Wooing and Winning Business

A quick and easy formula for selling your product, your service, yourself, that gets results. . guaranteed

Whatever you have to sell, be it product or service, this book will show how to create the perfect presentation and nail the sale. Written by the experts at Speechworks, this book arms the huge and guidance-hungry market of salespeople, business presenters, and entrepreneurs with a fool-proof formula for making the perfect pitch every time, whether they're talking to one person or an audience of thousands. With this book you'll find:

* A proven formula for organizing your thoughts for clarity and impact
* Visualization techniques that help you find the most compelling language and anecdotes to captivate even the toughest audiences
* Surefire techniques for increasing your physical presence and personal persuasiveness

SPRING ASHER and WICKE CHAMBERS (Atlanta, Georgia) are partners of Chambers & Asher Speechworks. They are also columnists for The Atlanta Journal/Constitution. For their work as TV producers they have received six Emmy Awards and the Best of Gannet Award for New Programming.

The A to Z guide to making a flawless business presentation.

Thirty-three million business presentations are made each day, most of them by people whose number one fear is public speaking. This is the complete guide to creating winning business presentations and making the perfect pitch. It includes a step-by-step guide that makes it easy to persuade the listener, develop evidence that sells, and create visuals that reinforce the message.

The authors train several thousand executives each year from organizations including MCI, Georgia-Pacific and UPS.
* Offers a foolproof formula: finding the hook, the incentive, and the style to sell anything to anyone.

Spring Asher and Wicke Chambers (both of Atlanta, GA) are partners of Chambers & Asher Speechworks, an organization providing communications consulting services to business professionals and executives.

Acknowledgements xiii
Introduction Wooing & Winning Business 1
Thrills That Change Your Life 4
I'm Just a Plain, Ordinary Person. Do I Have What It Takes? 6
Are You Crazy? Of Course You're Persuasive 7
Sure, You Can Fake It til You Make It 7
You've Got the Guts 8
How to Use This Book 8
Part 1 Wooing the Client 11
1 The Quick Fix Presentation Helper 13
How to Organize your Presentation: The Speechworks Formula 15
A Session with the Speechworks Coach 18
Presentation Power 21
2 What Turns Them On 23
Know Your Listener 26
How Do You Assess Your Listener? 26
Recap 27
3 The Formula: Getting to Yes! Yes! Yes! 29
Tell'Em What's in it for Them: Preview 31
Tell'Em: Make a Point and Illustrate It 37
Make it Memorable 42
Transitions 43
Keep It Jargon-Free 43
Tell'Em What You Just Told'Em: Recap 45
Use a Wrap-up Story and Then Ask for the Order 46
It Can't Be This Easy 48
Recap 48
4 Good Visuals, Like Cologne, Linger Longer with the Listener 49
Visuals Work for Your Listeners 52
Visuals Work for You 56
Add POW to Your Presentation 57
Practice, Practice, Practice 62
Recap 64
5 Inquiring Minds Want to Know: Handling Questions and Answers 65
Plan Ahead 67
Control the Mechanics of Q&A in a Large Group Setting 70
The Body Language of a Leader 73
End with Recapping 74
Recap 74
Part 2 All the Right Moves 75
6 Never Let'Em See You Sweat 81
Expect to Be Nervous 84
No Whining 84
Turn Presentation Panic into Presentation Power Using the Three Ps: Preparation, Physical Fitness, and a Positive Mental Attitude 85
Recap 88
7 Confidence Is Sexy: Presence 89
Do a Presence Makeover 91
Taking the Floor 93
Leaving the Stage 93
What to Do When You're Sitting Down 93
To Stand or Sit, That Is the Question 94
Recap 95
8 Let's Face It: Eye Contact and Face Energy 97
The Eyes Have It 99
Zero in on One Set of Eyes 100
Avoid Common Eye Disturbances 101
Facial Expression 102
Recap 103
9 Reach Out and Touch Someone: Body Language 105
Avoid Static Cling Gestures 107
One Small Step 109
Get Physical 109
Recap 110
10 It's Not What You Say, but the Way That You Say It 11
Add Spice to Your Presentation 113
Change the Pace 114
Power Up! 115
The Voice - It's That Gender Thing 115
Be Conversational 116
Sound Like You Mean It 117
You Want to Do What? Inflection 117
Aerobicize Your Lips: Articulate 118
Exercise 1: Use a Tape Recorder 118
Exercise 2: Lower the Pitch of Your Voice 118
Voice Power 119
Recap 119
11 The Pause That Impresses 121
No One Talk Too Fast 124
Power Pause Exercises 125
Pause to Let Your Listeners Catch Up 126
Pause to Cloak Nervousness 126
Pause to Eliminate the Knocks and Pings 126
Pause to Highlight Sales Points 127
Pause Plus 127
Recap 128
12 Dump the Distractions 129
Physical Distractions 131
Verbal Distractions 132
Psychological Distractions 132
Recap 133
13 It Was One of Those Electric Moments: Microphones 135
Stand Away 137
Don't Get Caught Amplifying a Dull, Little Voice 138
Recap 139
14 We're Going to Do It Again Until We Get It Right 141
Lights, Action, On-Camera Exercises 144
Posture Exercises: Video 144
Facial Exercises 145
Eye Contact Exercise: Video 146
Gesture and Movement: Video 146
Voice Exercise: Video/Audio 147
Recap 148
Part 3 Winning 149
15 Red-Hot Competition: Team Presentations 153
It's a Race to the Finish 156
How to Be a Standout in a Shoot-Out 156
Get a News Producer 156
The Corporate Message 157
Separate Your Team from the Competition 158
Build Credibility 158
Use Visuals to Make Your Team Memorable 159
Close with Conviction 160
Plan for Questions and Answers 161
Beware of Late-Breaking News 161
Adopt a News Team Polish 162
Rehearse to Add Team Polish 162
Rate Your Presentation Like a Prospect 164
Recap 164
6 Seminars That Sizzle and Sell 165
Define the Audience and How You Can Attract It 167
Learn From Seminar Pros 168
Target Your Participants'' Needs 168
Fill-in-the-Bank Study Guides Reinforce Your Information 169
Rehearse to Insure Polish 169
Make It Interactive 170
Evaluate to Improve 170
Follow up to Win 173
Recap 173
17 The Secret to Getting Involved 175
The Wooing Difference 177
Everybody's Doing It 178
Why Presenters Fear Participation 179
Nine Ways to Make Your Groups More Interactive 181
Recap 186
18 We Have to Stop Meeting Like This: Meetings 187
The Leader's Role 189
The Participant's Role 192
Create Memorable Meetings 194
Recap 194
19 This Could Be the Beginning of a Long-Term Relationship: Job Interviews 195
You Are the Product 198
Organize Your Assets into Three Key Points 198
Make a Point and Illustrate It 198
Overcome Objections 199
Know Your Customer 199
Define the Job 199
Ask for the Order 200
Packaging Is Important 200
Explore the Fit with Confidence 201
Recap 202
20 You Want Me to Do What? Impromptu Speaking 203
Learn to Speak Well on a moment's Notice 205
Expect the unexpected 205
Follow the Play Action: Listen 206
Develop a Ready Response Plan 206
Keep Your Comments Short 206
Speak Up 207
Recap 207
Appendix A How to Cure a Common Case of Cold Feet 209
Appendix B Using the Formula: Seminar Presentation 213
Appendix C Using the Formula: Introducing the Speaker 217
Index 221