Webinar: Professional Confidence & Presence: How Clients Perceive You

Sameer Amini: Hi, everyone, and welcome. Thank you for being here. Today's webinar is called "Professional Confidence and Presence." More specifically, we're going to talk about how clients perceive you, why that matters, and how to communicate with more certainty, calm, and professionalism. So when people think about real estate success, they usually think about knowledge, contracts, market data, and negotiation, strategy. All those things matter, but there's another layer that often decides whether or not a client trusts you, truly trusts you, listens to you, follows your guidance, and feels comfortable making decisions with you. That layer is your confidence, your presence, and the way you come across. And today, we're going to break that down in a very practical and professional way.

Sameer Amini: I want to recognize the audience for today as well. Some of you in this webinar are current learners in the Career College Real Estate program, and some of you may be here because you're exploring profession, exploring education options, or simply wanting to learn more about what the real estate development at a higher level can actually look like. So I want to frame this really clearly that this session, the knowledge and the content you're going to learn from this webinar is very practical. It's real-world training. This is the level of training that we, someone like me, would provide to experienced agents currently in the field. So today, we're going to cover speaking with certainty without arrogance.

Sameer Amini: We're going to talk about body language in meetings, showings, removing filler language, and owning the room, even as a newer agent. So whether you're already in the program or still exploring this path, the goal is that you leave with professional insights that you can note away and apply. A quick introduction. My name is Sameer Mini. I'm the lead facilitator here at Career College Group. I've been in the real estate business now 12 years. I am currently a managing director for a boutique luxury real estate office. I've been in the education side of real estate for now more than six years. And this is what I absolutely love to do, is to train, teach, and give you all the secrets and tips that you need to know on whatever that's going to make you successful.

Sameer Amini: So let's talk about why, and the why here really matters. This topic matters because confidence is not only about how you feel, but it's how safe and certain and guided the client really feels with you. Clients decide very quickly and often they decide very

Sameer Amini: emotionally. They are constantly asking themselves questions like, "Do you feel in control?" "Can I trust your judgment?" "Will you lead when it gets uncomfortable?" And if the answer feels unclear to them, the client is going to absolutely hesitate. When your communication feels hesitant, the client feels hesitant. When your recommendations sound uncertain, the client becomes uncertain. When your presence feels shaky, the client looks elsewhere for reassurance. Before I continue, I want to make you imagine that you're speaking to someone that's most likely is thinking of selling their home. This might be their first time selling. So this is an extremely stressful situation that they're in, and for them, this is a huge stress to deal with. Or someone that's wanting to purchase their first property. Okay? So it's so important on how they feel, and how they feel, it comes from your communication, your recommendation, your presence.

Sameer Amini: All of this has a huge effect. So these are all the reasons why this topic matters so much. Confidence is, by the way, clarity, calm, and direction. Arrogance is pressure, ego, and control. So today, we're not learning how to sound dominant. We're going to hopefully learn how to sound absolutely steady. So one of the most important things to understand is that clients start reading you almost immediately. Often before you even finish speaking, they've already started forming impressions. What do they notice? Well, they notice your tone of voice. They notice your pace. They notice your eye contact. They notice your posture and stillness. They also notice the certainty of your language.

Sameer Amini: Two people, believe it or not, can say the exact same sentence. One sounds like a guide, and the other sounds like they're asking for permission. That is an important distinction. So here's something worth noting clearly. Clients do not need perfection, they need steadiness. That line alone is worth saving because it changes how you think about professionalism. You do not have to be perfect. You do have to be grounded. Let's clear this up with a very common concern. So a lot of people hear the word "confidence" and immediately worry that it will make them sound arrogant, pushy, or too strong. But confidence and arrogance are not the same thing. Now, confidence sounds like clear recommendation, calm explanation, structured guidance, and comfort with silence. Arrogance, on the other side, feels or sounds like talking over someone, dismissing a question, overstating certainty, and leaving no room for dialogue.

Sameer Amini: Confidence makes people feel safe, versus arrogance makes people feel

Sameer Amini: pressure. So what we're building today is a professional presence that feels safe for a client and not heavy. That distinction matters a lot, especially for people who naturally want to be respectful, thoughtful, and careful with how they actually come across. Now, we come to one of the most useful tools in the session. A lot of uncertainty comes not from the lack of knowledge, but from how we frame what we know.You see, the simplest certainty framework you can use is this, and you can note this away. And we use this all the time in the real world. We always start off or say to a client, "Based on... I recommend because." That sentence alone is so powerful because it does three things, okay?

