Presentation

Top 10 Tips For A Successful Network Marketing Presentation

2007-10-03T05:38:00.004-07:00

As network marketers, we often have important information to impart and our role in doing so is a major one. Many, many times I have had the pleasure of having people approach me to say how hearing me speak literally changed their lives due to the powerful message and the persuasiveness of the delivery. Most people in MLM are not trained presenters or salespersons but there are a few steps everyone can take to make sure their message has the best possible chance of being well received. Here are my top tips:

1. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE: Not every pitch will work for everyone so before you go to present the products or the business, whether it’s to just one person or to many, do a little research to ensure you’re presenting at the appropriate level. If your presentation is too lightweight, you’ll bore them; too in depth, you’ll confuse them. Either way, they will switch off and your vital words will fall on deaf ears.

2. WIIFM: Yes, that old chestnut, but it’s worth repeating as it’s so often forgotten. Bearing in mind tip no. 1, what are the challenges faced by this person or this group of people? How does your business opportunity or your product solve their problems? Focus on answering these questions rather than trotting out the mechanics of your offering. Your audience must feel you’ve prepared your presentation specially for them, even if it’s essentially the same one you’re giving all the time.

3. CONTINUALLY LEARN AND PRACTICE PRESENTING: One of the most important skills any network marketer can hone is that of becoming an accomplished speaker. It impacts so many other areas of your life as it massively increases your self-confidence. The more professionally you can deliver your message, the more readily it will be received, the more lives you will touch and the more money you will make in your business. Learning to present well is an investment in yourself and can give you the greatest return on the capital you’ve invested.

4. HANDLE DISSENTERS WELL: One of the major fears I hear from network marketers is that of being faced with doubting prospects or those who dispute what they’re being told. Unfortunately, the tendency is to dig in and fight your corner but this can turn the discussion into an argument and work against you, especially if you’re giving a presentation in front of a group. When you’re faced with negativity, always start your answer with “That’s a very good question…” and continue with your viewpoint. Wherever possible, turn things around to make your audience right. Download a free “one-sheet crib sheet” on this important subject at http://www.laddersofsuccess.com.

5. SHOW, DON’T TELL: Show the products you’re talking about. Let people feel, smell and see for themselves instead of just hearing what they are like. If you’re making a presentation about the business opportunity, remember that your company has probably done a lot to make things easier for you. Make sure you get the prospecting materials they offer, show the pictures of the top distributors, talk about them as if they are real people .

6. LET YOUR GUARD DOWN: People buy from those they know, like and trust. How can they do any of this if you won’t let them get to know the real you. You don’t have to be perfect, you can talk about your own challenges, beliefs, family, hopes and dreams. Doing so gives your prospects more opportunity to identify with you so you can use the similarities to build rapport.

7. STORIES INSTEAD OF FACTS: When we get excited about our products, we often delve into the features of the products, what works and why. This is all very exciting once you’ve had your first wonderful product experience, but it doesn’t make for a very exciting lead-in to your presentation. People want to know about results. They want the bottom line. There’s plenty of time to get to the detail later but to start this way could send most of your prospects to sleep (apart from the professors in the audience, of course). The best way to illustrate what your products or business opportunity can do is through telling stories. Use your own story or a case study of someone you know. Use emotive words. Remember, not just the facts, the feelings too.

8. MAKE ‘EM LAUGH: When people laugh they feel more relaxed and amenable. Every situation has a humorous side and if you’re telling a tragic story your prospects will welcome the respite that comes with a moment of levity. The golden rule is to move people: make ‘em laugh, make ‘em cry, then they buy. This is something I aim to do in every presentation because it means I’ve moved my audience emotionally. I appreciate this is an advanced technique, but if you learn how to do it, you’ll increase your success rate exponentially.

9. DON’T TELL – ASK: Instead of telling your prospects everything, get them answering questions. Rather than saying “Did you know that only 1% of people retire financially free?”, ask them “What percentage of people do you think retire financially free?”. This gets your prospects involved and if you word your questions correctly, you’re coaching them to the purchase decision rather than having to push them into buying. This is a technique I teach that I’ve perfected over the years. It works great for network marketers and women and I call it “pull selling”.

