In the world of improv, people talk a lot about commitment. You need to be fully committed to your character. If you’re going to be the tree, be the best tree that you can be. If you’re going to be a crazy game show host, be the craziest. Be fully committed to that character.

That’s a lesson for businesses, too. If you don’t have the passion for what you’re selling, then you’re not going to sell it. Suppose you’re trying to sell those clickers that speakers use in their presentations. “Hey, would you like to buy this clicker? It helps in presentations, and it has a couple of useful buttons. What do you say?” You’re bound to not get a positive response. You haven’t shown passion or energy. You haven’t communicated that this is the world’s best clicker, that everyone should have one, and what your clicker has meant to you personally.

It’s hard to fake enthusiasm and enthusiasm is what sells. The customer is looking for passion behind the words. In my nontechnical presentations, people can see my passion. Unfortunately, most technical topics and presentations are delivered in a dry, monotone manner. So how do you infuse enthusiasm no matter what you’re talking about? Seek to understand your audience and what matters to them.

When somebody contacts me about the possibility of doing a presentation, I ask a lot of questions:

• “What are the issues you are facing?
• What kinds of presentations have you been offering, on what topics?”
• “What is your expectation after the two hours that I present? What behaviors are you trying to change? Which issues should I address, and what do you wish me to stay away from?”

In essence, I try to customize what I’m supposed to present that way it’s not canned and it’s personalized for the intended audience. Providing a canned approach is not going to be beneficial for either party – it’s certainly not going to enthuse them.

This approach is not only applicable to larger presentations, it is just as important for your smaller one-on-one interactions with clients and prospects. You need to understand your audience. What are their needs and wants, and what behaviors are they trying to change, modify, or enhance?

Be committed to each client and prospect you have the responsibility to meet with – doing so will force you to ask better questions, dig deeper into what they really need and allow you to be the best tree/crazy gameshow host/financial advisor you can be.

Learn more about how you can leverage improv to improve your career – visit www.improvisnojoke.com today and download a free chapter of my book, Improv is No Joke. Need a keynote? Contact me today and let’s talk about what you need.