When training a sales team, a lot of sales leaders make the mistake of focusing all of their energy on the outcomes they hope to gain from the presentation training and not enough on the presentation itself. Don’t fall into this trap.
The truth of the matter is, if you want to meet your sales goals continually, then your sales team needs to be just as excited and invested in your mission as you are. Your training presentation is a critical opportunity to spark that excitement from the very beginning
Make sure your sales team is fully engaged, equipped, and eager to attack your loftiest goals now and in the future using the following presentation training tips.
Tell a Story
We’ve all been victim to those presentations where a speaker rattles off facts and figures without providing any context, feeling, or reason behind them. Not only are those types of presentations mind-numbing and boring, but—more importantly—they’re ineffective. According to research found on the Harvard Business Review, storytelling not only helps humans focus better, but it also helps them retain information and compels them to change.
For your sales team to want to give their all to you, they need to feel the “why” behind what you’re doing. Simply telling them why isn’t enough. To evoke genuine feeling, your presentation should tell a meaningful, authentic story about why you’re doing what you’re doing; not simply lay out facts.
Cultivate a Dialogue
Simply put, no one likes to be talked at; folks want to be spoken with so that they feel like an important factor in what’s being discussed. Therefore, you want to be mindful that you’re presenting with your sales team, and not merely presenting at them.
To do this effectively, be sure to integrate meaningful questions throughout the presentation. Ask them about their takeaways from various points and whether they have suggestions for any given topic or directive to improve it. This inherently makes them more engaged and will allow them to feel like integral members of your team whose opinions and insight are valued.
Make It About Them
When presenting any material, it’s tempting to focus on why you and/or your company want X, Y, and Z to happen. But if you really want to make a lasting connection and compel change with your material, then it’s better to focus on why they should want X, Y, and Z to happen.
Take some time to consider the unique positions of your audience members. Ask yourself what they will gain from absorbing and practicing the information you’re providing and be sure to make that among the main focuses of your presentation.
Don’t Read From The Slide
Chances are, your sales team already knows how to read, so don’t subject them to a presentation of you reading off a series of slides that they can more easily read themselves. Your slides should be treated as visual supplements to the content you’re sharing and not the entire presentation.
The best way to ensure that you don’t rely too heavily on your visuals and bore your team to death is to be prepared. Study the material you’re sharing at length, memorize the critical messages you want to convey, and practice what you’re going to say. Once you know these things inside and out, your presentation will be easier to deliver and more interesting for your team to follow.
Pay Attention To Your Visuals
Don’t get me wrong – just because you shouldn’t rely solely on your visuals to present for you, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give them plenty of time and attention. Visuals have the ability to make connections in our brains that text alone can’t, so they’re critical to driving your presentation and all of its valuable information home.
When reviewing the information you’d like to present, always be on the lookout for opportunities to turn nuggets of knowledge and bits of data into compelling infographics, charts, or any other visual that will more clearly illustrate an idea.
