“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh
Have you ever come out of a critical meeting or sales pitch and thought to yourself, “I wish I had said this…” or “I wish I hadn’t come across so eager when they asked…” or “I wish I had paused and not become defensive when…”? It happens often. We know exactly what we want to say and how we want to say it, but at those critical moments, we don’t execute quite the way we want.
There are many factors to being successful in a sales meeting that we traditionally think about – preparation, practice, asking good questions, making complex ideas easy to understand, handling tough questions, and many others. There are also some deliberate actions we can take with our minds and bodies, that can help us execute at the level we desire. Here’s one simple and fun(ny) idea:
As you drive to your meeting, put a pencil in your mouth (across as the picture indicates and not right down your throat). The smile you make, whether because the pencil won’t let you frown or you caught a peek at yourself, will change the chemistry in your body. Smiling activates the release of neuropeptides that work toward fighting off stress. The feel good neurotransmitters dopamine, endorphins and serotonin are all released when a smile flashes across your face as well. This not only relaxes your body, but it can lower your heart rate and blood pressure, so you can execute at a winning level.