SUBTEXTabout. Don't maintain one posture. Use your hands dramatically
to gesture, to point, to shape and project your words. Use your
body to open yourself to the prospect. Open arms are effective
Closed arms are deadly. Never fold them in front of you.
An open posture on your part will often elicit an openness
from the other person. It's a sort of mirror effect. The openness
you elicit will extend to the listener's mind, inspiring a readiness
to listen to your pitch.
Use your voice as a selling instrument, not just to project words
but to modulate the timbre and pitch of the sound. Avoid flat,
monotonous speech. Raise and lower your voice according to what
you are saying. A voice is a magnificent instrument, and it can
send out a subtext of excitement as readily as it can a subtext of
despair.
But with all this movement, you must still be sure you know
what you're doing, that you move your hands properly. The hands
are expressive, but they can express the wrong thing. There are
a few don'ts you must be aware of:
- Don't be a nose puller. Yanking and pulling at your nose is
a nervous affliction and looks bad. - Don't be an ear twister. This is another nervous affliction
that says the wrong thing. - Don't stroke your chin: still another nervous gesture that can
put off a client. - Don't scratch. So many people do this without being aware
of it. It's likely to make the client itch! - Don't bite your nails or pull at the cuticles on your fingers.
Believe it or not, some people do this while selling! - Don't jingle coins in your pocket as you talk.
- Final don'ts: Don't doodle or toy with things. Picking things