Ask 1200 women in Cincinnati, Ohio and you might hear a lot of laughter.
I’m just back from doing my motivational speakers thing for a unbelievably fast growing company called Pure Romance. I was flattered… they had a blast at my keynote (and later at the Break Out Seminars.) But no matter how much fun they had, I had at least as much. I had a ball!
The assignment wasn’t so different from most of my clients: help them lighten up and take themselves less seriously. And along the way make them laugh and laugh hard. What I didn’t expect was just how much fun we would have poking fun at their industry, at their products, and at the whole darn industry.
It started great: They picked me up in this totally cool Pure Romance Hummer. The looks you get when you’re riding in a Hummer that says, “We Put the “O” Back in Romance” are pretty fun…. people don’t really know what to think.
Then we were off to the keynote where I was lucky enough to follow a panel discussion of their top folks. So the first thing we did was to incorporate the words of THEIR people into my jokes and my message. And then off to stories and jokes about their products and company…. I won’t go into it all, but one of my favorite jokes was about how I managed to get “caught” at the airport security in Colorado with few of their more compromising products in the bag. “They have new ‘no gels onboard’ rule. What’s worse than, as a man, being caught with a lipstick? I’ll tell ya: Having to prove to a bunch of security guys that it isn’t lipstick.” (That joke makes a ton more sense when you realize that Pure Romance sells a lipstick that is anything but make up. :) )
The next day I taught four breakout sessions about adding humor to their sales presentations. These Pure Romance consultants make live presentations 10 to 200 times a year, and were craving methods and techniques by which they could add more fun and entertainment to their parties. So my job was to help them to sell more by using humor as a connection between them and their audience.
This might be the most important point: People tend to connect to people who make them laugh. We tend to trust those with whom we “connect.” Sales presenters who successfully use humor as a tool to “connect” tend to sell more than those who don’t. Use humor; increase your bottom line.
Hey Pure Romance Consultants! What was the one thing YOU took away from our time together? What did you learn that you’ll incorporate into your sales presentations? Leave a comment below.
Brad Montgomery
Motivational Keynote Speaker, Humor Expert and Trainer, Pure Romance Fan
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I learned to make fun of myself more – OR NOT!!!!
Thanks again Brad for making our annual training a fun time. I love the way you can sling around the double header.