The process of engaging our audience goes beyond the simple act of speaking in public. Many public speakers fail to engage their audiences with their enthusiasm or knowledge of their subject — just being on the podium does not guarantee that we will make the all-important audience engagement. But, with an understanding of some techniques and a feeling for the dynamics of an audience we can become much more effective. In common with all effective presentation skills, there are organizational tools and techniques that we can apply to great effect. Mastering these techniques is crucial to forming the vital link with our audiences. Here are three main pointers to becoming more effective when we reach the podium.

1. Appear knowledgeable. There is a natural play-off between our presentation skill and subject expertise. When an audience knows we are expert in our field they do not expect our presentation skills to be so casually slick. In essence they are less demanding. Note, of course, that the reverse also applies — if we are not knowledgeable then we had better be slick! Being an expert presenter allows us to radiate passion and interest in a subject, enthusing an audience. It is true that no one can possibly be an expert in everything but most of us can expect to be expert in something — the sweet spot of presenting success. With the combination of an appropriate subject, our own knowledge and expertise we become unbeatable.
2. Use a presentation theme. Our audience will adopt a theme in the same way that they adopt a slogan or a logo; because it is simple and memorable. A consistent theme to our presentation, conveying practical benefit and familiarity will be remembered best — proving most effective for helping our audience to follow the presentation. Themes are essentially memory aids. They provide presentation continuity.
   When we develop a theme it is best to consider the main issues that preoccupy our audience and hook into these. In a competitive industry with low barriers to entry we might try themes along the lines of…”Compete to Win” or, “Perfection is Completion” or “Being First”. These are suggestive of competitive survival. They imply benefit and are short enough for memory retention. Take some time when considering a theme and it will really pay off.
3. Present the right points. We should expect our audience to retain no more than 10% of our presentation. If we present too much then it will either be forgotten or not absorbed at all. Typically we should aim to present some 3 to 4 main points during a 30 minute presentation. Yes, there might be room for sub-points but the focus has to be on the 3 to 4 main points. When working out our main points we should also note that our audience is thinking ahead at a rate of 600 or so words a minute and we will be speaking at a rate of around 150 words a minute. Such a speed difference has huge potential for the audience to disengage and wander off at a tangent — probably jumping ahead of us dramatically in the process. Too many points will simply make this worse. If we add linguistic interpretation into this potent mix then we have even more room for uncertainty. The main points in our presentation should be:

• Unambiguous. They must be certain and clear.
• Self-standing. They must be capable of standing alone without the support of others. If we have points that merge into one another then they are not strong enough. We should edit these.

The task of engaging our audience can be easily and readily undertaken. With expertise, area knowledge and advocacy we can engage an audience and keep their attention. All audiences respect expertise even where it is in areas of arcane detail. Everything has its importance somewhere. It just goes to emphasize that prior to reaching the presentation podium we are fully prepared and well-versed in the detail of our subject.

It makes sense to use organizational techniques — a presentation theme and 3 to 4 main points to assist absorption and memory retention by the audience. Our audience needs solidity and substance with which to engage. Thinking ahead at the rate of 600 words a minute our audience benefits from a clear and relevant presentation theme providing the means to place our main points into a mental framework of their own making. These points, strongly and purposefully made, will keep our audience on track, engaged. These organizational techniques can be boosted by other procedural devices for audience engagement — but more about these later.

Andrew Ivey is the principal presentation skills trainer at Time to Market the UK presentation skills training resource.

Effective Presentation Skills - Time to
Market

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Most presenters have remarkable skills in making unique Powerpoint slides which contain related images and text-contents; and complicated multimedia such as video and music clips. Audiences will be mesmerized by these complicated presentations that cause many people to adopt this style of making complicated slides.

Every presenter has his own style, and you do not have to imitate the styles of other presenters. For example, everyone wants to become Steve Jobs - CEO and co-founder of Apple Inc., who is a brilliant presenter who has his own remarkable style of delivering his speeches. You have to be what you are, and show them your very best.

