Why Your Sales Team Needs Their Own Open Mic: Practice Tips from Comedians

One thing that's always stuck with me during my time as a stand-up comedian is the way comedians practice. They're out there night after night, sometimes multiple times a night at different open mics, honing their skills, trying out new material, and perfecting their timing. They're constantly improving regardless of who's watching.

It made me start thinking: why don't salespeople practice that way? During my sales career, they'd train me for a day or two and then throw me on the phones to close qualified opportunities. I'm learning how to sell in front of prospects. This leads to lost deals and disappointment, not to mention the company is leaving a ton of money on the table.

That was the origin of Pitch Lab back in 2016. Why don't salespeople have an open mic like comedians do? We've evolved quite a bit since then, but that was the impetus—giving salespeople a safe place to cut their teeth, to practice their pitch.

What Good Sales Practice Looks Like

What does good practice look like for salespeople? I had the opportunity to listen to Jonathan Mahan from Practice Lab, and he did a great job breaking down what deliberate practice means for salespeople.

There's a difference between salespeople knowing the right things to do and actually doing them. Even if conceptually they understand the right approach, it gets harder to pull it off under pressure—when you're in a live situation like discovery or a pitch with a prospect.

What actually happens in the beginning is that even though you know what to do, that knowledge "goes dark" and salespeople can't access it. But when you've practiced how to do it, that skill stays alive under pressure. That's why we want our salespeople to practice—so they can perform when it matters.

A 4-Part Framework for Deliberate Practice

Here's a simple framework for deliberate practice in four parts:

Part 1: Chunk It Down

Break down the sales process into different component parts: responding to inbound leads, researching before the call, building rapport, performing discovery, setting expectations, presenting the solution and investment estimate, overcoming objections, negotiating, closing, etc.

Once the entire sales process is chunked down into component parts, have your team practice these skills individually.

Part 2: Show What Good Looks Like

Show your salesperson or sales team what good looks like and make it actionable. Demonstrate with enough detail so they can model the correct behavior.

Part 3: Build the Foundation First

Start with fundamentals, then move to more advanced skills. Have your team learn one thing at a time.

This is why Pitch Lab believes it's much harder to get good results in a 2-day sales training off-site than it is to do an hour a week over 12 weeks. When you ladder up and teach the fundamentals first—like what value-based selling is and what your differentiators are—your team understands the "why" before learning frameworks for discovery.

Part 4: Create a Safe Space for Practice

Help your salespeople improve over time by creating a safe space for practice. Your salespeople need to feel vulnerable enough to make mistakes and try new things.

When you put salespeople on the spot to test them, they switch over to "performance mode"—the same mode they're in when talking to prospects or being judged by peers. Instead, we want them in "improvement mode," which is practice mode where they can be fearless, not be judged, and feel safe.

Ideally, if you're teaching one new component a week, your sales team has a safe space to try the new skill and then the ability to apply that skill for the entire week before you teach something new.

The Power of Continuous Learning

The most powerful way to transform your sales team is through continuous training over time. Give your team bite-sized content in 60 minutes or less, let them apply it in real situations for a week, then bring them back together to share what worked, what didn't, and refine their approach.

This continuous improvement cycle is exactly what comedians do at open mics - try material, gauge reactions, refine delivery, and try again with improvements. When your sales team follows this same rhythm of practice, reflection, and refinement, they'll develop the muscle memory to execute flawlessly even in high-pressure sales situations. And that's no joke when it comes to winning more deals.

Want to learn more about what Pitch Lab training can do for your sales team? Click here.

Key Takeaways for Sales Leaders

✅ Break down the sales process into manageable skills that can be practiced individually

✅ Demonstrate what excellent performance looks like before asking your team to practice

✅ Build fundamental skills first before advancing to more complex techniques

✅ Create a safe, judgment-free environment where salespeople can practice without fear

✅ Implement continuous weekly learning rather than infrequent day-long training sessions

✅ Focus on one new skill per week, allowing time for practice, application, and refinement

✅ Switch salespeople from "performance mode" to "improvement mode" during practice sessions

✅ Remember: under pressure, only well-practiced skills remain accessible