present, use these strategies to reel more clients in. To help you craft a more persuasive pitch, let pitchdeck.com experts assist you!

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References

“Monroe’s Motivated Sequence: Perfecting the Call to Act.” Mind Tools. Accessed June 10, 2015.
“The Sales Advice Website for Direct Salespeople.” Door to Door Salesman, 2015. Accessed June 10, 2015.

Count from 6 to 10: A Quick Guide to Great Pitch Decks

Posted on by Rick E

We’ve previously discussed how the numbers one to five can make your business pitch decks count. This was based off keynote speaker Stephen Boyd’s tips to create a presentation countdown. With our own take on it, let’s continue counting from number six to number ten.

6. Presenting after SIX o’clock P.M.

Business professionals work eight hours on a regular basis. After a long day, only a few stay later than six o’clock p.m. to polish their paperwork, web designs, pitch deck slides, and the like. After all, we want to get back to our families and our lives, right?

Deliver your pitches as if you’re doing them after six in the evening. Embody the elements of fun, involvement, and learning to keep your audience awake. Treat your audience like close friends and family you’ve been longing to see. Sustain their interest from the beginning to end, no matter how late it is.

7. Seven Means Complete

According to the Bible, the number seven has three Hebrew roots: saba, shaba and sheba. These three biblical ideas are associated with oaths, perfection, and completeness. Whether you’re delivering a pitch to a potential client or discoursing a monthly report with co-workers, your pitch deck should contain complete data.

Providing evidence supports your argument or main idea. Maximize the use of graphs and charts, statistics, and other visuals for a more comprehensive discussion. Inevitably, your audience will have questions or clarifications which you can tackle in a Q&A session. However, it pays to address all of these possible questions from the beginning to make things easier for everyone.

8. Eight for Affinity

The number eight is drawn with two interconnecting circles. Lacking one circle, either at the top or at the bottom, means you have zero. Pitches are about making connections. Your business speech is useless without an audience.

Command interest by connecting with them on a personal level. You can best engage an audience by exuding a credible aura, by appealing to their emotions, or by challenging their intellect. Building networks after your business pitch is another way to solidify your core message, and get viable results as well.

9. Nine for Anticipation

Where there’s nine, an end is anticipated — nine is followed by ten, ninety-nine makes way for one hundred, and so on. Anticipating unforeseeable circumstances in your talk is a good pitching skill. Don’t make your audience tune out because you panicked or lost your train of thought. Always be prepared for whatever can go wrong in a speaking engagement.

Planning ahead increases your chances of foreseeing or dealing with such problems.

10. Perfect Ten

There’s no denying that the number ten connotes perfection. Ten is a rounded number, which is why our counting system is based on the power of ten. We rate things with one being the lowest and ten being the highest. Striving for perfection is the best mindset for succeeding in your business pitch.

Make sure that your pitch deck design has the perfect font combo and title slide. Reinforce it with confident delivery and compelling content. Always aim for a deck that will get a perfect ten rating.

To Sum It Up

Use numbers six to ten as your guide for delivering fun, complete, engaging, planned, and perfect business pitch decks. Remember the importance of connecting to your audience, sharing complete and pertinent data, appealing to emotions, anticipating crises, and striving for perfection.

Need a pitch deck to give you an edge? Check out our portfolio for inspiration, or contact our slide design experts for a free quote.

References

Boyd, Stephen. “Public Speaking By Numbers.” Speaking-Tips, August 17, 2011. Accessed June 10, 2015.

Pitch Deck Slide Design Lessons from Outdoor Advertising

Posted on by Rick E

According to creativity mentor, Luke Sullivan, there’s one requirement to great outdoor advertising, specifically billboards: It needs to be easy for a passing motorist to understand. This minimalist approach is a perfect fit for designing your pitch deck slides. Reducing your deck to its basic idea gives you more room for creativity, letting you focus on impressing your audience.

Here are three things presenters can learn from outdoor ads:

Billboards Demand Simplicity

Advertising professionals recommend starting with outdoor advertising when planning a campaign. This is because of a recommended length of three to seven words for the whole layout.  The sparseness of text is because that’s all a passing motorist can read. You can make your pitch deck slide design more understandable if you strip down your message to its core idea. If you do it right, your clients should be able to understand your message within the first two seconds of seeing it.

The short time frame saves you time explaining your content. This lets you get your point across faster and connect with your audience better.

Outdoor Ads Give Creative Opportunities

Depending on how you use them, pitch deck slide designs can give viewers new perspectives of ordinary stories or creative opportunities for interaction. The limited opportunity for explanation drives advertisers towards more creative ways to demonstrate key product benefits.

