Intel: 5 Tips to Create Energy in Your Virtual Presentations

5 Tips to Create Energy in Your Virtual Presentations

by Angela DeFinis

Whether you’re new to working remotely or have been doing it for years, you know one thing is true: Giving virtual presentations via Zoom and other online meeting platforms can be a challenge. Many professionals feel that online meetings lack the excitement and passion that comes naturally during face-to-face communication. And they’re right!

The fact is, energy is contagious. When you’re speaking to a live audience, whether it’s a group of five or 500, your adrenaline is high and your presentation reflects that excitement. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to mimic that feeling when you’re giving a virtual presentation in your bedroom with your sleeping cat stretched out diagonally on your bed. In that instance, you might suddenly feel “sleepy,” and you might start behaving this way. You may even speak in a whisper so that you don’t wake the cat. While stillness and calm are great skills to use for your meditation practice, they won’t win the hearts and minds of your listener on any virtual platform.

So, what is the secret to giving high-impact virtual

presentations? Use more energy. Create a stimulating virtual meeting by infusing excitement into both your content and your delivery. Remember that the purpose of your virtual presentation, just like your live presentation, is to keep your audience engaged and involved. If you focus on the idea that it is your job to keep your audience interested in both the message and the messenger, then you will take the necessary steps to make that happen.

Here are five energy-boosting tips to keep in mind:

1. Make time to prepare your

content. Develop your virtual meeting content the same way you would for a live presentation—well in advance. Don’t let the casual physical environment of home dictate a laissez-faire attitude. If you don’t plan, you and your message may sound disorganized and unconvincing. Structure your virtual presentation in three distinct parts with an opening, body and closing. When you plan your opening, start with a “hook,” establish a clear purpose and develop an agenda. Then develop the body—the “meat in the middle” where the action really happens—by including stories, examples, data, statistics and graphs. Bring your presentation to a close by summarizing what you have covered and asking for action. Remember, the way you structure your message is critical not only to helping your listeners follow along, but also to keeping them engaged and connected.

2. Disrupt the pattern. Pattern disruption is a concept that works well in virtual presentations. The idea is to disrupt the normal flow of information so that listeners are taken by surprise or jolted out of their complacency. Because of the flat 2D format, virtual presentations have to be “made” exciting, and pattern disruption is one strategy that never fails. What can you do to disrupt the ever-boring nature of the predictable “data dump” presentation? Tell a vivid story, share a startling statistic, show a mindaltering image, raise your voice or quicken your pace. While you don’t have as many skills and techniques available to use in a virtual presentation, you still have enough. If you use them in creative ways, you can rouse your listeners and hold their attention. Aim to disrupt the pattern every four to five minutes. When you plan these disruptions as part of your content, you’ll quickly have your listeners eating out of the palm of your virtual hand.

3. Prime the energy pump. Your physical, vocal and verbal skills will go a long way in helping you create and maintain energy throughout your virtual presentation. Prior to your presentation, jump-start your physical and vocal energy by warming up. Speak in a loud voice, practice tongue twisters, sing a song, take a walk outside or around your house, go up and down stairs, make faces in the mirror…do anything to get your heart rate and your energy up. If you speak loudly and move quickly, you will do more to create performance energy than you imagine. And don’t forget to smile and raise your eyebrows right before you sign on. If you’re happy, tell your face.

4. Organize and clean out your

work space. Clutter is energy draining; organization is energy boosting. Therefore, remove all coffee cups, golf clubs, electric guitars, dog beds, dirty laundry, games and puzzles. Create one area, no matter how small, that is yours and that you can keep organized, neat and clean. If you can’t keep a neat space, use a green screen background of a “faux” organized office space.

