Present Your Way To The Top: Selling At The Whiteboard

What if sales presentations were easier, faster and better without slides? What if you could engage your clients, create meaningful conversations and collaborate together—from the start? Find out the 3 secrets to unlock unstoppable results. Selling at the whiteboard revolutionizes what you know about sales presenting. It’s not just that slides are boring. It’s that audiences are fed up with being passive while sales presenters ‘spit sand.’ There’s a lot of discussion about what makes sales presentations really work. It’s not as simple as benefits in…sales out. If it were all that simple, sales professionals would take the time to truly distinguish a feature from a benefit. But that’s another topic for another time. Right now, let’s focus on heating up sales conversations at the whiteboard. If you’ve ever taken a presentation skills training, you know that it truly is possible to learn new skills. It’s the same with whiteboard presentation skills. Only a few things stand in the way. Belief. Skills. Training. Let’s look into each one and see how to build skills to successfully present your sales story at the whiteboard…in minutes not weeks. “Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.” - Mahatma Gandhi 1. What Do You Believe? Have you been repeatedly telling yourself that you’re hopeless at the whiteboard? Do you say it over and over again, with firm conviction? If so…you’ll realize one thing. You’re really good at convincing yourself! Use the same talent of persuasion to believe that you can acquire the skills to simplify complex ideas and engage clients—at a whiteboard. Funny how that works, right? 2. What Skills Do You Have? When is the last time you picked up a marker? Was it in kindergarten? Was it to draw a picture with your kids? Was it to plan a cool sales training program at the whiteboard? If it’s been a while since you worked on your interactive visual storytelling skills, don’t despair. These skills are learnable. In fact, it’s easiest to think of it like a language—a visual language. To speak a language you must learn the alphabet, words, sentence structure and story flow. Just like a foreign language. To speak a visual language for whiteboard presenting, follow the same organization. Learn visual icons. Discover how to combine words and icons. Organize this symbolic language into ‘sentences’ so everyone ‘gets’ what you are describing. Then, organize sentences into visual frameworks. Finally, learn how to talk ad lib, engage with other people and respond on the spot. This kind of fluidity in speech is why whiteboard presenters learn the skill of facilitating interaction. It’s real-time visual storytelling. Just remember…when you learned to speak your native language, you had to start at the beginning. A baby learns by experimenting. They rarely start speaking fluid sentences from the get-go. There’s a whole lot of trial and error first. The same is true for learning a visual language. Don’t miss the beginning steps. Everything else builds on this foundation. 3. What Training Do You Need? Training in skills is critical—if you’re serious about being poised and professional in front of important clients. Standing with a marker in your hand is something you want to learn well, practice, and get personal training to do effectively. Many of my clients start out swearing that they are ‘incapable’ of thinking visually, drawing, sketching on the spot, or creating a visual map that guides conversation. They are thrilled when they realize that by following a step-by-step approach, the impossible becomes very do-able. The most important training is to challenge limiting beliefs, build hands-on skills, and target specific opportunities to whiteboard sales conversations with your customers. But the key is to start. Start with uprooting negative self-talk and attitudes that hold you back. Continue to build your skills in a visual language. Interested in boosting your presentation skills? Get the training you need to push peak performance. Your mood will improve, your skill will soar, and your sales will be your ultimate reward.