Memorizing or Knowing

I was driving to work the other morning and heard a replay of the Opie and Anthony Show on SiriusXM. In the segment I heard, they were talking to Donald Sutherland, who was promoting the movie “The Hunger Games”. During the talk, Jimmy Norton asked Sutherland an acting question about how he learned his lines.

Donald Sutherland

The response was pure sales gold, and something every salesperson show hear. He said, I don’t memorize my lines, I know them word for word. I know them. If you memorize, your words come out by rote. If you know them, then they sound natural. When you study the words, understand them and the meaning behind them, you can carry on a conversation, not just talk at someone.

Think about your sales presentation. Do you really know it or can you only deliver it well? Maybe not even that. Know and understand what your solution does. Know and understand how your solution does what it does. Know and understand why your solution does what it does. Now reread the previous sentences, but replace the words Know and Understand with the word memorize. You are basically left with a marketing blurb.

Know your stuff

If you want to have more engaging conversations with your prospects and move the process forward faster, learn the meaning of the words you are saying.