Establish Presentation Anchors

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Strategy: Establish presentation anchors.

You can actually establish presentation anchors in your sales pitch or on stage. When I am facing an audience, I point to the left (the audience’s right) when I talk about positive things. When I talk about negative things, I point to the right (the audience’s left). When I talk about the future or change, I point to the left. When I talk about the past or being static, I point to the right. Good decisions point to the left, bad decisions point to the right.

Are you getting it? All the good stuff is on the left and all the bad stuff is on the right. After doing this for a while, the audience gets it. They know where the good stuff and the bad stuff belong. When it is time to talk about my product, I stand or point to the left. When I talk about others products, I stand or point to the right. Do you think it affects sales? Absolutely!

By the way, anchors are not just left and right. They can be visual, auditory, physical or spatial. In fact, I can use voice tone to establish a similar positive or negative anchor. That leads to the potential creation of all kinds of anchors on a stage or in a presentation.

Auditory Anchor, Positive. Establish a word that conveys positive emotion. In seminars, it might be “CHA-CHING.” Every time you make money, “CHA-CHING.” Get the students to say it. Have fun with it. Enjoy it. Then talk about your product – CHA-CHING!

Auditory Anchor, Negative. Someone brings up another a competing product. Clear your throat. Every time they mention another product, clear your throat. The product gets linked to the clearing of the throat. Now remind them of a time they made a major mistake in their life. Clear your throat.

Spatial Anchor. Take locations on stage and give them names or emotions. For example, perhaps you want to establish in your audience the following emotions: Fear, Excitement, Action, Relaxation (Trance) and Greed (Wealth).

Here is what I might do: I might take a space on the floor and label it. My normal presentation is in the middle of the stage. One step forward is into the “Action” location. One step to the left is “Excitement or Wealth.” A step to the right is “Fear.” A step back is “Trance.” When I am telling stories, asking questions or eliciting responses, I will stand in that spot on the floor.

When I am talking about fear, I will take a step to the right. When I want the audience to get into action mode, I step forward and tell an action story. Also, note I might create action in the audience by doing some exercise in this space. For example, I might give away money or a bonus. Forcing them into action – but only when I step into this space.