Up and coming auctioneers had a chance to hone their skills at the Australian Livestock and Property Agents Association school in Echuca last week.
Participants spent two days at the auctioneers school, where they were coached by industry professionals and speech therapists.
The school was also a selection event for the state Young Auctioneers competition later in the year.
Anthony Delaney, Nutrien Delaney Livestock & Property, was one of the judges in the selection and a coach at the school.
Mr Delaney said the school typically saw a range of experience and skill levels, from beginners who were yet to sell right through to more advanced agents.
"We try and instill confidence in the new ones, a bit more confidence in the ones that are going, and then refine the more advanced ones," he said.
Confidence was usually the biggest challenge for beginners, he said.
"It's very hard to stand up and do a fake auction, it's probably harder than it is to do a real one," he said.
"[We] get them having a bit of fun, that's what makes the most confidence.
"Once you get the confidence on the rise, everything else can fall into place.
"It's an honour and a 'job done' and a privilege for us when we go to other sales and see these young people that have been a part of these schools up there selling."
The school also focused on the rules and regulations that came with selling.
Having speech pathologists attend the school was another bonus, he said, as voice training was something that was often overlooked.
A good auctioneer had a huge influence on a sale and it was important to have a solid foundation of skills to fall back on when the job was not so good, he said.
"We're going through a glory period at the moment where no one can do anything wrong, but when the tide turns and things do toughen up season-wise or political-wise or whatever may happen, that's when we hope they'll hone in on the skills they learned at the schools," he said.
"You've still got to do your job, you can't cave into it, and that's probably where you need to call on a greater skillset to try and do your best to lift the market or put a bit of flow into it."
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Speech pathologists Eliza Galvin and Lou Philpott have been attending the ALPA schools around the country for about 20 years.
Ms Galvin said participants were first taught about anatomy before moving onto some exercises to practice and use in their warm up.
"Those exercises are based around their posture, breathing, voice and clarity," she said.
"Throughout the course of the two days we tell them individually what it is they specifically need to work on."
Maintaining clarity and keeping their voices low and relaxed was something many participants had to work at, she said, but making minor changes could have a big impact.
"The posture allows breath control and breath support, and breath is what's behind a well-projected voice, she said.
"It can be the difference between leaning over the rail slightly and standing up and opening the chest up - that might be the only thing required to improve that projection in someone."
Learning to appear confident was another important step and tied in with having a good posture.
Ms Philpott said voice training was also crucial to prevent any voice problems.
"We teach them the correct way of doing that so we're preventing them losing their voice or having chronic issues with their voice down the track," she said.