One example for this is 3M’s security glass ad, which featured stacks of money protected by the shatterproof glass. This gave pedestrians a chance to test how tough the glass is. As cited by brand communications expert, Carmine Gallo, this kind of interaction was also used when Steve Jobs distributed samples of the new MacBook’s unibody enclosure frame for his audience to see and touch for themselves.

Another example of outdoor ads giving a new perspective was the ambient ad campaign for MINI Cooper. Among the executions, the two themes (its small size and large carrying capacity) were highlighted with elevator stickers, airport luggage ads, and roadside ads.

Your Work Must Entertain Clients

As we said before, making pitch decks into a story keeps your audience attracted. This approach mirrors how advertisers strive for attention-grabbing installations. If you can apply this to your business or sales pitch, you can keep your clients entertained and avoid a boring pitch.

Doing this from a creative perspective requires you to look to your product, and sometimes, other competitors.  This is similar to how Volkswagen showed the benefits of its cruise control function. If you’re an industry leader or an upstart with a game-changing product, this is a good route to take.

Summing It Up

All these three tips rely on one thing, they need to be simple enough to be understood. Effective outdoor advertising uses as little words as possible to cater for motorists. This limit on text also helps inspire novel and unique ways to explain features and benefits.

To know more about getting great pitch deck ideas, take a few minutes to talk to a professional pitch deck design partner for free!

References

“Craft Your Corporate Presentations into a Great Story.” pitchdeck.com May 15, 2015. Accessed August 26, 2015.
Gallo, Carmine. The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010.
Sullivan, Luke. Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Ads. 3rd ed. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, 2008.

3 Exercises for Staying Calm During Investment Pitches

Posted on by Rick E

A professional setting calls for a professional approach. During vital investment pitches, you don’t want to seem nervous and fidgety, nor do you want to appear hyper and overbearing. Anxiety ruins your integrity as a presenter, as an uncontrolled wave of emotion could end up expressing the wrong message. What you need is a cool and calm approach that doesn’t get in the way of what you’re trying to say.

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Here are three tips to get you up to the task:

1. Empty Your Mind

You don’t want to be overtaken by your fears and anxieties. You also don’t want to be distracted by your overenthusiasm and excitement. To find a calm middle ground, empty your mind of present thoughts. Imagine an image from nature. Think of the quietly rushing water of a babbling brook or the wind blowing through a field. Imagine a loved one voicing encouragement.

It doesn’t matter which image you use to relax yourself, whether it’s specific or general. What’s important is that you do this well before your pitch. Practice clearing your mind and imagining relaxing thoughts repeatedly so that you’re ready to use these techniques when you need them.

2. Inhale, Exhale

Don’t forget to breathe. Sounds easy, right? Without even thinking about it, our body already does the breathing for us. However, steady breathing is harder to do when your body is stressing out.

Fortunately, some oxygen can help calm you down, especially when you’re feeling overwhelmed by your emotions or by a bout of the pitching jitters. Similar to when you’re in life-threatening danger, your body releases stress chemicals like cortisol and adrenaline, which increase your heart rate and blood pressure.

They may have helped our more primitive ancestors in outrunning predators, but they inadvertently make modern public speaking harder, increasing your chances of committing mistakes. Controlled breathing, among many things, optimizes your oxygen intake, making it easier for you to focus and think clearly. When you’re feeling nervous or anxious, just take one long breath, stomach out, and you’ll be fine.

3. Move Around

Motion changes your emotion. It’s not just some rhyme – it actually works. When you’re feeling overwhelmed by your responsibilities as a speaker, shift your stance or take a few steps in any direction. Making movements changes your perspective, helping you transition to a different state of mind.

If you’re frequently stiffening up due to nervousness, loosen your body up with some stretching exercises before a pitch, and move around during your pitch. Being mobile also allows you to better convey your message. In addition, effective use of body language communicates to your audience and to your subconscious self that you’re in control.

Conclusion

There are opportunities for you to let your emotions loose and be yourself. However, going overboard will make you look unprofessional and put a dent in your credibility. It can also confuse your audience into remembering your emotion instead of your core message. Freezing with nervousness will make you look even worse.

Don’t be hard on yourself if you find it difficult to present in front of an audience. Some nervousness is normal for important business pitches, but don’t be completely overcome with anxiety.

Instead of panicking even more, relax. Clear your mind of any present thoughts. The less you focus on worrisome possibilities, the more you can focus on actually getting your message across. Don’t forget to take deep breaths to optimize your oxygen intake and calm yourself down.

Lastly, move around, but don’t overdo it. Getting yourself in motion gives you a different perspective on things. Be cool, calm, and collected to ace your pitch and wow your listeners.

