Three Sales Presentations Tips You Probably Haven’t Heard Before

You’ve probably heard lots of advice about how to make a great sales presentation: make eye contact, don’t say “umm”, use color poster printing pieces instead of black and white, and on and on.

These tips are all important, but I’ve found a few that you might not have thought of before. So without further ado, here are three tips that you probably haven’t heard:

Don’t wait for stragglers

How many times have you showed up for a meeting at work a few minutes early, only to wait 10 or 15 minutes after the time it should have started for the latecomers? Then because the presenter waited on the stragglers, the meeting started late, which means it ended late, which means you’re behind on your next task or meeting.

By waiting on the stragglers for a sales presentation, you’re rewarding those that are late and punishing those that are punctual. And, you’re sending a signal that your time isn’t as important as the audience’s time, which isn’t true. It also sends the message that people can walk all over you. It’s okay to wait a few minutes as a courtesy because not everyone’s watches and clocks are synchronized, but beyond that, you should start. If the President or other high-ranking officer of the company is late to the meeting, you should ask the highest-ranked person in the room if it’s okay to start without them. If not, you may want to ask to reschedule, or oftentimes, someone can make a phone call and get the people you need to see in the room quickly.

Don’t skip your medications

Nothing can ruin a good presentation like a sneeze fit or a runny nose that’s blown 18 times in 10 minutes. Make sure to take allergy medication or cold medication if you aren’t feeling well that day, and if your presentation is in the morning, take medicine the night before if you feel something coming on.

If you get so nervous that you get an upset stomach, take some Pepto-Bismol or Tums. If you get stress headaches, take a pain reliever an hour or two before your presentation.

Avoid taking any kind of psychiatric medications before speaking if you don’t normally take them. You could become drowsy or have other side effects that you didn’t notice before, like slurred speech. Mumbling your words will not impress anyone!

Don’t trail off at the end of your senten…

Many people’s voices get softer at the end of a sentence, so it can be hard to hear them. If you do this in your presentation, people may miss an important piece of information. Try to keep energy in your voice throughout your presentation, and use inflection (changing the pitch or loudness of your voice) to keep your tone interesting. A monotone voice (like Ben Stein, the Clear Eyes spokesperson, a.k.a. Ferris Bueller’s teacher) is almost as bad as letting the end of your sentences die off. Keep your tone interesting and you’ll be able to keep your prospects’ attention for your entire presentation.