Whether you liked Ronald Reagan as a President, loved him, or didn't particularly care for him, you have to admit that his presentation skills were among the best of any politician in United States history.

President Reagan was a man of conviction, and he had a way of speaking to the American people that conveyed the message that everything was going to be OK. In fact, he had a way of assuring many of us that everything was in the process of becoming even better. His legacy of inheriting a recession when he first became President, and then transitioning the country towards the greatest economic boom it had yet experienced, all while dealing with and ultimately helping to bring an end to the Cold War, are among the many achievements for which he will long be remembered.

With President Reagan, it oftentimes felt as if we had a father continually telling us that everything was under control, that better economic times were coming our way, and that he always would be firm as a leader when necessary to protect our best interests as a nation. And it's clear that the economy of the United States responded in a big way.

What does all of this means to you in your real estate business?

How you communicate with your clients and prospects will determine whether they will work with you, or with one of your competitors instead. If you project doubt or uncertainty about who you are and what you can do for them as their agent, or if you project that your own interests in earning a commission come before their interests as a principal in the transaction, you run the risk of having them work with one of your competitors instead of you.

But on the other hand, if you project that you're out to protect their interests as your number one priority, and that you're the best choice they could ever make in a real estate agent, you have a much greater opportunity to continually be chosen as the agent your clients and prospects will want to work with.

So how good are your presentation skills right now? If you're not sure, maybe it's time to practice one or more of your presentations with a partner in front of a video camera. When you see yourself on videotape making your real estate presentations, a whole new world often opens up for you. You can see if you exude confidence or fear. You and your partner can identify mistakes you've been making in your presentations that up until now you've been completely unaware of like failing to look your prospect in the eye, or relying too much on CMAs. And then, with a little practice and rehearsal on your part, you'll now be able to move forward more effectively in your presentations and successfully close more business with a higher percentage of the clients and prospects you meet with.

Politicians like Ronald Reagan have the advantage of continually seeing how they perform by looking at videos of themselves. If they make a mistake in front of an audience, they'll get immediate feedback about it, and they'll be able to adjust and put in the correction before their next presentation.

But you, as an agent, don't have the same luxury. If you're making subtle mistakes in your presentations with prospects, they'll simply hire another agent to work with. And in the process, you'll probably continue to be unaware of the mistakes you're making that are driving business away from you.

Your presentation skills are among your greatest assets as a real estate agent. While few of us will ever be able to master our public presentation skills at the level that President Reagan did, most of us can still do so at a much higher level than where we are right now.

When you continually work on your presentation skills, you'll increase the number of times people will choose you as the agent they'll work with over your competition.

Published: June 11, 2004

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