I have known since working for Cutco in high school that I don't want to work in sales. Despite prior negative experience in sales, I registered for the class upon the advice of advertising professionals and as a personal challenge for myself. While I don't intend to pursue a career in sales, I will never forget the what I learned through this course about communication and myself.

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In this class, I participated in role-plays in lieu of midterms. I had three role-play challenges where I had to pitch a product and complete a sale with a client in a fifteen minute meeting. The catch: I was pitching to mock clients played by the sales representatives from the companies that sell the products. 

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I struggle with speaking under pressure, so when I learned about the role-plays, I was intimidated to say the least. What scared me the most was that I couldn't predict what would happen; every sales meeting is different so there is no guarantee what you are stepping into. I couldn't control what happened in the meetings, so I focused on what I could control. I learned as much as I could about the products and companies, and tried to understand how they could solve problems that my client might have. I also decided to invest the time into creating good brochures, partially as a guide for myself, but also because it was something I could leave with the client to remember me. I played to my strength of design, and spent time working my pitches around the focal point of a brochure.  

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My strategy paid off. The brochures helped me remember talking points and aided transitions. In addition, it was evident that I worked hard to make my brochures clean and personalized. Playing to my strengths helped me stand out when I'm sure there were other students who were better speakers and presenters. At the end of my final role-play, my client liked my brochure so much he asked to keep it. My professor told me afterwards that he said it was the best handout he had seen in a student presentation during the five years he has recruited across Texas. 

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Participating in role-plays was a daunting challenge for me, but I learned a lot about presenting and understanding your audience. I also learned that leaning on my strengths in uncomfortable situations can help me face my fears with confidence.