5. Work with other family members to set boundaries on pri-

vate work time. Unfortunately, family or housemates can be a big energy drain when you’re presenting. Develop a system of “red, yellow, green” and announce what kind of meeting you are entering. Red is highly important (new customer meeting), and that means everyone needs to be quiet and not interrupt. Yellow is less important (work team meeting), but quiet is still required. Green (close colleague) means anyone can come into your space and you will not have to apologize to the person you are talking to. Setting boundaries with a color code will help everyone know the rules and follow them. When you don’t have to focus on anyone else, you can focus on sustaining your energy throughout the presentation.

When conducting virtual meetings, you can’t depend on the stimulating influence of outside energy to give you the boost you need to perform. But you can use the timetested tools of planning, preparation and practice to help do the job for you. Use these best practices, and whatever you do, don’t let the cat fall asleep in your workspace. RE

Angela DeFinis is president of DeFinis Communications. The company offers executive speech coaching, presentation skills training and virtual video conferencing training. Through corporate sponsored and public programs, the firm’s skill-building approach helps business professionals become poised, polished and powerful communicators capable of leading effective meetings and delivering compelling presentations. To learn more about the firm’s training programs and coaching services, please visit www.definiscommunications.com.

Double Your Listings in 120 Days

by Cleve Gaddis

The U.S. economy shrank more than 30 percent in the second quarter of 2020. This contraction has disrupted the financial security of millions of families. As real estate professionals, we are in a very unique position to help the economy recover by bringing new listings to the market. According to the National Association of REALTORS®, the average home sale in the U.S. contributed $88,000 to the economy through commissions, transaction-related purchases, sales proceeds spent on other items and new construction. So how should we proceed to get as many new listings as possible?

To help potential home sellers feel confident in moving forward with a sale, you must be prepared to address the present concerns of the pandemic, especially the emotional ones. Be ready to alleviate worries about safety, job security, pricing, and so on.

Once you’re prepared to address the emotional concerns of potential sellers, it’s time to get face-to-face with as many potential home sellers as possible. And I do mean as many as possible. Meet with good prospects and bad prospects. Meet with people that want to sell soon and also with those that might sell years in the future. Change your perspective from looking for homes to list and commissions to earn, and instead, look for people to genuinely help in your community. We call this having an SRO attitude, or serving regardless of opportunity.

With this new focus, you may need to update your pre-listing presentation and your premium marketing presentation to reflect this new ideal. Your goal should be to have a pre-listing presentation that is so thorough that some sellers will want to list with you even before you’ve visited the home. Your

Change your perspective from looking for homes to list and commissions to earn, and instead, look for people to genuinely help in your community.

premium marketing presentation also needs to be strong enough to convey that you offer unique marketing initiatives that help bring potential buyer prospects to the table.

If you’d like to learn more about doubling your listings in 120 days, please send an email to Cleve@ WorkmanSuccessSystems.com and I’ll send you our in-depth system that breaks down the process of doubling your listings into five easy steps. You’ll have a 12-week plan that, when followed, should put you in a great position to help the economy recover, help home sellers with their needs and prepare to start 2021 with a bang. RE

Cleve Gaddis has an MBA from LSU, and is a master coach, speaker and trainer with Workman Success Systems who works with some of America’s most profitable teams. He specializes in helping family-owned brokerages and teams navigate the challenges unique to family businesses. Gaddis hosts “GoGaddis Real Estate Radio,” a weekly show on AM 920 The Answer in Atlanta. To have Gaddis speak live to your company, team or group, connect with him at Cleve@WorkmanSuccessSystems.com.

The Conversion Conundrum

by Paul Sessum

Soon, 2020 will be in the rearview mirror and in the books as one of the most interesting years ever. There have been unprecedented challenges that have caused us to pause for a moment, reflect on our values and examine what makes a successful real estate practice. Here are three simple questions to answer to determine a baseline for your business:

1.

2.

3. Am I able to convert leads no matter what the external forces may be? Are the tracking and followup systems in place clear and easy to follow? Is there a defined strategy for lead-generating activities?

