Nervousness Is Good For Your Sales Presentation- How to Handle It

Most people experience one of the biggest anxieties or nervousness in the form of giving presentations; which includes sales presentation. However dreadfully nervous you may be, the sales presentation ability tied to a selling function or part of a job that involves selling is frequently an essential requirement in any type of work.

Giving sales presentations to customers, clients, or prospects can be more nerve-wrecking than presenting to internal staff or even team members as a typical event. This is because the outcome weighs heavily on the reputation of your team and organization as well as signals your selling ability in securing a deal.

Make sure you take action to lessen performance anxiety and stage fright well in advance of your presentation. Some advice on how to stop or at least delay the start of anxiety for both online and in-person sales presentation are outlined below:

• Manageable doses of nervousness are recommended to keep you on your toes; so that you don't take the sales presentation for granted. Thus, prioritizing your focus on the business linked to the sales presentation. Even if you are not presenting to an audience of hundreds among your staff. you still owe it to yourself to learn a few coping mechanisms so that you can concentrate on giving an impactful and captivating sales presentation.

• It's challenging to sustain a high degree of fear for a prolonged amount of time. Sales presentation nervousness is typically worse at the start that coincides with your opening; which is crucial since it sets the scene and shapes your initial impression. In general, you finished the opening lines, which, thereafter, your practiced preparation takes effect to minimize nervousness as you progress.

• Increase your confidence by conscious planning because you understand your presentation and are prepared to deliver it. Planning is not the same as preparation and practice. Comparatively, majority of presentation and sales experts advise on preparation and practice without much emphasis on planning. However, sales presentation must be taken as a planned interaction that is structure. Nervousness can be greatly reduced or less likely to strike strongly when your plan can foresee what you have set out to do. Outline the structure of your sales presentation to decide what you must do for the introduction, body, and conclusion stages. Knowing what to say and do during the sales presentation reduces the chance of fear creeping in as you concentrate on connecting with your prospect or client. Following your sales presentation plan can be exciting because you will look forward to discover how it turns out at the end. You may change your mindset and begin to channel your nervous energy outward by redefining your apprehensive feelings as enthusiasm or anticipation rather than dread. This will help you get more involved in your presentation with your audience and your confidence increases.

• Recognize the purpose behind your words and what you are saying.?Memorizing what you want to say is a popular way to try and control anxiety. However, all this accomplishes is to give your delivery a robotic tone. The entire presentation will be thrown off if you forget a word or go blank. More time that passes, you get more anxious because you fear of forgetting the next word or sentence. Try to grasp your material on a deeper level rather than merely memorizing it. If you build your presentation around a logical flow and progression, you can regain your bearings if you veer off course.

• Organize your sales presentation so that you can anticipate what will happen next in your preferred way. This strategy enables you to manage your own anxiety regarding your ability to recall your presentation's content and organizational structure. Some pointers to help with that:

>Have a cue card with a list of crucial words.

>Use specific words to help you remember what is next.

>List transitional words and phrases while using slides.

• Once you've decided what you're going to say, you need to get ready to say it. Prepare answers to upcoming inquiries. Think like the front-row sceptic who consistently tries to throw the presenter into a loop with difficult questions.

• Concentrate on a task to occupy your mind away from the nervousness. Using a whiteboard, demonstrating a feature, or presenting a case study are all examples of activities or tools that might help you focus on something other than your performance. Your mind is busier and has less time to measure your emotional temperature because the action of selling becomes more complicated. Do concentrate on:

> Display a video.

> Make a product or feature demonstration.

> Give out and explain a handout or a guide.

> Encourage your audience to ask questions.

> Engage the audience in conversation, pose a question.

• Even if you shouldn't memorize your speech, you should be quite comfortable giving it. Confidence is boosted by familiarity with your content and flow of presentation. Practice helps you speak more naturally. Instead of originating from a piece of paper or slide shown, what you say will come from your heart and thoughts.

Here are some tips for practising when doing your rehearsal:

> Study your sales presentation's structure and flow.

> Memorize your opening, if you must for a seamless start.

> Take a video of yourself. It's easy with mobile phones now.

Aside from the technical tips above, you can also refer to the countless online resources posted by experts about coping with nervousness through physical activities, such as breathing, visualization and more.

In conclusion, controlling anxiety or nervousness before sales presentation is a part and parcel of our job as a presenter doing selling. While the stakes are high in most crucial selling situations, you can lessen the nervousness by managing the factors within your control, for example, by consciously planning your presentation as part of preparation. In time, you will breeze through the planning to preparation, to practice, and ends with presenting your sales presentation successfully.