Making a simple and elegant presentation slides can be done with ease, which includes only text-contents. Only a few related images might be included in these slides. It is suitable for non-creative business presenters who have not much time in slide preparation. This method is known as the Classy-Black-and White Method.

What is the Classy-Black-and-White Method all about?

In this method, please use plain white background as your slide layout. Use black font color in all slides. You can choose to use either text box or WordArt for displaying your text-contents in your slides. Ideally, it is better to use “Title and Text” for the text layouts. It makes easier for you to input your text-contents into your slides. Bullets are not used along with the text-contents, and you can enhance the impact of the text-contents by manipulating the text-alignment and font size. It is preferably to use Century Gothic font which it looks elegant and easily viewable for audiences. If you want to introduce yourself at the beginning of the presentation, you can create a plain-black-and-white “business card” slide.

On the other hand, the Zig-Zag Method depicts quote-like contents showing your audiences about company goals, mission statement, and products testimony. Based on the name of this method, it means that these text-contents are placed as quote-like texts in a zig-zag orientation. It works perfectly with italic Century font.

Now, you have been introduced to Classic-Black-and-White and the Zig-Zag methods of making simple business Powerpoint presentations. For more pictorial description of these methods, log on to http://presentationism.com

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I remember the first time that I tried coil binding and attempted to use a pair of coil binding hand crimpers. Every time I tried to crimp the spiral binding it simply cut the coil shorter. Nobody had taken the time to show me how to use the coil binding crimpers properly. If they had explained it to me, I could have saved a lot of time and frustration. Hopefully I can save you some time and frustration by giving you some simple hints on crimping spiral coil. Here are a few things to remember:

1. Spiral Coil hand crimpers have a red dot on one side of them. The first thing to remember when using your coil binding crimping pliers is that the red dot always needs to face the ceiling. As long as the red dot on your pliers faces the ceiling and not the floor you will be able to crimp your coil instead of simply cutting the coil binding element shorter.

2. Hold your book parallel to the ground with the spine of the book facing towards you. By holding the book in this position it will make it easier to get a good crimp on your book.

3. Start by crimping the right side of your book. Simply use the coil crimpers to crimp the coil binding as close as possible to the edge of your book. Give the crimpers an extra squeeze to ensure that the crimpers bend the end of the coil binding over to prevent the coil binding from spinning off the book.

4. To finish the process, flip the book over and repeat the process. Flipping the book over will help ensure that the small piece of coil binding that is bent over will be pointed in and not out.

These are a few hints for crimping your coil bound books. Obviously, these instructions assume that you have a pair of specially designed coil crimping pliers. It is possible to finish documents with a standard pair of needle nosed pliers. However, standard pliers do not cut and crimp in one action meaning that you will have to manually cut the coil to the correct length and then carefully bend the end of the coil over. This can be very time consuming and since coil crimpers are relatively inexpensive they tend to be extremely worthwhile.

Hopefully these tips will make the coil binding process easier for you next time you use your coil binding machine.

Jeff McRitchie is the designer and Director of Marketing for MyBinding.com. He has written over 100 articles on binding supplies, binding covers, 3-ring binders and more.

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There is a myth that great speakers are born, not made. This is based on the misconception that somehow certain individuals have the innate ability to stand in front of an audience with no anxiety and give a moving, dynamic speech. The truth is, however, that great speakers generally spend years developing and practicing their art of communication. All great speakers had to learn the basics of organization, preparation, delivery and dealing with anxiety. In order to do anything well, it takes constant practice and a mastery of the basics. Speaking is no different.

One of the most important techniques you can apply to become a more confident and effective speaker is to reduce anxiety. If implemented, the following tips could help reduce your anxiety before your next presentation:

* Organize  Focus on your presentation.
 * Visualize  Mentally rehearse a perfect presentation with questions and answers.
 * Practice  Standing up, out loud, using visual aids.  Obtain feedback from others.
 * Breathe  Sit up or stand erect, not relaxed.  Inhale deeply a number of times.
 * Focus on Relaxing!
 * Release Tension  Try isometric exercises.  Tighten and release your muscles.  Start with toes and end with fists.
 * Move  Flex your muscles  dont lock!  Use a cordless microphone.
 * Eye Contact with the Audience  Think one on one.  Connect with the audience and make yourself personable.  Use the feedback and energy you receive from your audience.