Sameer Amini: First, it shows you that you're not guessing. Second, it shows that your recommendation is grounded in something real. And third, it positions you as a guide. Let me slow that down with examples, okay? So instead of telling a client, "I think we should list at this price," you should instead say, "Based on the recent comparable sales, I recommend listing at this price because it positions us competitively." Another example. Instead of saying, "Maybe we should wait and see," to a seller, no. We use that sentence by saying, "Based on the buyer activity this week," or, "Based on the showings and the feedback we've received, I recommend we move now because waiting is likely to reduce urgency." Another example would be, instead of saying, "I'm not sure if we should adjust the price," you should say, "Based on the feedback," again, "Based on the feedback so far, I recommend adjusting the price because it removes the biggest objection." Another would be, "Hey, based on your goals, I recommend option A because it gives you the most control." See?

Sameer Amini: You see all these examples, what's happening here is you're not trying to sound dramatic, you're not pretending to predict the future, and you're not promising any sort of outcomes. What you're doing is you're providing leadership, and that is exactly what clients want. Now, let's build on that. There are certain words that weaken authority, even when your intention is absolutely good. Most of you are going to notice when I put out some of the words. For example, words such as I think, maybe, hopefully, we can try, it's kind of. You see, these words may sound polite, they do, but to a client, they often feel uncertain. So let's upgrade them. Instead of saying, "I think," we need to start saying, "Based on what we're seeing." Instead of saying maybe, let's note down to say, "One option is, and here is the trade-off." A lot of us, and I used to do this in the beginning of my career, I used to say hopefully a lot.

Sameer Amini: So I've now fully changed that to, instead of saying hopefully,

Sameer Amini: "Our plan is," and, "We're going to measure that by..." Okay, so another one is, we can try. Again, these are my own personal improvements. I used to say this a lot as well. Instead of saying, "We can try," change it to, "This gives us the best chance because..." And lastly, instead of saying, "It is kind of," pause, gather the thought, and then finish the sentence very clearly. And here are a few lines worth saving. "Here's what I recommend, and here is why." "The next step should be..." "What we can control today is..." See, these are clean, professional, and they're reassuring. Nothing here sounds like you're guessing, you're being hopeful, that we're not really in full control of anything, and we can't really make any changes.

Sameer Amini: We have no control over any decision. So the big takeaway here is simple. You want to remove any fillers. You want to add, instead, structure. One of the other things to note would be a lot of us are not okay with silence. If you notice, if you're speaking to somebody, or specifically a client, when there's silence and there's pauses, we are so uncomfortable with it. We start filling it with words like, "Um, okay, so," and we start extending some of those words as well because we're not comfortable with that silence being within our sentence. One of the most powerful things you can do today is, as you speak to people in your day-to-day, immediately try and recognize where you're saying filler words.

Sameer Amini: Any time you are catching yourself saying those words, you're going to become better and better at not saying them anymore. So the first step is recognize, catch yourself, and every time you do it, stop yourself, and instead, just pause. Having silence and pauses in the middle of sentences allows the listener, the other person on the other side, to actually think about what is being said, to think about what did they just listen to. So that time for them is important, but for us, it may feel awkward. So we have to be extremely comfortable with having those silences and pauses. You might notice throughout this webinar, I'm doing the same thing.

Sameer Amini: I'm pausing on purpose, and then I'm thinking on my side while the time allows you to think about what I just said as well. So it's a win-win. Here are some more examples. Feel free to screenshot if you need to. So if you want stronger language, just again, look at these. "I think we should list at" becomes, "Based on the comparables, I recommend we list at." Not going to read the whole thing there, but you have some really, really good

Sameer Amini: examples that you can take away. The goal here is once you recognize how you can change weak language to something better, it's going to become a habit for you. You will start catching yourself on other instances and situations where you will immediately recognize, "Oh, I should be saying this differently." A day will come where you are doing this completely naturally. It becomes something very natural to you. You don't even have to think about it, and you start to speak this way very, very naturally.So now we come to, again, the filler language. I want to focus really more on this. This is one of the quietest ways confidence completely leaks out.

Sameer Amini: Okay, so filler language usually shows up when we're nervous, rushed, or where we're trying too hard to sound polite. Common fillers include, you can see on the slide, "I think," "just," "hopefully," "kind of," or nervous laughter or over-explaining or over-talking. So the challenge is that these habits do not make you sound more respectful. They often make you sound less certain. And again, remember that the client listening on the other end, they can smell this from miles away. So here are some better replacements. So instead of saying, "I just wanted to," becomes simply the sentence without the "just." Okay? So "I think" becomes "what I recommend is." "Hopefully" becomes "our plan is." "Kind of" becomes a pause with a clear sentence of what are we trying to say.

