#013: How to Pitch With Confidence And Excitement

#013: How to Pitch With Confidence And Excitement.

Read time - 5 min

Today I’m going to discuss one of the most overlooked parts of selling. Very few people ever focus on this. If you get this piece dialed in, it will have a huge lift in your ability to close.

What am I talking about?

Tonality and voice fluctuation.

Why is this important?

Because people buy excitement, they buy enthusiasm, they buy conviction. This is all conveyed in the tone of your voice.

The problem I often see is founders pitch in a monotone voice with very little excitement or voice fluctuation. This is wrong and hurting your sales. A prospect perceives this as a lack of conviction in your product. Why? Because, emotions add depth and resonance to your communication, making it more impactful.

Today I’ll show you how to execute this correctly.

Direct questions get direct answers.

Everybody has heard the expression: It’s not what you say, but how you say it. This is partially true. It is what you say, and how you say it that drives home the message.

There are 3 areas you need to understand in order to execute here.

1. Tone

2. Pitch

3. Language

Let’s take a look!

Tone

Your tone is how you convey meaning and conviction to your message. This will greatly impact your ability to influence and persuade during the sales process. Tone plays a crucial role in establishing credibility, building rapport, and capturing the attention of the prospect.

When your tone matches the intention behind your words, it creates a sense of authenticity and trustworthiness, making your message more persuasive and compelling.

I’ve always found that prospects will judge your engagement with them, and the opportunity you’re offering, based on the conviction in your voice. They'll judge your sincerity and credibility by how you speak. This affects how they respond to you and your message.

When you pitch in a monotonous tone it can be misconstrued as you not being into what you’re offering, and come across as a real lack of insincerity in the product. Conversely, an expressive tone conveys excitement and enthusiasm with the prospect. It carries emotion. Enthusiasm is infectious. When the prospects feels it, they believe the validity and authenticity of your product. And that’s what sells.

When I was a stockbroker, I can't tell you how many times I opened accounts on a 100-share trade, only to have the prospect ask me after agreeing to buy, "What is the name of the stock we're buying again?”

It’s wild, but it was a testament to them buying me and my conviction in what I was selling.

Pitch

When speaking about pitch I’m referring to the rise and fall (emotion) of your voice while speaking. It adds meaning, emphasis, and emotional expression to your words. What you want to do is raise and lower your voice throughout your presentation, based on where you are in the pitch.

For example, if I’m presenting the offer I want to sound really confident and like I’m doing them a huge favor by offering them this exclusive deal. If the prospect is sharing how they’ve had a bad experience on the past with another company your pitch should be low and convey empathy and compassion. You want to pay attention to your tonality during conversations. By varying your pitch, the pace at which you speak, and volume, you can make your speech much more engaging.

Language

At all times regardless of whether or not you’re pitching you should communicate with strong language, and avoid sounding weak. This is a big problem on a lot of the calls I review. I hear founders constantly trying to be likable and agreeable. Don’t do this. You convey authority, strength and confidence by doing the opposite.

Yes, it’s important to build rapport, but if the prospect needs what you’re selling based on the pain point they’ve communicated, and they’re making excuses on why they can’t move forward, push back, challenge them. People will respect that.

Watch this video to listen to me giving examples of pitch and tone fluctuation. 

Here are the main culprits to weak language and how they are received by the prospect.

• Is now still a good time to talk? = No, can we reschedule.

• Did I catch you at a bad time? = Yes, can we reconnect over email?

• Can I have your email address? = I don’t like to give out my email.

• Do you have a better number? = You can call this mainline.

• Would you like to go ahead and… = Call me back, let me think about it.

• Do you have any questions? = None that I can think of.

• Could you tell me your budget? = I don’t like to divulge that info.

No successful person will ever respect or take you seriously if you use this type of language. DM’s want to deal with people on their level. This type of language projects insecurity and a lack of confidence. I get it, you might not have the confidence right now because you’re new to the idea of selling. A good way to be more confident is by making sure you have your pitch mastered. This comes with repetition and role-playing. You have 100% control over this. 

They say fake it to you make it. I say fake it until you become it. Do it until you believe it yourself.

And stop trying to be nice. Be a professional and be competent. If you’re the authority and know your shit, speak with assertiveness and confidence. This confidence MUST be consistent across all lines of communication.

Here’s the right way to convey confidence/assertiveness:

Example:

• Wrong way: Did I catch you at a bad time?
  Right way: I’ll keep this brief - the reason for my call is…
  

• Wrong way: Can I have your email address?
  Right way: What’s the best email address for you?
   

• Wrong way: Do you have a better number?
  Right way: What’s your cell phone number?
  
  

• Wrong way: Do you have any questions?
  Right way: What questions can I answer for you?
  
  

• Wrong way: Would you like to go ahead and…
  Right way: I’m really excited to work with you. Let’s get you started!
  
  

• Wrong way:: Could you tell me your budget for…
  Right way: What is your budget for…

Controlling the conversation and using assertive language will dictate the authority and engagement you command from the prospect.

Key Takeaways

• Accentuate your tonality based on where you are in your presentation.

• Spend 15 minutes everyday role playing your tone and delivery.

• Sell with excitement and conviction always.

• Direct questions get direct answers.

• Speak with strong language.

That’s it for today folks.

See you all next week!

Darren

P.S. If you’re ready to level up you can book a call with me here.