10. GIVE A REASON TO ACT NOW: Again, not being salespersons, many network marketers give a great presentation and then wimp out without asking for the order. Your prospect’s motivation will never be higher than it is at that moment so make sure you use this to your advantage. Think of reasons why they should place their order today. Some possible reasons might be because you are offering a special bonus OR prices are about to increase OR there’s an order deadline coming up so they’ll get their goods sooner OR you’re placing an order too so they’ll save on the postage OR you’re offering a discount on orders placed today OR you’re seeing someone else who could become a distributor and will go beneath them. Whatever it is, tell them, and secure the sale.

About The Author

Maria Davies, Ladders of Success Ltd, is a network marketer and a Professional Sales Presenter and Presentations Coach. She trains others to overcome their public speaking fears and use presentation skills to increase the audience share for their product or service by around 91%. More resources at http://www.laddersofsuccess.com.

Generic Flash Movie Business Presentations A Success

2007-10-03T05:38:00.003-07:00

Interactive Flash Movie Presentations explode your sales by adding a giant thrill to your business! The great thing is that they are now affordable for everyone.

Some people think their products sell themselves. Think again! Unfortunately products don't jump of the shelves into the arms of customers and prospects. New wave internet pro MLMers use flash presentations. Why do they use them? A flash movie presentation holds your prospects attention so they can get all the information across.

Websites try to keep you reading but how long will it keep a prospect reading? We all prefer to sit back and absorb a movie presentation. PLUS, it allows your prospects to hold and retain the information up to 10 times longer than text alone!

It doesn't matter what type of product, service, or program you are promoting, video presentations WORK.

Most company sites have a lot of information ready to overload any prospect. Your aim is to motivate and get their details for automated and or personal follow-up. It has been said that people need to see an ad or offer about seven (7) times before they buy. This shows the extreme importance of follow-up. But the first problem is motivating MLM prospects to giving you their information to follow up on. This is the job of the Flash Movie Presentation.

How much do they cost and can I afford one? The good news is that you can. You can have the below three (3) Generic video presentations tailored to the home based business industry for less than $1 a day, They are generic enough to rip rocket the momentum to whatever MLM or business you are promoting.

I highly recommend you get the full deal with these generic movies. You can run these movies in many combinations with other MLM software management tools.

For example: Send your prospects to a Lead Capture Page, that captures their name, email address, phone number and the amount of money they are interested in earning per month or week ( let's you judge their level of interest ).

After they have have given their contact details the site automatically takes them to one of the above Flash Movie Presentations and when it's finished sends them to your company site to join your business.

You could use the movie as a reward for them giving you their contact details. Their contact details can then be automatically sent to you for personal follow up as well as automatically entered into an auto-responder for automated lengthy informative follow up.

Remember "The money is in the follow up!"

Different Automation Styles:

Lead Capture Page goes to Flash Movie then goes to your Company Site
Flash Movie goes to Lead Capture Page then goes to your Company Site

Prospect information from the lead capture page is automatically sent to an auto-responder that has pre-entered editable generic follow up messages that are set to go out on predetermined intervals and or when another person signs up or joins to let all prospects know encouraging them to join etc. For less than $30 a month you can have all this working for you and your team.

For more on MLMs and Heavy Hitter Secrets, see more of Michael Brymer's MLM Articles at his MLMbuff.com website. To listen to streaming radio as you surf the net, Download a Free PC Radio from his Internet-Radio-Download.com website.

About The Author

Read More Of Michael Brymer's Heavy Hitter Secrets at http://mlmbuff.com

Download a Free PC Radio At http://www.internet-radio-download.com

Presentation and First Impressions can be Everything in the Success of Your Home Office Business

2007-10-03T05:38:00.001-07:00

“Presentation “according to the marketing guru Riteway Strokon can be everything.

It often amazes “youngsters” and what we take for granted today is the democratization of the “Home Office “afforded by the modern introduction of computers.

Not long ago to set up a company was a major ordeal.

First a downtown high rent location was essential for both appearances and visibility and to “rub shoulders” with the movers and shakers.

Secondly one had to have a receptionist greet customers as well as answer and direct phone calls.

Lastly there were the intrinsic assurances of the basic competency and integrity of the firm - a letterhead on printed stock paper was first. Letters that were received from the firm with the distinctive font of an IBM “Selectric ““Ball Typewriter”.

