The long established, three golden rules of advertising: “Repetition, repetition, repetition” can work well when you are preparing to make a sales presentation too.
Long ago, during marketing communication lectures at university, it was drawn to my attention that the potential buyer of your goods or services needs to receive your advertising message at least three times within a reasonable time frame in order to be able to recall it and then make a purchase. You will notice the frequency of TV, radio and social media advertising you receive yourself, all designed to drive home a sales message and encourage you to act upon it.
This principle holds good when applied to making a sales speech. In order to help your audience to remember your message, the heart of your speech, your presentation must repeat your key message at least three times. It must also flow, be interesting but above all, be memorable.
It is perfectly possible to repeat your message if you are speaking clearly and you can use different words and phrases which mean the same thing. For example, “this product will last.” You can also say, “you will still be using this product a year from now.” Or, “this product has a lifetime guarantee”.
Using repetition will serve to emphasise the point you are making, while keeping your presentation fresh and engaging.
Keep repeating your key message and it will sink in. Whoever hears your message will remember it, if your message is repeated at least three times.
When preparing your speech, remember this simple rule:
- Say what you’re going to say
- Say it
- Say what you’ve said.
What does this mean, exactly? Well, your introduction should include the bare points of what is to follow. Your introduction serves as an hors d’ouevre or an amuse bouche or a starter and it should be designed, therefore, to whet the appetite of your listeners. Allude to the main points which are to follow, but in brief, giving a taster to your audience of what you are going to serve up in your presentation.
The main body of your presentation should clearly deal with the key points you wish to make. I suggest strongly that you include only three major items here if you wish your message to be remembered and recalled after your presentation is over. Fewer points will render your speech weak and potentially a waste of time for the audience. More points could overload your audience’s memory capacity and therefore be wasted as they will be forgotten.
The three key points should each be dealt with using clarity, impact and relevance. If humour is appropriate, use it, but use it sparingly as it is can be difficult to judge the mood of the room and humour can work against you as easily as it can work for you.
Once you have clearly addressed each of your three topic areas, using logical links and compelling language, you can move on the final part of your presentation; the summary of your speech.
The concluding part of your speech or presentation follows the in-depth analysis. This should lightly touch on what you have just said, outlining again the benefits of your product or service and what those mean for your audience. Use a short story of a satisfied customer’s experience to underline the three points you made in your presentation, for example, to highlight what you have just said and bring your presentation to a well-balanced close.
There are many different ways of achieving an impactful speech. As well as using the rule of three – Repetition, repetition, repetition – a good sales presentation embodies good posture, congruent body language, and the effective use of intonation, pitch and pause.
The content of your speech – what you actually say – is vital and you need to rehearse it more than once, more than twice, ie three times, before you deliver your speech in front of your audience.
Be interesting, be yourself and remember to repeat your key message. Repeat your key message not once, not twice. Remember to repeat your key message three times and your audience has a good chance of remembering, recalling and most importantly, acting on the message to buy your product or service.
For more information on how to make a good speech get in touch.
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