I can't tell you how many times novices in selling have rebelled against the idea of using scripts, pre-pattered words and phrases that have been proven to get results.

"I'm not an actor!" they wail.

And I just shake my head, while thinking, "Gee, that's too bad!"

There are at least five reasons sellers should study acting:

(1) Shakespeare famously said, "The play is the thing." Acting is all about PLAY. It's fun, and salespeople should approach their craft in a light, it's only a game, frame of mind.

(2) Actors recite lines that have been written for them by other professionals known as playwrights and screenwriters. They haven't been hired for their gift of gab or to figure out what to say. The actor's task is to say what has been given to them to say, in a clear and convincing manner.

(3) Salespeople and actors need to "get into character," and stay within the confines of their "roles." Offstage or off the set they may have had a fight with their best pal or spouse an hour before show time, but if the role is to seem cheerful, positive, and happy, that's what they need to embody.

(4) Actors need to be able to take and use criticism, without becoming defensive. There is a person, a fellow professional, a director, whose job it is to see that your role is performed well and in a manner that complements the rest of the cast. Sellers have sales managers who fulfill this duty.

(5) Actors can never allow themselves to become complacent. Even if their show has run for 100 or 1,000 performances, every audience is fresh to the material, and actors need to be equally fresh to make it seem real, each time out.

Though it has been many moons since I did any acting, I have benefited tremendously from that training.

I have applied it to my work as a professional speaker and as an international seminar producer and presenter.

And of course, I've used it to negotiate innumerable deals.

Most people that say they aren't actors will tell you in the next sentence that they don't want to sound phony.

Show me an actor that does!