Planning your presentation is another component to becoming an effective speaker and presenter. There are essentially two steps that should be followed prior to delivering a presentation: 1) develop your objectives and 2) analyze your audience. In preparation, one must identify the values, needs and constraints of the attendees and the level of knowledge of the audience. For example, do not use slang, jargon, acronyms, or technical terms without explanation. It should also be determined in advance what will work and what wont work. In other words, what will gain you the most favorable reaction. In order to ascertain these items in advance, you should put yourself in the shoes of the people who will be listening to your presentation.

The next phase towards improving your effective oral presentation skills is organizing your thoughts. There are a number of steps to this process:

Step #1: Brainstorm main ideas.  Use index cards or post it notes and only use one idea per card.
 Step #2: State the sub points.  Ideally there should be between 2-5 sub points in your presentation.  Be specific using explanations, data and evidence to back up your points.
 Step #3: State the benefits.  Specifically state the benefits before and at the end of the body of your presentation.
 Step #4: Develop handouts.  Handouts should reinforce important points, summarize action items and include supporting data.
 Step #5: Develop visual aids (PowerPoint slides, charts and graphs).  Visual aids should be used to focus the attention of your audience, reinforce the verbal message and to stimulate interest.  Keep in mind that effective presentations are people-centered, not media-centered.  Too many presentations rely on the media to carry the message.  While the media can certainly help, its your interaction and rapport with the audience that makes the difference between an effective or ineffective presentation.
 Step #6: Main idea preview/review sentence (i.e. Tell them what youre going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them).
 Step #7: Develop the introduction.  Get the audience to focus their attention on you, provide background information and introduce yourself  who you are and why youre qualified.
 Step #8: Develop the conclusion.  Your conclusion should be persuasive like a call to action.  Spell out what specifically they need to do, when and how.

The delivery of your presentation is another key to a successful presentation. An effective presentation should be delivered in the following sequence:

Introduction

Preview Sentence

Main Ideas and Sub Ideas

Benefits

Review Sentence

Conclusion

In order to come across to your audience as confident and persuasive, you should consider the way you physically deliver your points to your audience. The following are some helpful tips to help you achieve a level of confidence in delivering your presentation:

* Posture Stand up straight, but avoid being stiff. Do not shift your weight from side to side.

* Movement Keep yourself at least 4-8 feet from the front row dont pace!

* Gestures Your presentation should be a form of animated conversation. Avoid keeping your hands in your pockets or on your hips, crossing your arms or wringing your hands.

* Eye Contact Do not look at the back of the room or over their heads. Maintain good eye contact to build rapport, trust and confidence.

* Using your Voice Avoid being monotone which is generally caused by anxiety. Also avoid talking too fast. When people are nervous, they sometimes trip on their words. Be cognizant of your volume. Make sure that everyone can hear you.

At the conclusion of a presentation, there is generally a question and answer session that should be prepared for in advance. To prepare for this last hurdle, you should anticipate the questions that you could potentially be asked ahead of time. The key is to prepare for the worst and rehearse your responses to such questions. The more you prepare your answers the more well versed and confident you will be. One tip you might employ during the question and answer session is to repeat the question being asked. This will give you some additional time to prepare your response. In general, we think five times faster than we speak! Whatever you do, it is important that you maintain your style. If you dont know the answer to the question you are being asked, be honest and say that you dont know but that you will find out. Remember to really listen to the questions, do not interrupt and make sure that you stay focused on the individual asking the question. Finally, dont forget to thank your audience for all of their excellent questions.

If you employ these techniques, you will be on your way to becoming a more effective speaker and delivering successful presentations. For information on workshops on how you or your team can deliver more effective presentations, please feel free to contact us.