Sameer Amini: So let's talk about body language. So let's pause for a second. Remember, we already said that when you're speaking to clients, they are already questioning. The moment before you even finish your sentence, they are already thinking about your leadership, about how safe they feel, about how confident they feel with you. And they're behind their mind, or consciously or unconsciously, they are actually judging based on what they're hearing, based on the tone, the body language, and all of it. They're creating some sort of a judgment. Now, this part now, so for the body language, remember that your body often speaks before your words do. So confidence is communicated physically through upright posture, still hands, eye contact, slower movement, and comfort with pauses.

Sameer Amini: Uncertainty tends to show up as fidgeting, as holding your phone, as trailing off in sentences, rushing from one space to another, or completely over-talking. Now, when I say this and you're listening to me say this, you might not actually imagine yourself doing this, but when you're in front of a real client in their property and they've asked you to come and

Sameer Amini: maybe evaluate their home, and you're in that meeting. Everything I'm saying to you, I've seen it firsthand with many newer agents, and it's not easy. So you don't, again, need to perform confidence. You just do not need to act like someone you're not. You just need to be fully grounded. Grounded body language tells the client, "I'm calm, I am present, and I'm not rattled," and that matters. That also shows them that you've done this multiple times. You're a professional, and this is what you do proactively. In meetings, presence is about leadership and structure. That means doing simple things really well. Stand when discussing pricing. Pause before you answer any questions. Keep your hands visible.

Sameer Amini: Put your phone completely away. And summarize decisions clearly. Let us match that with some language. So here's how today's meeting will go. I use this sentence every single meeting. Before any of my meetings start, whether it's a buyer or a seller, I always start it off with, "Here's how today's meeting will go." What I'm doing is I'm immediately, by saying that, putting myself in a position of leadership. I am almost hinting at the fact that I'm leading the conversation. Another sentence is, "Let me walk you through my recommendation." Again, that sentence, it very quietly positions you as the guide in that room. Another sentence to note, "In short, the best option is...

Sameer Amini: because..." Right. So anytime I tell a client, "Of all the options, what is the best?" I always remember to back it up with some sort of substance. Substance that I may have already discussed with them in the previous conversations. Another sentence to note is, "The next step from here is..., and I will handle this." This is how the ending of every single client meeting with a seller or a buyer ends with me. I'm going to repeat. "The next step from here is...," and then, "I'm going to handle this," or, "I'm going to do this next." That sentence, again, represents calm leadership. Structure creates authority, and the sentences that I just gave you as an example are really good examples of what creates authority through structure.

Sameer Amini: And if you have authority through structure, then that authority is what creates the trust with the client. Many clients, they're not looking for a perfect answer. They're just looking for someone who feels completely organized, calm,

Sameer Amini: and they're able to lead them. Because again, they're going through something extremely stressful. They need someone to lead them through this stressful time for them. Let's talk about presence in showings. A lot of us, showings is going to become a very routine thing for you in real estate. You'll find yourself in showings every few weeks if you're dealing with one or two buyers. So let's talk about presence in showings. In showings, confidence often looks a lot quieter. You do not need to fill every room with words. So imagine you're opening the door, the client is behind you, and you're walking with them.Confident agents just simply guide. They do not trail. They walk slightly ahead.

Sameer Amini: They pause in the important rooms. We speak very less, and we observe more. And they close with a summary. Some helpful lines include, "This is usually the room buyers focus on the most." "Hey, here's what stands out about this specific space we're at." "Now, what matters here in the kitchen..." Or another sentence would be, "At the end, I'm going to summarize how this compares to the other properties that we've seen." When we're going for showings, a lot of agents tend to believe that the more they talk, the more they explain, the better it's going to be. The important truth that you should know instead is silence during a showing can sound way more professional than constant talking.

Sameer Amini: When you're calm enough not to fill every second, the client feels that steadiness. And remember, they're the ones entering the home. They're the ones really looking. So you want to allow them the room and the silence to think as they're observing, as they're walking. Allow them to feel every space that they're walking into. Now, owning the room as a newer agent. This is a big one. You do not need years of experience, by the way, to own the room. I'm sure many of you listening, or many of you thinking, "Okay, well, if I get into this business, yeah, how am I going to stay on top of a client? How am I going to be the one that someone's going to listen to?" I never forgot when I first started in this business, my biggest fear was, "Why would someone listen to me?" So that was my own personal fear.

Sameer Amini: But then I've learned that clients are not hiring your past, they are hiring your leadership today. I'm going to repeat. When clients are hiring you, they're hiring your leadership today. Experience is not authority. Preparation plus process is authority. So don't say, "I'm new, but..." That immediately weakens your presence. Say, "Here's how I approach this."