By the way that simple typewriter cost approximately $ 3,000 which in the 70’s was the price of a Japanese economy car.

Consider that all of this can be done by one or two persons in a low rent, residential basement home office and you can see the importance of presentation in clinching deals and dollar volumes of business.

With a little extra preparation and thought you can appear to be in the same league as the “Big Boys”.

How is anyone else halfway around the world with a business or purchase decision to know otherwise?

Remember that it is often said “First impressions are everything”.

Factors to Consider When Choosing Paper for the Office Laser Printer

The first step is to understand the printing process.

Laser printers rely on electrical charge to hold the toner to the paper, and then hear and pressure to fuse the toner to the page. So it stands to reason that good laser paper will have special electrical and heat resistant properties similar to a photo copier setup.

Brightness is rated according to the amount of light reflected by the paper. A sheet with a brightness rating of 90 % reflects 90 % of the light striking it: a high brightness rating makes for a high contrast between the page and the ink, Color paper may be misleading as to brightness, because a dark purple sheet does not reflect light as well as a light tan of the same rating.

Electrical resistance comes from a number of factors in the papermaking process. Paper manufacturing can either add resistant chemicals to the surface of the paper or mix them into the paper itself. The moisture content of the paper has a significant impact on paper’s resistance, which is why print quality can vary with humidity - the same printed page can be printed differently in summer rather than winter, in Florida or South Dakota, in a cool air-conditioned office or in a sweatshop.

Moisture affects another aspect of the laser printing process: paper feeding. The greater the moisture content of paper, the more prone it is to curl. And as a result if the paper has too much “curled” it is more prone to jamming the printer.

As a result, it is important that you store paper carefully – if possible in a cool, dark place and to take care to close the packaging on partial reams.

The paper making process creates paper that has two distinctly different sides, though the difference is not always obvious to the eye or touch.

The top is called the “felt” side and the bottom is called the “wire” side.

The rule is to print on the “wire” side first. Look on the label at the front of the ream wrapper for an arrow indicating the “wire” side. Keep this in mind when loading your printer’s paper trays. Be aware of course whether your printer trays load from the face-up or face-down positions.

Another factor to consider that will affect paper jamming is the weight of the paper.

The basis weight is a standard measure based on 500 sheets of paper. Most paper is rated at 20 pounds m, although some higher quality papers can be heavier.

Paper that is rated too light or too heavy will of course be more likely to jam. Many people assume that “weight:” means the same thing as “thickness” and “stiffness”. It is true that these three measures correlate together.

However these factors are not the same.

“Stiffness “is a measure of how much a paper resists bending whereas thickness describes physical dimension. It is quite possible to have three sheets of different 20 pound paper – one can be significantly stiffer than the others, another can be noticeable thicker.

One can of course sum up this article by stating “Check your printer’s user manual” or “check with the manufacturer”.

This is true. The basics of life are usually quite simple.

For the prosperity and success of your home office business remember the importance of first impressions and presentation.

Often the simple choice of choosing the right paper for your home office laser printer can be the determining factor whether you or your competitor gets those orders.

About The Author

Arthur Fellon
Vintage Computer Manuals
Interest in Ubuntu Linux
artfellon@yahoo.com
http://www.badgerlinux.net
http://www.vintagecomputermanuals.com

How to Build a Mediation Presentation That Will Make an Insurance Adjuster’s Sphincter Tighten

2007-10-03T05:37:00.002-07:00

I arrived to help my client prepare for his upcoming mediation. The first thing he did was show me all the wonderful family photos he had of his client and her husband, the decedent.

“My guy was the perfect plaintiff,” the attorney began. “Spent tons of time with his kids. He was the one who took them to school most every morning, he coached all their teams. An elder in his church. Loved by his neighbors. A consummate professional. His wife is a great witness. And this,” he said pointing to the autopsy photos, “is what happened to him. We’re going to ring the bell on this one.”

I viewed the photos silently, but all I was thinking was, “So what?”

So what?

CONSIDER YOUR AUDIENCE

Yes, so what? These photos, the stories, the personification of the deceased all have their place in a trial. In a mediation, it’s slightly different. We’re not playing to jurors. We’re playing to the person who holds the purse strings. The insurance adjuster. Does an insurance adjuster care that your young client was Phi Beta Kappa? Not likely. Is an insurance adjuster emotionally affected because your client’s legs were burned off him while he sat half in and half out of the SUV that had just rolled over on him? Doubtful.

