Skills Employers Want #10 – Ability to Sell or Influence Others

The ability to sell or influence others is the number ten skill on the list of top ten skills employers are looking for. Selling is something we all must do at times, whether we are at a job interview or pitching an idea to a supervisor or investor. It involves communicating clearly who you are, what you want to do and why in a captivating way.

Resources for learning sales skills:

• Sales Skills at Mindtools
• Sales Management at Management Study Guide
• Summary of the book “Getting to Yes”
• Resources at Kutztown University
• ABCs of Relationship Selling from McGraw-Hill
• Videos at salesbizskills.com
• Education-portal list of free online sales and marketing management courses

Presentations are often a critical part of selling an idea or pitching a product. Learn how to develop an effective presentation with the following resources:

• How to Make a Great TED Talk at Phil Presents (SCORE)
• You Could be a Better Presenter, Here’s How at distilled.com
• Presentation Zen from Garr Reynolds
• SpeakingSherpa.com
• Nancy Duarte TED Talk (18.12)
• What Makes a Great Talk Great Chris Anderson (23.39)
• Guy Kawasaki 10-20-30 Rule for pitches (1.51)
• How not to be nervous Parade.com
• Powerful Presentations, Nathan Gold at Kauffman Founders School

The ability to tell a story is an important part of communicating a message. Check out Entrepreneurial Selling with Craig Wortman at Kauffman Founders School.

From the article “6 Easy-to-Steal Rituals of Extremely Successful People” at marcandangel.com:

“Selling is convincing other people of the benefits of working directly with YOU.”

All of the successful business owners they interviewed feel that the ability to sell themselves, their ideas, and what they have to offer is the one skill that most contributes to their success. The resources in this post can help you learn and develop these skills.

About dailyplanit

I seek to create order from the chaos of complex information. Join me at the Daily PlanIt to gain insights, inspiration, and information to increase skills for a better life. I unlock the power of teaching reading with phonics in the pursuit of literacy at www.phonicspow.com. In my spare time I explore books and movies, often choosing titles available on both screen and page.