Sameer Amini: Let me give you some power sentences worth saving, okay? Great question. Again, I say this to newer agents all the time. One of the fears is, "Well, what if I am asked a question that I don't know the answer to? What am I going to say? I'm going to look weak, or I'm going to be embarrassed because I don't know the answer. I might not know the answer." In my 12 years in business, I can say that even today, I might be asked a question that I fully don't know the answer to. This is how I and experienced agents always responds. "Client, that's a great question. I will confirm so that I'm 100% accurate, and I'm going to get back to you." Another sentence worth noting is, "Here's what we know right now, and here's what I'm going to verify.

Sameer Amini: I will take ownership of that, and I'm going to update you by tomorrow." "Here are the next two steps, and I'm going to handle both." You see, the way you speak and the way you approach it is what makes the difference. That language sounds very responsible, it sounds composed, and it sounds professional. Responsibility sounds confident. Bluffing is what sounds absolutely risky. So if you're a newer agent, all you have to do is just be absolutely honest and take responsibility that you're going to get something for them. This slide is one of the most practical in the whole session. So confidence comes from being absolutely ready. Preparation removes hesitation. That means having a meeting checklist, having a showing plan, having market data ready, and being clear on what happens next.

Sameer Amini: Simple lines that we use all the time is, "Here's the plan." "Here's what happens next." "Here's what I will be watching for you." You see, those are not flashy lines. They're actually very reassuring lines, and that is exactly what clients want. They want to feel that there is a plan and that someone is thinking ahead and that the process is being led well. If at any point clients feel lost, they feel, "Well, we're not really sure what's going on right now or what's going to happen," that's where, again, your position completely weakens. Now, instead of stopping the webinar for an exercise, I'm just going to simply want to leave you with a very practical takeaway.

Sameer Amini: If you want to improve your presence, start with three behaviors. Pause before you respond. Slow your speech by 15% to 20%. Stand when you're presenting price or strategy. Lead with an agenda, and bring up the agenda as the first item in any meeting. "Here's how today's meeting is going to go." Keep your hands visible, phone and anything distracting away from you. If you're sitting across the table from a client, make sure there's nothing in between you both. So if there's a laptop, remove the laptop. If there's a flower vase or whatever it is in front of you and on the table, remove

Sameer Amini: it. Make sure there's a clear visible path between you and your client. And as you speak, there's literally nothing, no object in between it. Summarize the next steps out loud. Now, you do not need to try all of these at once. What is worth noting for yourself later is this. Just pick three of these things I mentioned and practice them consistently. This is how change actually happens, and hopefully, they become part of your professional habits. I want to emphasize something very clearly before we close. Confidence is not a personality trait, folks. It is a skill. It is built through repeated professional behavior. It grows when your language gets cleaner.It grows when your structure gets stronger, and it grows when your body language becomes very grounded.

Sameer Amini: And this is the identity shift. You're not trying to sound smart. You're just trying to sound steady. This is what clients will feel, and this is exactly what builds trust. Before we close, again, I'm going to go back to the Q&A. If there are any questions that are dropped so far. Looks like there are none. Looks like everyone's been really listening attentively. I really appreciate that. Before we close, I want to say a quick word again about Career College. For the current learners, this kind of session is part of building real-world readiness. It is about developing not just theoretical understanding, but the professionalism, confidence, and the communication skills that matter once you're in front of real clients.

Sameer Amini: For those of you who are not currently in the program, I hope today gave you a real sense of the level of development support and the practical thinking that matters in our profession. I also want you to know that Career College, by the way, now offers a monthly payment plan. And if you're not a current learner, you can visit the link careercollegegroup.com/real estate, and register there. See, again, entering real estate is not only about passing courses, it's about building judgment, communication, confidence, professionalism, way from the beginning. Now, we're going to be continuing doing these webinars. Middle of every month, we're going to have a new topic, what we'll talk about.

Sameer Amini: In the beginning of every month, our webinars will focus on, is this the right career for you? So confidence is not pretending. It is preparation and proper execution. Calmness

Sameer Amini: in a meeting creates trust, and then that trust creates decisions. Decisions is what leads you to making money and deals. Here are four lines on the slide. Feel free to screenshot it if you like. Worth absolutely saving. So again, "Based on," "I recommend because," "Here's the plan," "Here's what's going to happen next," "I'm going to confirm and get back to you," "Here's how today's meeting is going to go." If you remember these ideas and begin applying them consistently, your presence will absolutely change, your communication will improve, and the way people experience you professionally will improve as well. Thank you so much all for being here. Thank you so much for listening.

Sameer Amini: Feel free again, I'm going to wait a few minutes before we close. If you have any questions, feel free to drop them in the chat. I'll wait to answer them. I got a message from one of you saying that she is starting tomorrow with Career College Group. Amazing, Kimberly. Excited for you. It is the beginning of a very, very beautiful journey. I'm so glad I got into this career path. This is the best decision I've ever made for myself. Thank you so much for being here, for listening, and hopefully you took some really, really good pointers away with you.