Insurance adjusters have seen the worst of the worst. They see horrific injuries every day. They see “perfect” plaintiffs every day. It doesn’t move them. What do insurance adjusters care about?

Insurance adjusters care about one thing more than anything in the world, even more than money.

Risk.

When an insurance adjuster is listening to and watching a mediation presentation by a plaintiff, she is asking herself, “What is my downside here? What is my risk level?” And she is constantly weighing the risks of going to trial versus the costs of settling with money that the insurance company would prefer to hold on to for a little longer.

YOUR OBJECTIVE: COMMUNICATE THE RISK

When you start putting together your mediation presentation, instead of asking, “What’s great about my case?” ask yourself, “If I were the adjuster, what about this case would freak me out?”

THE ELEMENTS OF THE SPHINCTER-TIGHTENING PRESENTATION

Their Witnesses and Documents

The first answer is bad defense witnesses. Since lawyers in general—and busy defense firms in particular—tend to do a terrible job of prepping witnesses before deposition, it is imperative that you videotape all key defense witnesses: company witnesses, doctors and even experts. If you are in the habit of videotaping everything, good for you. If not, now is a good time to get in that habit.

As much as possible, tell the story using defense witnesses. Pull out the parts of depositions that show blazing incompetence, indifference or best yet, bad motive. As much as possible, include documents generated by the defense to bolster your case.

Adjusters don’t typically see witness testimony before trial. If they’ve got some awful witnesses, make the adjuster painfully aware of it. Start and end with their horrible witnesses.

The Timeline

Sure, a timeline is always helpful for audience comprehension. But in the mediation presentation, you want to use the timeline to highlight points in the process at which the defendants could have made different choices that would have spared the plaintiff his fate. Did they hire against policy? Fail to train? Decide not to inform the customer base of a potentially fatal flaw in the safety product? Put it in the timeline.

WHAT ABOUT MY PLAINTIFF?

Of course your plaintiff needs to be included in the presentation. Doing so serves two purposes: 1) it shows the other side that either your client is a gem (or perhaps that in this venue it won’t matter if he isn’t); and 2) it’s good client relations. But the plaintiff should be a coda, just a quick notice to the defense that they won’t be able to score big on “your guy.”

The big dollars don’t lie in the beauty of your plaintiff’s life and the tragedy of his loss. The big dollars lie in the adjuster’s uneasiness about the risk. And if you can get the adjuster’s sphincter to tighten, her hands may well loosen.

About The Author

Bob Gerchen is a nationally-known jury consultant, author and former actor who helps lawyers communicate with people in the courtroom who don't have law degrees through consulting, books, newsletters and seminars. To sign up for his free Courtroom Presentation Tips newsletter, go to http://www.winmorecases.com. Bob can be reached at 1-877-863-0909.

This article may be reprinted only its entirety and only accompanied by the bio information.

Migraines Vary in Presentation-Diagnosis Can Be Difficult

2007-10-03T05:37:00.001-07:00

There is a spectrum of migraine presentations. On one end of the spectrum, there is “Give me a barf bag and quiet, dark room in which to lie down, and I will try to live through it.” This is most doctors’ idea of a migraine, and also, most patients’ idea. On the other end of the spectrum, there are no migraines. In the middle, there are tension headaches, neckaches, and sinus pain. In between “give me a barf bag” and tension pain, there are migraine-like pain and milder migraines. If someone frequently presents with “give me a barf bag” type migraines, then either the body is more sensitive than someone having fewer or no migraines, or the risk factors for migraine are out of control, or both the body is more sensitive and the risk factors are out of control. If someone presents primarily with tension pain, then the body is less sensitive, and/or the risk factors are more controlled.