Jennifer Selland is the Founder and President of Well-Run Concepts, a Human Resource Consulting Firm based in Ocala Florida, founded in 1997, whose mission is to Help Organizations Define and Develop Top Talent. Jennifer has over 15 years of Human Resource Management and Executive Operational hotel experience.

Well-Run Concepts
“Helping Organizations Define and Develop Top Talent.”
303 S.E. 17th St., Suite 309-170
Ocala, FL 34471
Toll Free: 877-566-2900 Tel: 352-624-2684 Fax: 352-624-2689
Website: http://www.well-run.com Email: Jennifer@well-run.com

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More than entertaining, The Devil Wore Prada could be considered life changing because of its powerful style lesson: To get ahead, dress appropriatelyand wellfor your job and lifestyle.

People often overlook the potential power of their own personal image. The right attire, geared for your job and lifestyle, can actually help you rise to the top. Studies indicate good-looking people get paid more and climb higher than plainer folks and style and groomingand the confidence and improved communications skills that looking great gives youare essential components of beauty. In fact, the right image can validate and empower you, just as it did heroine, Andy Sachs, at Runway, the fictional magazine in the film.

However, dressing like a fashionista isnt for everyone, only those in the worlds of fashion magazines, advertising and design agencies or other creative enterprises, although a divorce attorney might want to choose designer clothing to indicate success. You have to first figure out the impression you want to make and then determine if its suitable for your industry, company, location and/or lifestyle. Here are a few guidelines:

Pay attention to your company dress code, which will probably spell out not only what business professional and business casual means, but also what you can and cannot wear, where.
Follow your bosss lead if the dress code is limited or non-existent.
Dress more formally when meeting a client for the first time. For some, this might mean a business suit (and tie, for men), for others, an unmatched outfit (a jacket over shirt or sweater set with skirt or pants for women; a sport jacket, dress shirt and trousers, with or without a tie, for men).
Be guided by your clients attire in subsequent meetings. If they are dressed casually, you might want to forego a suit for a more relaxed outfit. However, make sure whatever you have on is a notch or two higher in quality than your client.
Consider what youll be doing during the day. If youre an industrial engineer whos crawling around wires, jeans and a polo shirt might be most suitable, even if youre doing so for a bank. A litigator has to be very judicious about clothing choices for courtanything too trendy might be badly received by a jury.
Stay away from provocative clothing. Whether working in the front or back office, baring a little too much can undermine a womans power.
Avoid sloppy, soiled or frayed clothing and scuffed, down-at-the-heels shoes. Whatever you put on should be cared for, clean, neat and pressedno matter what your title.

Of course, clothes dont make the man, but they do help to tell the world who he is. And now, when snap judgments are the rule, you dont have a second chance to send the right instant message.

2006, Dresszing. All Rights Reserved.

Fashion and business etiquette coach, Susan Sommers is the founder of Dresszing, a wardrobing and visual communications company. To receive Style Flash, her free newsletter, sign up at http://www.dresszing.com.

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I am attending one of my clients company meetings. There are 200 employees in the room. You can feel the buzz and excitement in the room. Upbeat music is playing, and a slick Power Point presentation is spinning, doing action packed transitions on a big screen. The music slowly fades down, and the group leader confidently strides to the lectern. In a few short minutes, the energy and enthusiasm in the room is dead, the unfortunate victim of a horrible presentation. The speaker stumbles over her words, stares at the audience uncomfortably, and grips the lectern with white knuckles. Meanwhile, everyones interest flatlines. This speaker is a leader, but she (obviously) doesnt present like one. This should never happen. As I travel around the country, I see leaders at all levels who are absolutely disastrous speakers. If youre in a leadership role, youve got to be able to speak and present well.

Leaders in any organization have to be strong presenters and public speakers. They are required to speak in prepared speeches, Q&A sessions and extemporaneous speaking. If you are in a leadership role and you arent great at public speaking, you need help immediately. If you cant speak and present well, you may be killing your career as a leader. You need help, stat. Here are two compelling reasons why you should take your presentation abilities seriously:

●Perception, perception, perception- a critical aspect of leadership (like it or not) is perception. When people present and speak, the audience forms immediate perceptions about them. Is this person competent, confident, clear, thoughtful, and articulate? Whether its fair or not, groups will make judgments about your competency as a leader based on how well you speak.

