Selling At The Start
When I competed in speech and debate in high school, I learned a very important fact about presenting before people: you’ve got to get them interested at the start. If you do not capture their interest at the beginning, usually within the first thirty seconds of the speech, you are not likely to go far. Honing this skill was a vital tool of mine in my high school competition, and it still serves me today.
Knowing how to sell something on the spot is a useful and important tool for any entrepreneur to have. There are two cases where this will be very important:
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In selling your product.
There will be many times when having the sum of your idea down in a few quick sentences can either pique your audiences curiosity, or turn them off. Having a short summary of your product or service memorized is a great way to be prepared for any such situation.
2. In selling yourself.
Beyond selling a product, selling yourself (in a social situation, a business meeting, or any other situation) can be vital skill to know. Knowing how to highlight your most interesting points, or what may be most relevant to the audience before you, is an important skill to learn. This is more improvisational than a thirty second summary of a product, but it is of just as much, if not more, value to you.
testacr22
I agree! The 10-second hook is crucially important to any sales situation. You don’t want to lose the attention or interest of the prospect, because it’s near impossible to get back.
Mav – excellent shot. You hit the bullseye. A strong intro means more than people realize. That being said (and I’m sure this isn’t news to you), I’ve noticed you also have to have a full-circle conclusion that’s strong and wraps thing up logically. How about the presentations where people end with “So…, um, yeah.”