Migraines are thought of as interruptions in normal neurological functions manifested by episodes of headaches. At least 20% of migraineurs (people who suffer from migraines) meeting the International Headache Society (IHS) criteria have changed the pattern from episodes of migraine into patterns of chronic headache. Chronic headache often does not return to normal neurological function. This evolving process from episodic headache to chronic headache is called transformation. In the population segment of chronic daily headache, migraine appears to be a progressive neurological disease. The decline of normal neurological function between episodes of migraine greatly exacerbates the migraine syndrome. The migraine syndrome is the outward expression of the body’s sensitivity to light, sound, smell, food, and/or stress, and presents as migraines, sinus or neck pain, palpitations, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), vertigo, hypoglycemia, temporomandibular joint syndrome (TMJ), panic attacks, and/or fibromyalgia. The varying presentations of the body’s sensitivity further complicate the clinical picture. Some doctors either do not understand the connection of presentations, or specialize their focus and are unable to see the total patient picture. Some patients either dismiss symptoms as not being relevant to their main complaint for seeing the doctor, or have given up trying to seek answers for their other problems.

Considering migraine in phases allows for consideration of the dynamic nature of an acute episode of migraine. The IHS criteria for migraines only consider the headache phase which is excellent for research purposes. However, migraine symptoms vary in presentation both in individual attacks and in different patients. To explain the broad spectrum more completely, the Convergence Hypothesis was developed. It connects the observed symptoms with the underlying abnormal neurological functions and makes allowance for varying presentations of migraines. It explains the different phases of the migraine and their relationships. The prodrome phase represents changes in the normal balance of brain processing. This beginning phase has symptoms that herald the coming migraine. The aura phase represents the electrical discharge over a sensory portion of the brain and the resulting effects are seen, smelt, or felt. In the headache phase, mild headache occurs from decreased inhibition of sensory input in the brainstem. Moderate to severe headache occurs from the painful activation of the facial, head, and neck nerves. Cutaneous allodynia (the skin is painfully sensitive to touch) is caused by the nerves becoming hypersensitive. In the resolution phase, the brain processes begin to return to normal. The postdrome phase is caused by some residual neurological dysfunction.

In the case of episodic migraine, the brain function returns to the normal state when the active migraine process is over. In the case of chronic migraine, it does not completely return to normal. The migraine phases may not be fully evident in each migraine and even though the IHS criteria are not met, the migraine process is going on. In other words, at times migraine activity may be manifested as migrainous headache or tension-type headache. Migrainous headache simply refers to the headache meeting most but not all the IHS criteria. Often a migraineur is diagnosed as having migraines and tension-type headache. However, a migraineur really does not have several diagnoses. Each of these types of headaches is caused by the migraine process. In contrast, headaches caused by meningitis, brain hemorrhage, hypertension, temporal arteritis, etc. have a different process of headache production.

The Convergence Hypothesis can be illustrated in the following ways. The migraineur starts experiencing the prodrome phase. He notices a visual aura. He begins to have mild headache, sinus pain, and/or neckache. Then the sensitivity to light, sound, and/or smell is heightened. Nausea and/or vomiting follows. His headache worsens, and he can feel his head throbbing. Movement exacerbates the pain. Wearing his glasses feels very uncomfortable. He is unable to work the next day. The pain starts subsiding. He feels tired and achy. Any or several of the sentences in this paragraph could be omitted, but it is still the same migraine process happening. The migraineur can have aura without headache. The prodrome may be the only manifestation. A tension headache can be noted. Therefore, the Converge Hypothesis considers the variable nature of migraine presentations.

The significance of the Convergence Hypothesis in treating migraines is tremendous. Although the IHS criteria are extremely important for research, it is the Convergence Hypothesis that allows for extended treatment. In the Convergence Hypothesis the impairment in neurological function is more completely judged. By accurately assessing disability from migraine activity, the effectiveness of comprehensive care can be much better evaluated.

About The Author

J. Wes Tanner, MD is a family practice and headache specialist who has been treating people for about 30 years. He has extensive experience in treating migraines and fibromyalgia with excellent success. In "Doctor, Why Do I Feel This Way?", Dr. Tanner exposes the secrets and myths about fibromyalgia and the migraine syndrome. To find out more, go to http://www.migrainesyndrome.net.

How to Build a Mediation Presentation That Will Make an Insurance Adjuster’s Sphincter Tighten

2007-10-03T05:36:00.004-07:00

About The Author

Bob Gerchen is a nationally-known jury consultant and author who helps lawyers communicate with people who don't have law degrees through consulting, books, articles, a newsletter and seminars. His Courtroom Presentation Tips newsletter (http://www.winmorecases.com) offers free tips for lawyers to help them win more cases. Bob is also the author of the book, 101 Quick Courtroom Tips for Busy Lawyers (http://www.CourtroomPresentationTips.com). To speak to Bob directly, call 1-877-863-0909.

