You know that thing you do? When you are nervous? You know? When you get ultra-formal, or use too much jargon, or use phrases which you’d never normally use? Stop it.

We know that lots of people get nervous in some work situations- giving a pitch, making a call, meeting new prospects- and time and time again when we do shadow-selling, or rehearse with clients, we see the same pattern emerging. Engaging, witty, relaxed and confident people turn into automatons, and start talking in jilted corporate jargon, forget to smile, and forget how to interact with other humans. Sound familiar? People invest a lot of time and money in making their marketing messages and copy “sound” like them – they try as hard as they can to make it human and engaging. Surely the next step is to apply the same principle to the conversations we have with clients, partners and prospects?