From improv to MasterClasses on persuasion, negotiation, and, yes, even feeling confident in your own skin, these education programs will help you find self-assuredness and give you a leg up on your competition.

Are you receiving our weekly Teams Beat newsletter? For the team's latest news, insight and trends, subscribe here.

As real estate agents, it’s so easy to see just how big of an impact we have on our clients’ outcomes. We determine how many potential relationships turn into trusting clients, how long a client’s journey takes, and what it looks like.

If you want to hone your public speaking abilities, work on your listening skills, enhance your person-to-person interactions or even engage in some on-the-spot storytelling, consider taking these five non-real estate classes that’ll make you a better salesperson, business owner, and leader.

These classes can help get over your fear of sounding too “salesy,” and allow you to show off your knowledge and value with self-assuredness and authenticity instead.

1. DiSC personality assessment

A DiSC profile is a personality assessment that gives you insight into human behavior by measuring “tendencies and preferences, or patterns of behavior, with no judgment regarding value or alignment with a skill set or job classification.”

As an agent, doing a deep dive into DiSC profiles will give you the edge you need to better understand and service your clients. You’ll be able to comprehend what they might need to make a decision, how to put those needs into words, and what their preferred communication style might be.

2. MasterClass

There’s no better time than now to expand your expertise with online learning, and MasterClass is the perfect hub for virtual classes that span different industries and cater to all skill levels.

3. Improv

As agents and humans, we’ve definitely found ourselves in a predicament or two where we had to improvise. Improvisational theatre, otherwise known as “improv,” allows you to think on the spot and become creative with your responses.

Any improv class will first teach you the fundamental step of “Yes, and …” This is a basic rule in improv that allows you to accept what another participant has just stated and then expand on it. With neither party saying “no” and both building on each other’s ideas, the conversation flows.

This fundamental principle alone will allow you to pivot in your conversations with clients. Improv also allows you to listen and then talk. It’s crucial to listen to what’s been said and pay attention so you can react appropriately.

4. Toastmasters

Toastmasters is an organization that helps you find your voice. It allows you to cultivate your own courage and confidence, so you can be a better agent and a better leader.

With a focus on acquiring confidence while speaking, Toastmasters offers classes that help you “practice public speaking, improve your communication, and build leadership skills.”

All to say, these classes can help you nurture your confidence, become a better public speaker, and develop your communication and leadership skills which will only benefit your business and interactions with your clients.

5. Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) classes

Another non-real estate class you need to invest in if you want to service your clients to the best of your abilities is neuro-linguistic programming (NLP).

As outlined in The Knowledge Academy Training, NLP “looks at the way that humans think and process thoughts, and how language and behavior are used to express these thoughts and interact with others.”

The training will help you identify observable behaviors associated with various personality styles and how to successfully connect with each one by customizing your communications — which is important when it comes to interacting with our real estate clients.

By KATHLEEN BLACK

Source: https://www.inman.com/