Public Speaking, Presentation of the Presentation

2007-10-03T05:36:00.003-07:00

Presentation, presentation, presentation is the name of the Publlic Speaking game!

You may be the most knowledgeable person in the world on a given subject, you may be a PHD with clusters, but if your presentation of the presentation does not have presentation skills your presentation will fail! “Now that was fun!”

Have you gone to a seminar you were really excited about and if you made it to the end, got nothing out of it? Let’s take a look. When the presentation started this is what your heard; Welcooome toooday. . . . . . we will talk abouuut . . . . . .blah de blah, blah blah, blahblahblah. “Monotone, I hate monotone!”, “Drives me absolutely crazy!” Standing in one spot, like a mannequin and has the excitement of watching ice melt. Got the picture?

Continuing the series of “So You Want To Become A Public Speaker?” we are going to dive into Presentation. Not to be confused with the presentation itself, but how it’s presented.

Remember, a presentation is a performance, like an actor. Always bring your “A” game. No “B” movie acting here! How you are being perceived is critical to your longevity in this business.

Dress properly for the occasion. As stated in a previously published article in this series; you can always dress down, but not up.

If your topic is serious, be serious, but not stiff. Present the desired image to your audience. Be enthusiastic, confident, carry yourself with pride, but not cocky. Remain calm. Appear relaxed, even if you feel nervous. Remember the duck story; calm and collected on top of the water, even though your feet are going like heck below the surface.

Speak slowly, articulate clearly, and show appropriate emotion and feeling relating to your topic. But don’t be phony your audience will pick up on that immediately. Take the time to connect with your audience. (Refer back to “Public Speaking Pre Preparation” in the area of “know your audience”.) Speak to the person furthest away from you to make sure your voice is heard from back of the room. It’s okay and encouraged to ask that furthest person in the back if you can be heard. Fluctuate the tone of your voice and dramatize if necessary. If sound equipment is required, as was determined during your pre preparation, adjust accordingly. DO NOT TALK MONOTONE!

I was taught to speak with conviction as if I really believed in what I was saying. Throughout my public speaking career I have changed that teaching to, “Speak with conviction as I truly believe in what I’m saying!”

The material you present verbally should have the same structure as a written research paper, i.e. INTRODUCTION to BODY (strong supporting arguments, accurate and up-to-date information) to CONCLUSION (re-state intro, summarize, and a logical conclusion) with a verbal presentation, add a questions and answer period.

Body language is critical. Standing, walking and moving around using appropriate hand gestures is a MUST. Never present a presentation sitting down or standing still, reading from a prepared presentation. I encourage you not to use a lectern. “Here, check this out” American Heritage Dictionary - lec·tern (lěk'tərn) A stand that serves as a support for the notes or books of a speaker. Now here’s my definition - “A lectern is a crutch for the unprepared speaker.”

Audio-visual aids are okay; don’t torment your audience by creating a lengthy overhead presentation and reading it out to them. You will loose your audience for sure and most importantly your credibility.

Do not read from notes. It’s okay to glance at your notes, but personally I don’t use them. However, I do use overhead presentations so if I loose my place I can glance up, adjust and continue on. Know your subject! If you make an error, correct it, inject some humor and continue.

Add humor when appropriate. Keep your audience interested and relaxed throughout the entire presentation. Caution; don’t be a clown! Humor is great to get your audience relaxed and at the same time relax you the presenter. Don’t open with a joke. This is a bad practice. Trust me there will be plenty of time and opportunities for humor during your presentation. Remember that an interesting presentation makes time go by fast, but a boring presentation is always too long to bear even if the presentation length is the same.

Maintain good eye contact with your audience. Have direct eye contact with a number of people in the audience, and once in a while glance at the whole audience while speaking.

Maintain a constant visual on your audience. Their body language will tell you if you need to adjust your presentation. Speak to your audience, listen to their questions, respond to their reactions, adjust and adapt on the fly.