●Communication- speaking and presenting helps to provide effective communication in a leadership role. It is one tool that can make it easier for leaders to make a connection with the group. Presenting can get them to be enthusiastic about the team, goals, objectives, and organization. It is a way to inspire and motivate. If a leader cant communicate in a clear, compelling way, then the team will not follow them as a leader. In some larger organizations, the only time employees are exposed to a leader is when they hear them speak at a meeting. So which is it, brilliant or boring? Dull or dynamic? Articulate or anesthetic?

Here are five tips any leader can use today to get better at presenting and speaking.

1.Get an idea as to where you are- have a colleague that you trust observe you while you are speaking or presenting. Have them agree to give you honest, unvarnished feedback on what you are doing well and on what you could improve. Someone else needs to observe you, because you cant be objective. You cant see yourself when youre presenting, and may not have an awareness of habits and idiosyncrasies. You may use certain hand motions repeatedly. You may say okay twenty times in five minutes. Having an objective observer help you to identify both your strengths and areas for improvement.

2.Study and read- when was the last time you worked on your own development? If you have to stop and think about it, its been too long. Get some books or audio programs on public speaking. A quick search of Amazon.com revealed that there were 1,929 books listed on public speaking alone! Start studying the art and science of speaking and presenting. Write down specific ideas and techniques you want to incorporate and try the next time you speak.

3.Watch other speakers- Every time you see other speakers, notice the techniques theyre using, what they are doing well, and, in your opinion, what doesnt work. Notice what they are doing vocally. Notice their body language. Take note of any visuals that they may use. Observe how they organize their content. Notice how the audience is reacting. Try to determine if some of the techniques they are using would work for you. Great speakers always study other great speakers and emulate them.

4.Videotape yourself- as the old saying goes, the camera doesnt lie. Set up a camera and film your next presentation. When you record yourself giving a speech or a presentation, you get a picture of what the audience is seeing and hearing. No editing or polishing, you see it all. Take some quiet, uninterrupted time and watch the video. Set aside your ego and your pride. Write down what went well. It is important to know your strengths because, obviously, you want to keep dong them and build on them. What do you see on the video that makes you unique and compelling? Write down areas for improvement, and, more importantly, what you can do to change them. (If youve been studying and reading, as suggested in step 2 above, this will be a lot easier for you.)

5.Get outside help- there are many valuable resources to help improve your speaking and presenting skills.

●Option #1- Toastmasters- Toastmasters is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping people improve their speaking and leadership skills. Here is how it works: they have regular meetings in your area. At each meeting, people give prepared speeches and get feedback from predetermined evaluators. There is also a portion of each Toastmasters meeting called Table topics and this gives people practice with speaking off the cuff. Toastmasters is inexpensive, (under $100 per year) and very effective, because people who attend Toastmasters are all there for the same reason to get better at speaking. Find a club near you at www.toastmasters.org.

●Option #2- Get a private speaking coach who can work with you one on one. It is an expensive, but highly effective, method, because you get individual attention.

●Option#3- Find the hundreds of training organizations that offer public seminars on public speaking, and attend them.

I believe the future will require these skills to be even more important in a leadership role. Leaders must be great communicators, and when they speak they have to make an instant impression a positive one. If you dont feel that you can make a strong impression now, then get help before its too late. Dont become another statistic.

