Warning:  If you can hear a pin drop during your presentation, your audience may be asleep.   Which one of the following is an example of a good listening skill? (A) Address your customer’s objection’s first. (B) Use animated listening. (C) Finish your customer’s question as proof you’re in sync.

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“Why are you wasting my life?” Can you imagine a client saying that to you after you delivered (what you thought) was a pretty good, on target presentation?? Jeff Bezos did exactly that after one of his engineers delivered a complicated, boring presentation to the outspoken founder of Amazon. I

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Even if you didn’t get swept up in the Breaking Bad saga, it would have been difficult to miss the powerful hold it had on its audience, the awards it racked up or the place it earned popular culture. Maybe you had to listen to coworkers endlessly dissect each episode

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Most actors have to audition for every role.  In fact, even Marlon Brando had to audition for his iconic role in The Godfather.  Although he was a very successful actor at that point in his career, there were a lot of qualified actors competing for the part.  He knew he

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Thousands of movie-goers rely on reviews from people they’ve never met to guide them before shelling out hard cash for a movie. We are willing to trust the opinion of a disinterested third-party, whether it’s a website like Flixter or Rotten Tomatoes, or a newspaper or magazine, because they, like

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“You are the weakest link!,” the catch-phrase from the BBC’s popular game show, The Weakest Link was sharply followed by the word “Goodbye” from the blunt, no-nonsense host, Anne Robinson. What does this have to do with you or sales? In sales, there are several links in the chain that

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Bad news: Your attempts to engage your virtual audience by chatting or polling or drawing on the screen won’t make much of a difference UNLESS, you change this one thing in your web presentation or demo. Ready? Here it is: Adjust Your Style What do I mean by this? You

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A lot of what acting is, is paying attention. ~ Robert Redford Just between you and me: Have you ever  jumped in to finish a customer’s sentence because you thought you knew what he was going to say? How about rushing in to address an objection before it’s even fully out

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Like a great movie, using stories in sales can make a strong impact on your business audience, differentiate you and your solution and inspire action in a way that delivering information alone simply can not.  On the flip side, a poorly crafted or executed story can cost you credibility, attention and

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“Start with a Yes and see where that takes you.” Tina Fey I’m a big Tina Fey fan and her book Bossypants didn’t disappoint. Not only is it a fun, insightful glimpse behind the SNL cameras, it also shines a light one of the cardinal rules of improv that has

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If you’ve been selling for more than a week, you’ve already heard plenty of excuses from buyers: I need to think about it. I can’t afford it. You’re too expensive. The details may vary, but the reason buyers aren’t anteing up typically boils down to this: Frankly my dear, they

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Can you imagine an experienced performer like Justin Timberlake ending his performance by singing a few random notes before looking blankly at his audience and announcing, “Well, I guess that’s all I have” ? Not likely.  Professional performers strategically plan how they close their set to leave their audience clamoring

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