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You are serious about sales and you want to be the poster child for saying it right--so you can repeat your successes and avoid the failures.

Here's the problem. instant auto insurance quotes technology becomes increasingly complex and every desk becomes a wireless hub, a printing press, a research library and a record archive, it is clear that machines are getting better and better at communicating with each other and people . . . are not.

We now have broader bandwidth, instant connections and wireless access--and nobody talks. We have telecommuting, teleconferencing and automated messaging--and nobody responds. Most PowerPoint presentations are better than Thorazine for putting an audience to sleep and most presenters are a pale imitation of R2D2 whose delivery style could be described as practically giddy by comparison.

It's time to get real, time to put people back in Star Wars to make person to person connections--the heart of the sales process. So what can you do to make your presentations come alive? Eliminate the third fatal flaw.

You deliver "professionally".

Hands serenely at your sides or carefully clasped like a member of the choir, you begin with the Ummilati and trite, "Hello. My name is (fill in the blank) from (fill in the blank). Thank you for inviting us to present our (fill in the blank). We're very excited to be here today representing (fill in the blank) and we have a very exciting presentation to show you. But before I begin, I'd like to introduce my team. This is (fill in the blank) from (fill in the blank). This is (fill in the blank) from (fill in the blank)."

You may think you look professional when in fact, you simply look weird. You may think you sound like a pro when we all understand intuitively that professional speakers are warm, animated and engaging. And if you think anyone in your audience will remember a single name you have recited, you are sadly mistaken.

A brilliant presentation is one that feels to your listeners like a conversation among friends. When friends talk to each other, they look friendly. Real people move easily. They smile often. They tell stories to illustrate important points and they punctuate words with gestures and real, human expression.

If you are presenting "professionally" it's time to free yourself to be yourself. Be real when you present and your audience will respond with real pleasure. They'll have found a "friend in the business" which means they will like you. When they like you, you win--because we all know that people buy from people they like.

P.S. Learn more about presentation and how to avoid the seven fatal flaws in the next article.

Fern Lebo is president of FrontRunner Communications, adjunct faculty at Auburn University, consultant, trainer and frequent keynote speaker. A respected communications expert, Lebo focuses on presentation and writing for sales. For nearly 20 years, she has helped Fortune 500 companies create and deploy star sales performers. Lebo's clients learn the secrets that set them apart and discover the professional techniques they need to achieve outstanding success. Find out more at http://FRcommunications.comhttp://FRcommunications.com