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Hi not from Indonesia but speak the language
Bowl Leader
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Microsoft is hiring an account executive and I’m really interested in the role. I have B2B sales experience in a different industry, but my skills include lead generation, prospecting, account management, negotiating, etc (all within the C Suite and other decision makers).
Would appreciate knowing if this is something I have a shot at with no tech sales experience and what I could expect for promotional opportunities and compensation.
Thanks for the help!
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I normally suffer from the same and can’t seem to shake it off. What I have found is that once I start presenting, it all goes away. So all I can do is think “ok, this is normal, I go through this every time, and then I always rock my presentations” which means I’ve learned to live with it because I know the outcome will be positive. Hopefully you can teach yourself to do the same.
Switch what you are feeling from "worry" to "Excitement!" You are "Excited" about what you are about to present; not worried. This is a complicated issues so not saying it's this easy ; it's not. But try it.
CBD gummy 40/45 minutes before. You’ll feel calm, no jitters, completely focused and no, not high at all. Very liberating. I wish I had know that before I started having anxiety attacks, complete game changer. Bonus : just knowing you have that quick-acting solution close by is an efficient stress relief in itself 😂
I feel ya. The short answer is to do more of them, nominate yourself when you feel uncomfortable (be vulnerable) and ask for feedback (be vulnerable).
I think the general tropes of “look at the positives” and “be excited not anxious” aren’t helpful or practical tools. Telling someone who’s anxious to not be anxious is anxiety inducing and counter productive.
Present to yourself, listen to yourself, try and catch your um’s, ah’s and alike and remember that you can take your time. If you don’t know the content, you will be more inclined to feel nervous. So prep is really important.
Eat well, rest well beforehand and get there early. This gives you a chance to greet those who arrive and it takes the sting off things because you’ve humanised your audience and they see that too.
There’s no silver bullet, but there’s tonnes of sensible and practica ways to combat it.
Beyond that, being a little nervous is healthy. It means you want to do well.
You’ll be fine in time. :)
I’m always nervous before a big presentation, I think this is pretty normal. The best way I’ve found is just practice, practice, and more practice. Most of my nerves stem from being worried about being stumped when a question comes, so I try to write down the 3-5 questions in DON’T want asked and then wrote down answers.
I used to be really nervous because I wanted to crush the presentation and have everything go perfect. Once I realized that was my issue and that I’m just talking to people.. normal people like you and me it went away. I’m one of the top producing AEs and the jitters were normal but now I don’t have them. Remember you are the expert and they are there to listen to you. They will appreciate you being personable and knowledgeable more than someone trying to make a “perfect pitch”.
I struggled with this before, best advice I’ve ever got outside of being really well prepared is to imagine talking to a group of your friends rather than group of professionals- imagine a casual/respectful conversation at a bar with an acquaintance- this has always helped to shake the jitters!
The more prepared you are, the easier it gets. Have someone rehearse with you and go over each section multiple times to get comfortable. Try to meet as many of the attendees beforehand, it tends to settle your anxiety. If that doesn't work, beta blockers can help some, but make sure to get plenty of rest and drink lots of water beforehand.
Preparation. Removes all doubt for me
Preparation and "doing more of them" is not the solution. If that is your answer ; you do not understand social anxieties ; with all due respect. This problem requires preparation and work on "self" not on the content. Again ; with all due respect.
I used to feel this all the time when I first started doing demos and presentations.
The way to get over this is:
1. Know the product inside out - it will take time for you to gain confidence in your sales abilities but if you know the product will you’ll be more confident in that domain.
2. Do more demos - the more calls and presentations you do the more comfortable you’ll get. My advice is to try to get on a lot of presentations, even with leads that aren’t so good.
3. Answering support tix - spend some time for a couple of weeks answering customer support questions via you’re ticketing system. You’ll learn a ton about what customers wanna know and so when you get on calls , you’ll be prepared to answer confidently.
4. Breathe - anxiety causes shallow breathing which makes you freak out. When you’re on your presentation calls, breathe slowly (something you can control). Controlling your breathing this way will allow you to think more and calm down.
Hope this helps
Rehearse it so you know what you’re going to say. Takes one of the elements of nerves away. Then do it more often, as difficult as it might be.
I’d say reherse if that’s your style. I personally don’t and make sure I know the material well and can pivot if necessary. That being said, still get jitters but they tend to fade once I get going.
I love to give it a dry run right before bed and once again in the morning it personally helps be feel prepared. The other thing I have done is recorded myself talking through slides in like a google meet or zoom etc then play it back to identify where it might be choppy.
Surprised at the recommendations to leverage prescription drugs or other substances. Rellying on a substance to do a critical aspect of your job is a very bad idea.
The only thing I can add to all of the above, is just more experience of doing them.
Go to Toastmasters. I had the same issue but after Toastmasters I felt more confidant and comfortable. You get real time feedback and get to develop your public speaking skills.
Right before the presentation I always do some physical movements to release any tension, sometimes it’s jumping jacks or stretching or I just press my palms into the table. I swear by this!