Your presentation of the presentation (gotta love it) is critical to your public speaking career. Voice tone, eye contact, humor, body language, subject matter knowledge, visual-aids and structure are items you must understand and implement. As stated in previous sessions, “You’re a walking billboard for your Public Speaking career and these are some of the tools in your toolbox of success. Good luck and see you at the next session.

Visit Us at our Public Speaking site. http://www.dseconsultinginc.com/talk

About The Author

Mr. Dale Simmons has been public speaking since 1973. Mr. Simmons has presented hundreds of public speaking presentations from business concepts to motivational. Mr. Dale Simmons, known as the “WHY” man, is a interactive motivational and "self-help" public speaker.

Developing Powerful Presentation Skills

2007-10-03T05:36:00.001-07:00

Powerful presentations are the cornerstone of most sales careers.

In this article, we’ll explore some of the ways you can make more impressive presentations. As a result, you’ll win more business… impress current customers… and maybe… even get a raise. Here are a few things to work on to develop presentations that stand out.

First of all, let’s talk about your appearance. As obvious as it sounds, a good presentation begins with how you present yourself. Although you don’t need to wear high-priced designer suits it’s a good idea to be well groomed. A neat haircut, neatly trimmed beard or clean shave for men and a professional decorum go a long way to making an impressive presentation. Of course, you should dress appropriately for the occasion. The quick Friday afternoon meeting with your team may require a different dress code than a presentation in front of potential clients.

Second, you must know your topic cold. Again, that kind of goes without saying. But it must be said. Because far too many people “wing” their presentations and wonder why things don’t go right. A good idea is to practice your presentation in front of a mirror. Depending on how much hinges on the presentation you may want to take from a few days to a few weeks to polish your pitch, as it were.

Next, your presentation materials should be relevant and top notch. Handouts – especially those with graphics – should be prepared on a business copier or by a professional printer. Computer presentations are usually best done using Powerpoint. Whatever format you present in make sure it reflects a high level of knowledge on the matter and professional competence from you.

Fourth, you might want to consider allowing a question and answer session. Why? Because most presentations are sort of like lectures. So, at times, they get downright boring. Involving the audience allows for meaningful exchange. In addition, you will find out some things from the questions you get that you didn’t consider bringing up. The questions your audience asks evidence what they are interested in learning. So encourage questions and focus on the ones that are of most interest to your audience.

Finally, if you really want to leave a lasting impact, consider following up with your audience after the presentation. A neat idea would be to either audio or video record the presentation and send it to the members of your audience after the presentation.

Just imagine being a potential client who is looking for a vendor like you. They shop around and listen to several different presentations from you and your competitors. But you are the only one to send them the presentation so they can review it. This is critical. Your handouts can not give the same impression as the actual presentation. If you were to capture on audio or video and send it to your prospects – where that is practical – you will greatly increase your chance of getting their business.

Consider these points when you are preparing your next presentation.

About The Author

John Anghelache owns and operates http://www.powerful-presentation-skills.com Presentation Skills.

Killing the Fear of Making a Presentation

2007-10-03T05:35:00.003-07:00

Time to celebrate - you have secured that promotion.

The joy you feel is quickly dampened by the realization that your new role includes presenting on a regular basis to senior management of your company and you are scared stiff!

What do you do?

Perhaps you enroll on a presentation skills course and whilst on that course you feel your nerves ebb away with each presentation that you give and each piece of feedback that you receive. One month later you are to give your first presentation at work and the nerves just flood back as though the training course meant nothing.

There are many simple ways to avoid this dreaded possibility and most of them are very straightforward.

Firstly ensure that you have researched your topic as well as your audience. A detailed knowledge of the subject matter where you know that you can answer any possible question will increase your confidence immeasurably.

TIP 1: All presenters naturally feel more at ease answering a question (assuming they know the answer) than they do presenting, so, if possible, get a plant in the audience to ask you an agreed question early on in the presentation; any nerves will simply vanish!

Knowing your audience will allow you to structure your presentation in a way which will hold their interest; seeing the audience interested in what you are saying will provide a great boost to your confidence.

Secondly, ask your work colleagues to listen to your presentation and give you their thoughts on what works and what doesn't. Having already done the presentation is a guaranteed way to feel more at ease on the day.

Thirdly, do not worry about making a mistake. Joking about it can smooth the incident over, while endearing you to your audience.

