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Buying Signs: A New Look at
Selling
In this
presentation, Bill Acheson
examines how non-verbal skills
associated with rapport,
personal power, and deception
come into play when prospects or
clients meet face-to-face with
sales professionals.
“Buying Signs: A New ‘Look’
at Selling” is filled with
nuggets of information about
body language that will help the
sales professional to more
accurately understand the hidden
messages sent through non-verbal
communication. We examine, in
detail, the significance of how
to approach others, styles of
handshakes including
subconscious indicators of
attitude and intent, and,
finally, we take a fresh look at
the number one indicator of
sales success: listening skills.
Rapport Building
A look at
“Rapport Building” includes how
to approach prospects, as well
as the differences in
approaching men and women. Learn
the six styles of handshakes and
how to differentiate both
conscious and subconscious
non-verbal cues.
It takes only 1/24th of a second
to create a first impression at
the subconscious At three
seconds that first impression is
established and unlikely to
undergo further significant
change.
Non-verbal messages in first
meetings are as much as ten
times more powerful than words
in establishing personality.
Even simple behaviors have
strong impacts. For example, to
establish rapport when meeting
others, remember to approach
women "head on," but to approach
men from a slight angle.
Non-verbal communication may be
conscious or subconscious. The
subconscious signals are far
richer in message value. When
you shake hands with someone,
for instance, you provide a firm
grip, smile, and establish eye
contact. These are conscious
signals. But a subconscious cue,
the non-shaking hand, is often
the best indicator of attitude
and intent on the part of the
other person.
Listening skills are equally
critical in building rapport and
in themselves are good
non-verbal indicators of
successful business
communication. Do you know if
your prospects are listening to
your message? Do they believe
you are responsive to their
message? In this session we also
take a look at projecting and
interpreting listening behavior.
This segment is also done as a
standalone keynote presentation.
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Personal Power
Personal
Power is "the ability to get
things done," but what does it
look like? In conversational
speech it is controlled and
relaxed. In presentations
personal power is dynamic and
forceful. Men tend to be overt
in their displays of power,
while women practice subtlety.
In this presentation, you will
learn more of how we communicate
through body language
Power is defined as the absence
of fear. The key to projecting
personal power is to maintain a
relaxed muscle tone. While
standing, maintain an erect, but
relaxed posture. While sitting,
a backwards lean is most
effective for men; erect posture
is more appropriate for women.
As a rule, movement and power
are inversely related. Your
hands and feet should move less
than average. For males,
steepling, with fingertips
together and palms apart, and
hand to chin behavior indicate
high levels of personal power.
For women, unobtrusive steepling,
with fingers pointed downward,
indicates personal power without
overt aggressiveness.
When movement is desired,
gestures should be purposeful
and dynamic. Men tend to be
slightly exaggerated when
gesturing; women restrained.
In “Personal Power,” we examine
professional and social settings
to learn how people use time,
space, appearance, posture,
gesture, voice, facial
expression, eye contact, touch,
silence, and even smell to
communicate messages about
power.
This
segment is also done as a
standalone keynote presentation.
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Identifying Deception
The ability
to identify deception is
critical in a world where things
are not always what they seem.
Deception is a conscious act
that tends to create involuntary
physiological responses on the
part of the speaker, providing
an opportunity to determine when
we are being deceived. As a
rule, the bigger the lie, the
easier it is to detect through
non-verbal communication. A
review of research data shows
that it is harder to lie
successfully to a member of the
opposite sex or to a person you
perceive is more attractive than
you.
Unskilled liars avoid direct eye
contact, often looking downward
while speaking. They fidget with
their hands and feet, often
covering their mouths while
speaking. Their speech contains
many “nonfluencies.” Liars often
tense their muscles, blink
noticeably, swallow hard, bite
their lips, and in extreme cases
may perspire or blush.
In "Identifying Deception,"
we learn that skilled liars hold eye contact
for “too long.” They tend to
control their hand movements,
often concealing their hands or
holding one hand with the other.
They use far fewer gestures than
usual. Their speech is “too
fluent,” sounding contrived or
practiced. Skilled liars tend to
conceal and release tension
through their feet. They may
also resort to using “truth
talk.” This
segment is also done as a
standalone keynote presentation. Bill
Acheson's keynote speech, Buying
Signs: A New Look at Selling
helps you identify
deception, build rapport, and
project personal power.
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