References

http://www.marionspeaks.com/_blog/Marions_Communication_Tips/post/3_Tips_to_Control_Emotions_When_Presenting/
http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/3-surprising-ways-a-deep-breath-can-reduce-your-anxiety/
http://scienceblogs.com/neurophilosophy/2010/04/21/motions-influence-emotions/

Featured Image: “Relaxing in Maldives” by Nattu on flickr.com

5 Pitching Habits That Skilled Speakers Should Avoid

Posted on by Rick E

Professionals sometimes neglect minor factors while presenting, often thinking that they’re trivial.

However, they forget that these seemingly insignificant habits can make or break their pitch.

Though there are guidelines to remember when speaking in public, there are also negative practices that could ruin your performance.

Here are five practices that presenters should avoid:

  1. Oversmiling

Learn when to smile and when not to.

What are the advantages of smiling?

Smiling helps you build rapport and connect with your audience, while also reducing your anxiety and boosting your confidence as a speaker.

When shouldn’t you smile during your pitch?

Though almost a given, remember not to smile while telling unfortunate stories.

You can also use a neutral expression to show professionalism and respect, especially when you’re discussing sensitive issues.

Knowing your content also lets you identify what part of your pitch requires specific kinds of facial expressions.

  1. Depending on Memory

Know when to depend on your script.

For beginners, it’s advisable to use notes to help them remember their cues.

For experienced speakers, it’s better not to depend on scripts to appear more professional and prepared.

However, there are times when you have to return to your notes. You may need to refer to your references if you’re discussing a particularly complicated topic. This is acceptable, as long as you don’t do this too often.

Try recording your speech and listening to it, watching out for any lines that stand out to you. List down anything from your speech that sounds powerful. You can use these as guideposts for the best times to deliver your strongest lines.

  1. Overacting

You can add humor to your speech to lighten your audience’s mood, making them more responsive. You may use stories that require exaggerated body language that’ll definitely make your audience laugh.

However, when delivering a serious topic, be gentle when you dramatize. This’ll convince your audience to feel the deep emotions you’re portraying and emphasizing.

  1. Overusing Authority

Learn when to be enthusiastic and when to be serious.

You can entertain your audience by telling them irrelevant anecdotes and information, but this doesn’t get you anywhere closer to driving your big idea home.

Don’t use your authority to overly engage your audience with stories that have nothing to do with your main message. You might get them into a better mood, but they’ll fail to recall what you want them to learn and understand.

If you want to use stories, tell only those that support your core message.

Always get back to your pitch’s main objective.

  1. Asking Unplanned Questions

People often end up asking unplanned questions when they make a mistake or when an unexpected event arises.

This is most presenters’ last resort in regaining their audience’s attention, but this often causes them to neglect their original plan for their pitch.

Understand that you have different types of audiences; some are expressive, while others are straight-faced.

While asking questions is important, only include relevant queries to save time and avoid boring your audience.

Start by asking the right questions, that is, those that clarify important points so that your listeners can better understand you.

Conclusion

Great presenters often overlook some practices that disrupt their pitch’s success.

However, understanding these negative pitching habits lets you avoid them and develop a more effective pitch. 

Know when it’s appropriate to smile during your pitch. It’s usually fine if you’re talking about something lighthearted, but it’s better to put on a neutral expression when discussing controversial topics.

Though reciting your pitch from memory makes you look like a professional in your field, there’s no harm in referring to your notes in case you forget what to say next. It’s better to have a back-up plan than to fumble and be unable to recover at all.

Using different facial expressions can add an emotional punch to your points, but don’t overdo it or you’ll only look like you’re forcing it.

You may be tempted to tell your audiences all the interesting stories you have in your head, but only share those that actually have something to do with and support your core idea.

Finally, don’t ask unplanned questions or you’ll drive your discussion off-track. Always be prepared to ask the right questions to regain your audience’s attention.

Removing all these unproductive habits are guaranteed to make better, more engaging pitches that convert into sales.

To help you with your pitch deck needs, let pitchdeck.com experts assist you!

References

Genard, Gary. “For Public Speaking Success, Ask the Right Questions!” The Genard Method, February 24, 2013. Accessed June 9, 2015. http://www.genardmethod.com/blog-detail/view/69/for-public-speaking-success-ask-the-right-questions#.VXcdKs9Viko
Mitchell, Olivia. “The 5 Bad Habits of Experienced Speakers.” Speaking about Presenting, June 2, 2011. Accessed June 9, 2015.  http://www.speakingaboutpresenting.com/presentation-skills/bad-habits-experienced-speakers/
 

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