Vanessa Van Edwards – Supercharge Your Sales with Body Language

When people hear the word “sales” they often conjure up images of a greasy car salesman or a sleazy insurance man.  But selling is about understanding how to get buy in from someone.  It can be getting someone interested in your product, in your service or just in who you are.

Selling is about intrigue and there is both an art and science to effective persuasion that is NOT manipulative.  My favorite approach to selling is using nonverbal science.  This is because at a minimum 60% of our communication is nonverbal.  Some say it is up to 93%!  The problem is that most people focus on what they want to say in their sales pitch or elevator pitch not how they want to say it.

In doing research for my course Supercharge Your Sales with Body Language, we found nonverbal patterns of effective salesmen and women.  I want to share those patterns with you so you can use your body language to supercharge your sales.

1.  Fronting

Fronting is when you aim your torso and toes towards the person you are speaking with.  Nonverbally, this is a sign of respect.  When you do this you look incredibly focused, put together and charismatic.  So be sure to always keep your toes and torso aimed at the person you are speaking with.

2.  Claim Territory

Researchers at Harvard Business School found that the more expansive you are – roll your shoulders back, firmly plant your feet, open your chest and keep your head up – the more confident you feel and the more confident others perceive you.  This is called power posing – taking up space with your body.  Putting your hands on your hips, doing the Rocky or even dancing are all forms of taking up space.

In mock-interviews, the researchers had participants power pose before they walked into the room. Those who power posed were rated as more confident, intelligent and skilled.   Most importantly, those candidates FELT MORE POWERFUL!

So be sure you power pose before you walk into a pitch meeting.

3.  Use Your Trust Indicators

Once you are in the meeting a great nonverbal cue for trust is showing your hands.   Our hands are one of the first places our brain looks when we meet someone.  This is because back in caveman days we wanted to see if someone was carrying a weapon or not.  This kept us safe.  Our brains still do this!  When you walk into the room keep your hands out of your pockets, above the desk and reach in for a nice, solid handshake.

4.  Emotionality

Another aspect of nonverbal behavior is voice tone and vocal emotionality.  This is an incredibly important aspect of Charisma.  Here’s the problem, when we have given our pitch hundreds of times or memorized certain parts it makes us sound (and look) boring, uninterested and unengaged.  Make sure that you add in vocal charisma by bulleting your sales and elevator pitch, not scripting it.  This will make sure you say it differently every time.  You can also try adding in a number of stories to your pitch.  Stories are an easy way to add vocal variety and color to your pitch.

5.  Take The High Seat

This might sound silly, but height plays a huge factor in perceived power.  The problem is that in many offices someone is sitting at a high desk chair while the other person sits in a low couch.  That low couch is not only low power (you are sitting more squat and taking up less space) but also gives you a perceived lower look.  When you have a choice pick a nice high chair with a strong back and arm rests so you can take up space more easily.

I hope I have shown you a few ways you can use nonverbal to make a killer elevator pitch, master a powerful presence and learn how to connect with clients immediately.

Here’s my promise to you: learning how to sell and improve your presence is an investment in yourself and your business so you can start selling smarter, not harder.