Pace, pause and volume
Nervousness speeds you up. Authority slows you down.
Pace
Fast talking reads as nervous or scripted. Deliberately slowing by about twenty percent makes the identical sentence sound considered.
Pause
A one-second pause before your recommendation adds weight. A pause after a question hands the floor over. Most reps are terrified of both.
Volume
Dropping volume slightly when the topic gets serious makes people lean in. Raising it makes them defensive.
Say it like this
Weak
So-what-I'd-recommend-is-we-start-with-the-website-and-then-add-ads-once-that's-converting.
Meri standard
Here's what I'd do. [pause] Start with the website. Once that's converting, we turn ads on.
Practice drill
Record a 30-second pitch. Play it back at 0.9x. If it sounds normal, you were talking too fast.
Run this drill with Meri CoachKnowledge check
What does a deliberate one-second pause before a recommendation do?
Lesson 11 of 23 in the Meri Academy curriculum.