Shawn Doyle is the President of New Light Learning and Development
(http://www.newlightlearning.com) a company specializing in Leadership Development. He has also authored five books on leadership sales and motivation. His latest book The Managers Pocket Guide to Training has just been published by HRD Press. Sldoyle1@aol.com

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These days much of a graphic designers work, and many others who work with photographic images, is intended to be published on the internet. These folks are quite familiar with the specifications needed to accomplish this. These pictures which are often generated by digital cameras are almost always web-ready. In order to be acceptable for a web site, an image needs to be RGB, and 72 ppi (or sometimes called dpi). The first refers to how color is handled by a computer screen. It stands for Red, Green, Blue. With these three colors, your computer (and TV) is able to display all the colors you could possibly need. To see this in action, try this cool experiment:

Get three flashlights (same size if you can) and attach three pieces of colored film, cellophane or plastic, one to each flashlight. In a darkened room, shine each light on a white surface and overlap the circles. Where they all overlap youll see white! Cool huh? Thats how RGB works. DPI or PPI stands for Dots Per Inch (used for printers) and Pixels Per Inch which is used in the digital world.

Therefore an acceptable screen photo is usually 72 ppi and RGB.
Many web generator programs will often adjust your photos automatically with little effort on your part.

But what about printing? I dont mean the little inkjet gizmo next to you in your office. You can get a decent image from those no matter what you use. Im talking about Commercial offset printersthe place you go to print 10,000 catalogs, magazines, sales sheets etc. For these you need to supply High Resolution Images, and here things get a little tricky.

The first thing you need to keep in mind is, your picture must be shot originally as a high-res image. You cant just take a low-res (72ppi) shot and simply enlarge it to a high-res (300 ppi) image. The reason is that a low-res picture doesnt have enough digital information in it. Have you ever seen an advertisement or picture in a brochure that has a bad case of the jaggies? Thats what happens when someone takes an image that is 2x 3 @ 72 ppi and simply enlarges it to 6 x 9. The result is a photo thats 6 x 9 @ 24ppi, and it prints with jagged edges and looks lousy. Or, someone takes the same image, enlarges it and then forces it, in photoshop, to have 300ppi. When printed, this image looks washed out, blurry, and again, lousy.

If you need to print with a commercial printer, you need to shoot your photos physically larger (8×10 in this case) with at least a 300 ppi setting. You can make it smaller (6 x 9), and then reset the ppi to 300 without doing any damage to the image.

Think of pixels as Legos. with 300 different color blocks per square foot, you could make a pretty decent image. Try it with 72 Legos per square foot and well, you get the idea.
Why 300 ppi? It has to do with something called Line screen. Look closely at a printed page. Use a magnifying glass. See all the dots? thats the line screenDPIdots per inch. There are usually 150 of them fit into one square inch if you want to count them. Those dots, mixed together by your eye, produce the image in your brain. When commercial printers processes or convert your picture to be printed, they need double the resolution than they will print at. I dont know why this is, but it has to do with how they RIP the image ( Raster Image Processing ). Just send files that are the same size (or larger) in inches that you want it to print, at 300 ppi, and youll be fine.
The other thing you need to do is convert your picture from RGB, to CMYK. That stands for the four inks that printers use hence the term 4-color printing. Duh? Switching the mode of your photo from one to the other does no damage to it. And incidentally, if you forget to change some of your photos to CMYK, dont worry, the printer will catch the ones that fall through the cracks. They wont be happy about it but hey, mistakes happen. Getting the resolution right is far more criticalthat cant be fixed.
Happy Printing!

Mark Lunde is an artist, writer, art director who blogs on a variety of subjests
Learn more at http://www.lundeart.com

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MANAGING MEETINGS–BEING PREPARED MAKES A DIFFERENCE: You can schedule all the meetings you want to, and if you are not prepared to take charge then youre wasting your time. The time you invest planning a meeting is time well spent. The sooner you take action, the sooner you can enjoy the fruit of a productive meeting. Before you schedule a meeting, determine its purpose and necessity. Document specifically what you expect to accomplish during the meeting (including goals and objectives). A clearly written plan allows you to focus solely on the issues you need to address. Next, determine whether this purpose can be more efficiently achieved by some other means, such as a phone call, a written memo, or an informal conversation.

MANAGING MEETINGS–AGENDA: At least one week before a meeting, develop the agenda and send it to expected participants. The agenda should clearly indicate: 1. the meetings starting and ending time, 2. location of the meeting, 3. items (goals) to be covered and desired outcomes (objectives), 4. items listed in priority order, 5. time planned and scheduled for each item, 6. preparation expected of participants, and 7. the person responsible for presenting each item.

