Controlling the Selling Environment –

Sound

Poor sound quality during your speech will kill your materials sales. If your microphone is bad, the speakers scratchy, or they can’t hear you, you won’t sell as much. If the sound quality is poor, your audience will want to get away as fast as they can. 

My criteria for using a microphone is related not to the size of the crowd or room…but on the length of my speech. Meeting sponsors always tell me, “You won’t need a microphone, there’s only 20 people.” I always reply, “The microphone’s not for them, it’s for me.” A 2½ hour speech without a microphone, regardless of the size of the room or crowd, is a voice killer. A microphone lets me talk in a normal volume instead of raising it a level or two without it. Even without the arguments about the credibility a microphone gives you, using a microphone will preserve you voice. If you plan to be in this business a while, you better preserve your most important asset.

Somehow, I just sell more when I use a microphone. How important do I think it is? If a meeting sponsor doesn’t want to pay for a microphone because the room or crowd is small, I’ll offer to pay for it myself.