Partners in Performance Blog

The Selling Mindset: What one man taught me and how it changed my life…

selling mindset

Every once in a while something happens that changes your life forever. Here’s what one man taught me that formed my selling mindset. I learned that the right selling mindset is the fastest way to produce sales results.

In the early 90’s, Al Kupcis was President and CEO of what was then Ontario Hydro. He led the company through an intense period of deregulation and massive change including downsizing, reorganization and restructuring. Al Kupcis has no idea how much my one meeting with him changed my mindset … Read More

Sales Presentations Coming? Use Your Voice to Hold Attention

Power of PauseWhat do you do to prepare for your business or sales presentations? Are you like so many people who work hard on preparing the content and slides for their presentation but pay little attention to how they will deliver their message?

It’s one thing knowing WHAT you want to say but it’s entirely different knowing HOW to communicate your message so that you’re compelling and persuasive during sales presentations. Your content can be filled with great information but if your delivery is weak or distracting, it’s hard to really … Read More

Presentation Structure: The Rule of Three

Do you struggle with how to organize all the details and points of your presentation? If so, you’ll feel overwhelmed and confused when you deliver your presentation. And if you come across as confused, don’t expect your audience to make a decision and act based on your presentation..

If you want to be clear, concise and compelling, start with presentation structure. Knowing how to organize your information in the … Read More

Presentation Coaching: Tips for Self Coaching

When I train and coach presenters, I often observe an automatic self-talk after the presentation has been delivered. I hear, “That was awful, I screwed up…I should have done….” The focus of attention is immediately on mistakes and what didn’t work from their perspective. It’s next to impossible to build confidence from this mental position. Harsh, self judgement sets us up for more of the same in the future.

One of my objectives in coaching presenters is to help them break this pattern of ‘beating ones … Read More

Presentation Nerves: Avoid The Apology Mistake

In a recent UPFRONT Persuasion workshop, we were exploring how to overcome presentation nerves. One of the participants mentioned that her worst fear was going blank. It’s not fun when you’re staring out at your audience for what feels like an eternity and you have no idea where you are in your presentation or what you’re supposed to say next.

A fellow participant had been a competitive singer in her younger days and she commented on how points were lost when … Read More

Performance Anxiety is Nasty

Do you get the shakes and quakes, stomach flips and painful mental images of crashing and burning during your business presentations? If so, you’re in good company. Performance anxiety and stage fright are as common for actors, musicians, athletes and comedians as it is for business professionals.

In an UPFRONT Persuasion Through Presentation skills workshop this week, a senior executive confided that he never knew when stage fright would rear its ugly head. He even named this pesky intruder his “gremlin.”

Performance anxiety … Read More

How Long Is Your Sales Cycle?

It is as long as you think it is.

As we think, so we shall do: If we think something will take a long time, it most certainly will.

While there are many factors that contribute to compressing sales cycle time, shifting our beliefs and assumptions is certainly a critical starting point. It’s like the classic children’s story about the little engine that could. ..”I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.”

A client recently … Read More

Presentations that Do NOT Persuade

Last week I was delivering a presentations skills workshop and was observing “Nancy” (name changed) deliver her presentation. Her content and delivery overall were quite good except for one big problem: she sounded more like a recording than a real person. She was using a ‘presentation voice.’ Nancy was not being herself.

With a bit of coaching, she began using her ‘real voice’ and in doing so, revealed a much more authentic voice that was engaging, passionate … Read More