How to Stay in Step When the Conversation Falters

Hi Leader,

If you’ve ever watched Dancing with the Stars, you know the setup: a professional dancer is paired with a celebrity who’s never danced a day in their life…and together, they have to perform live, under pressure, in front of millions of people.

It’s the perfect recipe for entertainment and potential secondhand embarrassment.

And if you’re like me, you’ve probably had this moment: the music ends, they strike their final pose, you’re clapping from your couch thinking, “Wow, they actually they nailed it!”...and then the judges start talking.

Suddenly, that beautiful routine you just applauded is being dissected like it’s a slow-motion car crash.

At first, I thought the judges were just being dramatic (because, let’s be honest, they are)

But then I realized they’re not wrong, they’re just trained to see what we can’t.

The missed step.
The hesitation.
The moment the pro quietly saved the whole routine.

That’s what makes the pros the pros. They don’t just know the choreography…they trust it. When their partner forgets the next move, they don’t panic. They guide. They improvise. They make it look like it was all part of the plan.

And what we see isn’t perfection.
It’s connection.

Now…minus the cha cha, that same dance happens in every great sales conversation.

The salesperson is the pro. It’s our job to meet the client where they are. When they give in to doubt, we steady the rhythm. When they hesitate, we guide. We connect at every falter.

Because the real magic of sales doesn’t happen when everything goes according to plan, it happens in the narrow space between hesitation and trust.

And most people don’t realize how easy it is to lose the rhythm right there…until the music stops.

That’s where great salespeople learn to navigate the narrows.

In this week’s full article, I’ll show you what that moment really looks like, how to read it, recover it, and turn uncertainty into connection that leads to yes.