Start by looking at your lead funnel for the year. How many leads have you received? How many attempts have you made to contact these leads? Does your follow-up process reflect a consistent customer experience? If not, what is the process? How is your time being utilized? Breaking these elements down allows you to see the results of your lead conversion efforts. Moreover, this evaluation will provide insight into the avoidance of the very activity that can lead to the results you desire.

Nothing produces greater results than planned daily follow-up with leads. Provided there is a lead tracker system in place, each lead should be categorized so that it will be followed up with on a set schedule. Consider the ABCs of lead management. The A leads are ready to do business and scheduled on the calendar. Agents typically expend most of their energy on this group. The B leads are close to converting, but are not quite ready. Leads in the B category should be on track to convert within the next three months. You should be following up with these leads twice a month. Consider getting in touch on a set schedule, like the 1st and the 15th of every month. The C leads are the last category. These leads are disengaged or beyond 90 days to a conversion. You will want to give these leads a quick monthly check-in just to let them know they have not been forgotten.

Converting leads is a necessary skill every agent needs to master in order to have a successful and scalable business. Evidence has shown that daily role-playing practice for at least 30 minutes leads to higher

A

conversion rates. This basic yet productive activity should be scheduled daily. It will allow you to move from reactive to responsive marketing and should result in a higher conversion rate. When should you make time to practice? Open your calendar now, commit to a daily schedule for the next six months and measure the results by tracking the leads.

Leads are abundant! It’s only a matter of reaching out and asking how you can be of service. Your leads need to know someone is there to support them when they are ready. Get in touch with us to learn more about the tools and systems to track your leads. RE

Paul Sessum is a master coach with Workman Success Systems who resides in Los Angeles. He became licensed in 2004 and has been selling, training, coaching and managing brokerages since. Contact him at paul@ workmansuccesssystems.com.

As an industry, we are pretty pathetic on lead follow-up. In fact, 48 percent of agents never even follow up after making the first attempt to reach a prospect.

C

What Are You Doing to Track Your Leads?

by Julie Timms

With so many leads coming in, one must have a system to track them. First and foremost, you must follow-up and make a connection with the person who needs to buy or sell their home. When speaking with these prospects, you must understand their “why” and get to know them. The old cliché is more true today than it ever was: “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.” Prospects don’t want to work with someone who only talks about themselves and whose main goal is to sell.

As an industry, we are pretty pathetic on lead follow-up. In fact, 48 percent of agents never even follow up after making the first attempt to reach a prospect. Only 25 percent of agents will attempt a second call, and only 10 percent will attempt the third call. To put this data in perspective, only 2 percent of sales are made on the first contact. Three percent are made on the second contact, 5 percent on the third contact, 10 percent on the fourth contact and a whopping 80 percent of sales are made on the fifth to 12th contact.

If 80 percent of sales are made on the fifth to 12th contact, then why don’t more agents succeed? The answer is simple: they have no system to track, nurture and convert their leads.

The first step in the lead tracking process should always be to set the date for the next attempted contact for that prospect on your calendar. Be sure you choose a time when someone will likely want to take your call or be receptive to your communication.

The ABCs of lead management is a good system once contact is made. Classify your contacts with their timeframe to act. The A contacts are clients you have an appointment with who are actively wanting to complete a transaction. You should contact these people daily until they have achieved their goal.

The B contact is someone who wants to act in the next 30 - 90 days. These leads should be contacted twice a month. The C contacts are those who may be ready in 90 days or more. Checking in once a month with these leads is key, as many move from a C to an A faster than they think.

When you employ the ABCs of lead management, take great notes and always schedule the next contact with your prospects. If you do this, you will have a system that works.

Your success depends on it! RE

Julie Timms is the owner/broker-in-charge of Hilton Head Island Real Estate Brokers, Inc. and master coach with Workman Success Systems. She began her real estate career in 1979 as a sales assistant, and four years later, in 1983, opened her own brokerage—and holds eight real estate designations. Contact her at coachjulietimms@gmail.com.