July 2003

Speed Kills!

By Robert Swanson

President, DELTA MAX

Reprinted From "DELTA MAXIMS", July 1 , 2003

"Whoa!" Ever said that when sitting in an audience, at a movie, or concert? How about listening to a stereo salesperson explain Dolby? Or, a car salesman on a local TV infomercial? Or, the terms at the end of a radio ad?

In today's business world, speed is everything. All salespeople carry cell phones because voice mail can be too slow; they carry PDA’s and Blackberry’s because waiting to get back to the office to answer e-mails can be a deal killer. Cell phones and overnight deliveries that seemed the epitome of speedy connections only a year or two ago, are now being overtaken by even faster technologies such as instant messaging and peer-to-peer direct connections. Speed is the "Name of the Game" in everything in business, right? Well, almost everything.

Bill Clinton, like him or not, is an outstanding, persuasive, public speaker. His secret? He speaks very slowly.

Speed really can kill you during your sales presentations. Deliver your sales presentation at the same warp speed of your life in general and you'll confuse your audience and delight your competitors. It kills your message.

Why? Well, speaking too fast does a lot of bad time compression things to your audience. First of all:

Your audience needs some time between thoughts to reflect on the import of your message
Your words, chosen so carefully, do not have the time to create the impact they were chosen to create
Your message tends to get buried in the crowd of points, like one bullet from a machine gun spray

And that’s just the beginning! Most rapid speakers use complex audio/visual aids, which further lowers your audience’s listening bandwidth, and leaves even less room for them to get your message. And if they're not getting your message, chances are they aren't going to buy from you. They turn off, tune out, and glaze out, invariably.

"OK, Bob, so how do I know if I’m speaking too fast?" Good question, and, luckily, it’s not hard to find out.

First, watch and listen for audience cues. If someone looks puzzled, or asks you to slow down and repeat what you just said, chances are you're speaking too fast and you need to slow your speaking pace. You might also tape record yourself, both visually and aurally, to get a first hand look and listen at yourself in action. If you have difficulty in understanding what you just said, chances are your audience did, too. That’s why we videotape with sound our "Selling at the Top" Seminar sales calls you make. So you can see/hear yourself, in real time, full speed.

Further, record an actual presentation, to show you if any stage nervousness you may have causes you to start "running off at the mouth", compared to that great practice session at home in front of the wife or husband. Finally, just ask someone, preferably someone you trust. (Other than your dog, who loves everything you do.) Friends are best because they will tell you the hard truth - ask them if you tend to speak too quickly.

If you do discover that you are a "motor-mouth" presenter, simply knowing that will go a long way towards helping you slow down. A tool which pro speaker coaches recommend is pausing for about three seconds at the end of every sentence, giving your audience time to absorb what you've just said. Finally, practice your presentation in front of peers and ask them to raise their hand every time you start talking too fast. That’ll do it. Every time.

DELTA MAX