Pitching to an International Audience / Part 5

By Milestone|3 November 28, 2019

Noticing the way we speak to clients is critical – and the way we speak to others is not only limited to our mouth. We also communicate with our body language. Imagine a person who is very confident in a meeting – what would that person look like/sound like? How about a person who is not trust-worthy, what would that person look/sound like? What are their eyes like? How do their hands move?

Many different research indicates that our body language is the most impactful when making impressions upon others during communication. I watched a team of sales professionals cross their arms in front of their chest while answering questions from their client, at the end of a sales pitch. Now, if you were sitting and watching someone speak to you with arms crossed in front of their bodies – what feeling would you get? Using hand resting positions is essential to show professionalism, and confidence, when pitching to clients. In addition, the amount of movement we make with our feet also shows how comfortable we are when pitching to clients. If we see a sales executive constantly shuffle their feet while presenting to clients, our level of confidence in that sales executive drops. Moreover, we cannot help but to think – “If this sales executive is so nervous now, how would he/she act if we had a crisis when working together in the future?”

What can we do if we have an important client presentation coming up? Practice in front of a video recorder and watch your own performance.

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