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Energy is a critical element for any motivational speech, whether to a rally of thousands or to one potential customer or employee. So how do we express that energy and translate it to our audience?

Two elements express energy: the movement of your body and the pace of your words.

Let’s first check out movement. Movement is very important to any presentation, both to combat your public speaking nerves and as a way of keeping audience attention. Your body movement is a way of setting a mood, either good or bad. So let’s use that movement to create an atmosphere of energy and excitement.

The Magic of Movement:

Be a moving target.

Move with energy and purpose. Take long steps and use large arm movements. This conveys to the audience that you are telling them an important and exciting idea or fact.

Make use of your entire space.

If you have a full stage, travel to one end to discuss one point and look directly at the people in that part of the audience. Then go to the other end, then the center, etc. If, on the other hand, you are locked behind a podium or table, or even seated in front of a client, make good use of all the dimensions of movement, even if you can’t go very far with your feet. Lean ahead, step back. Deeply bend your knees, reach up while on tiptoe. Reach around the podium to your left, lean on the podium with your right elbow. If you are seated, use your tailbone as a pivot and cover all the dimensions.

Pick Up Your Speaking Pace:

Ralph Nichols, one of the first people to study effective listening, discovered a surprising fact: listeners stayed more attentive and gained more information and understanding from fast-paced speakers than they did from their slower or moderately paced colleagues. His studies showed that the reason for this is that people can listen about three times faster than the average person speaks. What happens then is that about two-thirds of the listening time is available for thinking about something else… and pretty soon, the ‘something else’ becomes more interesting than the speaker.

So, to keep your audience’s attention, the answer is this: speak faster than you do in day-to-day conversation. This pace has the added advantage that it makes the audience feel they might miss something if they get distracted. When they are that focused, your energy becomes their energy and they buy into your message.

Both your movement and your speaking pace are critical to creating energy in the audience, yet there is another factor which is perhaps most critical of all:

The most significant way to transmit energy to your audience is to truly care about your subject.

In our presentation skills coaching, we often tell the story of safety advocate Ralph Nader, who is definitely not a flamboyant presenter, but who has such concern for his subject that his emotional energy immediately draws you in.

Unleashed energy can be extremely powerful.

Leashed or unleashed, energy is a significant key to motivating an audience, selling a product or project, raising funds or presenting a new policy. It also establishes you as a ‘want-to-hear’ presenter

Unless you have done a good job selling value throughout the buying process, it is unlikely that even a great sales presentation will turn the tide. However, even if you have done a superb job selling value, a bad presentation at the end might be enough to lose a deal you could have won.

There are some basic techniques that can minimize that misfortune from occurring:

• Be ruthless about clarity. Sales presentations must be compelling, engaging, or memorable.
• Add emphasis to key points. Present targeted success stories and examples.
• Weigh the importance of each portion. Sometimes you need to triage on the fly.
• Customize the sales presentation. There are no generic customers hence there are no winning generic presentations.

But there is a fifth area where the game is often won and lost and it’s one we find account executives often spend less than sufficient planning time – getting the Q&A session right.

The Q&A session is a full-fledged part of any sales presentation. And, it requires the same attention to preparation as the rest of the presentation.

Some tips:

• Most questions can be anticipated. This means that salespeople can plan and rehearse answers. It is not only what you say, but also how you say and what you don’t say that makes the difference.
• If you don’t know the answer, don’t fake it. The best approach is some variation of “I don’t know but I’ll find out.” One of these pops up in almost every presentation.
• Focus on information that is fact-based vs. personal opinion. If it is a fact based point you need to make sure that the backup information is in a “hip pocket.”
• Don’t back away from a challenging or confrontational question. But – never argue. Rather, begin your response by asking a simple question that helps you to better understand the concern – like “Could you just tell me a little bit more about that?” It is often the case that you don’t quite understand the challenge or the reason behind it, hence without a more information it is difficult to come up with a compelling answer. Plus, this approach gives you a little more time to think.
• Follow the 6-second rule. Don’t panic if you don’t immediately get a question. Wait 6 seconds – it might seem like an eternity but it’s very like one will pop up. If you actually don’t get any, considering proposing a question yourself – “In similar situations we often find the client will ask about the onsite support that is an important question because…”

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©2013 Sales Momentum® LLC

Turning to debt negotiation is a great consolidation alternative when your monthly expenses have gotten out of control. This is a process recommended for individuals who have fallen behind on their payments because they just don’t have enough income on a monthly basis to cover them all. This is one smart way for you to lower your monthly payments, yet still accept responsibility for the debt you have accumulated. Debt negotiation generally involves working with a for-profit or a non-profit organization. They will sit down with you to evaluate your debt situation, bad credit or good credit does not matter. You will be required to bring in current statements for all of your monthly bills as well as your monthly income.

A employee of a negotiation company will go over the information with you. They have negotiations already in place with the various lending institutions available, especially credit card companies. This means they will negotiate with the lender a lower interest rate for you. This will reduce the amount you will have to repay over the term of the debt. You will have a monthly payment to make to the debt negotiation company rather than paying each creditor on a monthly basis. They will then allocate the agreed upon amount to each creditor. You will continue to get a monthly statement from each creditor. Make sure the statement reflects the amount of payment your debt negotiation states they will be getting.

It is very important that you work with a qualified debt negotiation agency with a solid track record. Take the time to research their background. Find out how long they have been in business. You should also check their status with the Better Business Bureau. This is a great way to find out about consumer complaints against a particular debt negotiation agency and their dealing with satisfied and dissatisfied consumers.

While negotiation is a great way to be responsible for your debt, keep in mind your credit score will be affected. It will be lower as long as you remain on the debt negotiation plan. In most cases, your credit score will be better than if you had continued being late and missing payments like you were before. Creditors will have to show your account as paid in full once the negotiated amount has been paid. It is very important that you review your credit report to make sure this has been done.