Speaking in images adds colour to your sales delivery

If you can’t connect with what you’re saying, how can you expect your audience to – that’s where speaking in images comes in. We spoke to coaching and improvisation expert Lyn Pierse about what it means to speak in images and how it can help improve sales professionals’ delivery.

Imagine you’re regaling an animated recount of your weekend to friends. While you may be doing it subconsciously, you’re likely sharing this story with images of the weekend firmly in your mind. By reimagining and reconnecting with the experience it adds colour and excitement to the way you retell the story. Now imagine how differently you would tell the story if your mind was on other things, distracted and disengaged. This is the perfect example of the impact speaking in images can have on your delivery.

“When we speak in images it colours our voices as we’re expressing and recalling our feelings associated with that language. Those images transform you, impact your facial expressions and your voice,” says Pierse. “Kids do it best because they are so uninhibited and connected to their feelings when they speak.”

How speaking in images applies in a sales setting?

“When we get into situations of presenting information we’ve learnt or written, due to fear of getting it wrong, some of us disconnect from images which makes our voice bland,” explains Pierse. And while it’s considerably easier to reconnect with fond images of your weekend, it is possible to associate images with what you’re delivering in a sales pitch to a potential new client.

Lyn’s advice is to take a step back and focus on the benefits of what you’re selling to the end customer. To invest in the impact of the product or service, aligning these more emotional benefits to images in your mind. “To be truthful in communication a sales professional needs to have a connection to their product and feel connected to information before sending it out,” says Pierse.

As always, the old adage applies – practice makes perfect. Speaking in images in a professional setting can initially require a concerted and conscious effort, which is where the 60 Seconds app comes in. The 60 Seconds app is a tool sales professionals can use to rehearse, record, and replay their delivery, allowing them to tweak and improve over time.

“What I love about 60 seconds is you’re looking into the eyes of someone when you deliver your message. You have someone to focus on and engage with,” says Pierse. With the ability for a sales professional to record their pitch delivery and instantly share it with their manager, the app allows for instant feedback on how that message is coming to life. “The manager on the other end can see how images are shaping the way their team member speaks, offering advice on how to change the breath, adjust sound, relax the tongue or lips, all by reconnecting with relevant images,” she explains. “Generally we find ways to stop our true selves coming out. The 60 Seconds app allows sales professionals to do that, to connect with their images and see what their audience will see.”

Learn more about how you can use the 60 Seconds app to make measurable improvements to your sales team’s delivery!