How To Keep Someone's Attention During a Sales Pitch

Good Morning! It’s Professional Speakers Day. A holiday for people who get paid to talk. So basically… keynote speakers, TED Talkers, and that one rep on your team who makes every standup 2 times longer than it needs to be. If you think about it, we’re all sort of professional speakers, except our audience of prospects doesn’t always want to hear what we have to say. Now let’s get into today’s Follow Up. 😆 

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How to Keep Someone's Attention (During Your Pitch)

You finally got the meeting.

After weeks of cold emails and LinkedIn messages, your dream prospect agreed to take a call. They're on the line, ready to listen to your pitch.

Now what?

These days, people check their phones every 12 minutes and have the attention span of a goldfish. So keeping someone focused on your message is harder than ever.

Today, we're breaking down four proven techniques to grab attention and keep it throughout your entire sales conversation.

Start with a Strong Hook

Your opening seconds determine a lot.

Most reps start with "Hi, my name is..." and immediately put prospects to sleep. Instead, open with something that makes them sit up and pay attention.

Try a surprising stat: "Companies in your industry lose $2.3 million per year to the problem we solve."

Or a bold claim: "I'm going to show you how to cut your customer acquisition cost in half."

Or a relevant story: "Last month, a CEO just like you told me his biggest regret was waiting six months to implement this solution."

Think of this like the first sentence in a short-form video. The person in the video has about 2 seconds to get your attention before you scroll to the next video.

Your hook should make prospects think "Tell me more" instead of "Get to the point."

Turn Everything Into a Story

People are wired for stories.

The best salespeople know this and wrap everything in a narrative.

But storytelling in sales goes beyond just sharing customer success stories.

A story is defined as "an account of imaginary or real people and events told for entertainment."

This means you have options. Tell a personal story about your own experience. Share a hypothetical scenario that helps the prospect imagine their life after solving the problem. Or yes, tell that customer success story.

The key is wrapping your message in narrative form.

Instead of saying "Our software reduces processing time by 40%," paint a picture: "Picture this - it's Friday at 3 PM and you're walking out of the office while your reports finish processing automatically. No more weekend work. No more staying late."

Humans find facts delivered through story form more memorable than a dry list of features.

Use Pattern Interrupts

Sometimes you need to shake people awake.

A pattern interrupt disrupts what your prospect expects to happen next and catches attention by breaking the normal flow.

One of my favorite examples comes from Mohammed Qahtani's presentation "The Power of Words." Mohammed kicks off the speech by putting a cigarette in his mouth and lighting it on stage.

Anyone watching expects him to start with some sort of hook about what he's going to cover. That's the normal pattern for presentations.

But Mohammed interrupts that pattern with something no one would expect.

And that's why it's so effective (and has over 3M views).

Now… I’m not saying you should light up a cigarette to kick off your sales calls. But you should use pattern interrupts to break the expected flow of your pitch.

Try pausing mid-sentence and say, "Actually, let me ask you something first." Or admit, "You know what? I might be completely wrong about this, but..."

When prospects start drifting, a well-timed pattern interrupt can snap them back to attention.

Make It Personal and Relevant

People tune out when they hear generic information, and tune in when they hear about themselves.

It’s why using the word “you” is better than “I”.

Do your homework before the call. Reference their recent company news, industry challenges, or specific goals. Show that you understand their world.

Instead of talking about "companies like yours," talk about them specifically, by name. Every hypothetical situation you discuss should be about their company and things they’ve mentioned.

The more your prospect thinks "This person gets me," the more attention they'll give you.