Your Words Are Important – Choose Them Carefully!

1. Eliminate the grunts: Um and Ah and Uh!
Be comfortable with the silence and resume speaking when the thought is there. People who use “um” to illustrate their thought process may appear less sure and less knowledgeable.

2. Sorta, kinda, shoulda – what?
These words make you sound unsure of your ideas. Casual language sounds unprofessional and sends the wrong message.

3. Avoid absolutes.
When you use absolutes, you are asking to be proved wrong. Substitute often for always and rarely for never. Use absolutes sparingly.

4. Avoid slang or rough phrases.
Avoid using slang like “ain’t” or rough phrases like “that sucks.” They make you sound very unprofessional. Find another way to say what you mean.

5. Stop the hard sell.
Ending each though with “You know?” or “You know what I mean?” Come across as the hard sell and are annoying. People who abuse these phrases are seeking support for poorly explained ideas.

6. Avoid but and however!
These words negate whatever was said before them and send a message to the prospect that you didn’t mean what was said before “but” or “however”. Here’s an example – “I understand why you might feel that way, however, there is another way to view this.” A simple pause will serve you much better than “however” ever will.

About Len D’Innocenzo – Len is a Co-founder of Corporate Sales Coaches, a US based provider of cutting edge performance development programs for over 20 years. Northbound Sales has an exclusive Canadian partnership with Corporate Sales Coaches.  If you or your team would like to learn how to ace the language of a powerful sales call or arrange a complimentary workshop, contact Michael at 416.456.1440 or [email protected]