3 Public Speaking Habits To Kill Before 2011

Stories, storytelling and story selling are vital skills to look for when choosing sales presentation training. Sales professionals who sell with stories are likely to sell more. But what is it that could be holding you back from joining successful top performers?

Three nasty habits.

Before we jump into the specifics, let’s look at why stories do such a remarkable job in persuasive presenting.

Here’s why: Stories are easy to remember. Stories are easy to talk about. Stories engage audiences because they are about real life, real people and real results.

A well-told, authentic story is contagious. When you use storytelling in your sales presentations, you can watch your ideas catch on like wildfire.

Not Just For Sales

Whether you are ‘officially’ in sales or not, you must communicate ideas. Just think of all the presentations you give in your professional life. From job interviews, to team reports, to client briefings to investor pitches, you are constantly giving presentations that must persuade and convince people to buy-in to what you are selling.

In today’s business world, it is extremely important to communicate your ideas. You must connect and engage your audience.

Stories do this in an instant. They transform complex problems into simple solutions. Your audience relates to you. They buy the story — and they open up to what you are presenting.

It’s a natural path for gaining trust and guiding decisions.

But What If You Have Nerves and Jitters?

But what if storytelling doesn’t come naturally? Is this a skill that can be learned?

The good news and short answer is: absolutely.

Telling powerful stories for business presentations is a skill that can be learned. And if you want to enjoy all the benefits of connecting to your audience and selling more with stories, you can learn how to do it!

But first, you may need to clear out some of the cobwebs that have kept you from sharing stories in your presentations. Let’s look at the top 3 habits that may have held you back in the past.

Habit #1. Focus On Bad Experiences

Are you replaying all the nightmares and nervous anxiety you’ve ever felt when speaking in public? If you have this habit, you are making a challenging situation even worse. If you emphasize bad experiences, you can recreate your worst nightmare.

What to do instead? Stay open to a different event and a new experience. Stay present. You don’t have to replay the past or expect a bad experience again.

Habit #2. Focus On Negative Outcomes

What’s the worst thing that could happen if you give a business presentation and really blow it? Keep focusing on this and you can work yourself into a full-blown anxiety attack.

What’s an alternative? Focus on what’s going right. Keep pulling your attention to ‘what’s working’ rather than dwelling on all the things that could go wrong.

Habit # 3. Focus On Physical Symptoms

“My palms are sweaty.” “My throat is parched.” “My stomach is jittery.” Focusing on your initial physical symptoms often increases your attention on the scary bits of feeling anxious.

What can you do instead? Experiment with focusing on what is working. Emphasize the positive. You may find that even the toughest nervous symptoms recede when you focus on what’s working.

Shift your attention. Pay attention to what IS working.

When you focus on what’s working you can have a much easier time telling and selling more with stories in the days remaining in 2010…in 2011…and beyond.