TIP 2: Make a deliberate error in the first few minutes and follow-up with a well rehearsed spontaneous quip. The tension between you and the audience melts away as rapidly as ice in the desert. You could say perhaps "I fully expect sales to exceed £3,000 this month" (when you and the audience are expecting a figure of around £300,000), hesitate briefly, say, "oh well I'd better cancel the family holiday to Australia that I'd planned with my bonus this year!" Then follow up with "of course I meant £300,000".

Fourthly, break the ice by meeting a few people from your audience before you speak; you will find that connection through eye contact with those people will help you enormously to feel at ease.

Finally, deep breathing does actually help to relieve tense muscles, a quaking voice and queasy stomach. It also helps to sit in a chair, contract and relax your arm muscles. You can feel a big difference after you have done this, but if you find yourself becoming tense again, simply repeat or try it with other muscles especially neck muscles. Always have some water handy to prevent your mouth from becoming dry.

Try these tips and you will soon see that your confidence will rapidly increase. Also make sure that you do as many presentations as you can; the more practice that you get at this the easier it becomes. And the very best of luck!

Copyright (c) 2007 The College Of Public Speaking

About The Author

Vincent Stevenson

The College of Public Speaking excels in enabling presenters to become top notch at their art by employing dedicated full-time professionals who concentrate all their efforts on improving the delivery of the spoken word, aided where apporpriate, with PowerPoint. Visit us at => http://www.collegeofpublicspeaking.co.uk

The Benefits of Using Data Flow Diagrams in Presentations

2007-10-03T05:35:00.001-07:00

First off, let’s start with defining what a data flow diagram is in the first place. A data flow diagram is a graphical representation of data flow in a process or information system. These diagrams can become and invaluable asset in your presentation if used properly.

Usually this technique starts with a very high level graphical representation showing and overall picture of the business and processes and continues down to the lower levels of the process through the presentation. This is often called top-down expansion. By presenting this analysis, the audience can literally walk with you through the process and see each discrete point as you lead them through the presentation. This is especially useful with business stakeholders who have a stake in the work flow or process you are discussing. Often times, they may not have ever seen the high level view of the given process or flow.

To get started, simply start with a context diagram. This is usually a simple representation of the entire system, process, or data flow your are discussing. Next, follow up with a level 1 flow diagram; which provides an overview of the major functional areas of the business. At this point, don’t get into the details. Keep the level 1 diagram at a high level and start addressing all the areas of interest that your audience has a stake in. Make sure you are using terminology that makes sense to them. The easiest way to lose your audience is to use acronyms or terminology that they cannot relate to.

Now that you have your level 1 diagram, you are ready to create the level 2 business flow diagram. Continue to peal the layers of the process back in your presentation going deeper at each level. Typically, you will want to keep it no more than four (4) layers deep. Any deeper and you will lose your audience for sure. A good approach is provide hand outs that the attendees can take with them.

Identifying the existing business processes, using a technique like data flow diagrams, is an essential step to business process re-engineering, migration to new technology, or improving any work flow related to your business.

Here are a few pieces you will need in your flow diagram:

External Entity

An external entity is a source or destination of a data flow which is outside of your process. This could be anything where data originates outside of your process. The symbol used is an oval containing a meaningful and unique identifier.

Process

A process shows a transformation or manipulation of data flows within your system. The symbol used is a rectangular box which usually contains three elements. The first is a number that appears in the upper left hand corner.1

Firstly an identification number appears in the upper left hand corner. This is allocated arbitrarily at the top level and serves as a reference. Second, you must put a identifier that describes where in the system the process takes place. An example is a piece of hardware, or department. Finally, a descriptive title is placed in the centre of the box. This should be a simple statement with a specific verb, for example 'maintain vendor records' or 'find need'.

Data Flow

A data flow shows the flow of information from its source to its destination. A data flow is represented by a line, with arrowheads showing the direction of flow.

Data Store

A data store is a holding place for information within the system: It is represented by an open ended narrow rectangle. An example might be a batch of invoices or a queue in a system that stores records before processing.

Resource Flow

A resource flow shows the flow of any physical material from its source to its destination.

The physical resource needs to be identified and labelled.

Now you are set to create an informative and compelling presentation.

About The Author

Matt D Murren owns and operates http://www.flow-diagram-advisor.com Flow Diagram