Xerox master sales trainer Larry Domonkos has identified a foolproof way to make presentations last long after the overhead projector has gone back to storage. He calls it the UPPOPPR method. Now that may sound like something you’d take into a movie, but the method is anything but straight from the corn belt. It’s a proven system that has yielded high rates of sales training success.

Letter by letter, the name UPPOPPR stands for, U – The utility of your subject, P – product or goal to be discussed, P – process or structure of your presentation, O – objective or what participants will be able to do, P – process justfication, content and methodology, P – proof of ability and R – review. Domonkos outlines the entire process by explaining that so-called dumb questions that many trainers disregard are, in reality, important to answer before they even come up in a meeting. The UPPOPPR method does just that.

As an example, take the U in UPPOPPR. Your audience wants to know what they can expect from your presentation before you begin. It’s in everyone’s mind, so why not lay your cards on the table? Or take the last P for proof. Naturally, your audience wants to know what proof you have that you can actually deliver what you say you will.

Looked at from another perspective, UPPOPPR is a lot like the selling process itself. You know the prospect doubts what you are going to say even before you begin your presentation. So you have to answer all his “dumb” questions before you can get down to the business of selling. Those questions may never be spoken but you can be sure they are there.

The step-by-step chart below gives precise guidelines for using the UPPOPPR method. Clip it, save it, and use it at your next meeting or presentation.