SETTING YOUR AGENDA: People usually plan an agenda backwards, placing the most important item last and the minor items first. However, you should plan the agenda the opposite way, by placing the most important item on the agenda first and the least important items last. This way, if you run out of time, you will have covered the crucial topics.

Copyright AE Schwartz & Associates All rights reserved. For additional presentation materials and resources: ReadySetPresent and for a Free listing as a Trainer, Consultant, Speaker, Vendor/Organization: TrainingConsortium

CEO, A.E. Schwartz & Associates, Boston, MA., a comprehensive organization which offers over 40 skills based management training programs. Mr. Schwartz conducts over 150 programs annually for clients in industry, research, technology, government, Fortune 100/500 companies, and nonprofit organizations worldwide. He is often found at conferences as a key note presenter and/or facilitator. His style is fast-paced, participatory, practical, and humorous. He has authored over 65 books and products, and taught/lectured at over a dozen colleges and universities throughout the United States.

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What is it with people today? They cannot have a discussion about any topic without slides, even when the discussion is between colleagues within the same division or department or area of expertise, and when there are only two or three people involved in the discussion.

To CFOs and other line managers who are counting the beans and looking for more productivity, I suggest imposing a moratorium on slide generation unless there will be an audience of 10 or more, and the slides will actually be projected. Otherwise, those offering their knowledge and suggestions should use some long standing tools such as agendas, reports, white papers or memos to communicate the order of topics, the key points for each topic and the call-to-action or follow up items.

A director of marketing (DM) for a growing firm is tasked with telling the director of sales (DS) how the marketing department is going to generate leads. This is a straightforward topic for discussion. I see three key points: 1) how many leads will be provided to the sales department in a given period of time; 2) how will marketing advise sales on the quality of the leads; and 3) how will marketing know that what theyre doing is working?

The DM has two superiors, each of whom is telling her what bullets must be included in the slides she is preparing. They have told her that the DS must understand their thinking. So far the slides have expanded to include lists of bullets on the marketing objectives; the marketing strategies; the marketing tactics; the marketing creative direction; the marketing spending plan.

How big is the audience for this presentation? Only one personthe DS. The manager of the DM will be listening. And the presentation is going to take place over the phone!

The DM is an experienced marketing professional, she has many creative ideas, and a deep understanding of the decision-making process that goes through prospects minds as they decide to act or not. She is passionate about the service that her company is offering to its target audience. Yet as she rewrites and revises the list of bullets for each topic using the exact words her superiors dictate, all of her passion and commitment is being drained away. This is becoming just another series of bullets, going on page after page, which she is then supposed to communicate to the DS, who will have the pages in front of him, and who could probably read them faster than she can speak about them.

Wouldnt a written document make more sense? The DM could pour her passion and knowledge into prose that communicates her commitment to the ultimate sales goal. Her writing would model the creativity she is bringing to the marketing work. She could spend her time developing a quantitative marketing plan that demonstrates the strategies and tactics more effectively than any list of bullets could do. There, in black and white, would be the results, rather than the static thinking that goes into getting the results.

Lets assume that the Director of Marketing earns $80,000 per year. That roughly translates into $40.00 per hour. By my calculations she has already spent 100 hours writing, revising, practicing, revising, and practicing some more. Thats $4000.00 for a presentation to one person who will have the slides in front of him. Take into consideration the time the DS will spend listening to the DM speak about the bullets, and the time the DMs superiors have spent telling her what to write in the slides, and the total could easily be $8000-$10,000 just to communicate that the marketing department knows how to go about doing its work. (Remember, objectives, strategies, tactics, and creative direction.)

For that amount of money the company should get real work.

A list of media channels that reflects the strategies and tactics.
The dates of publication or dissemination
Methods of tracking responses
An estimate of cost effectivenessthe number of responses divided by the cost of the media
A rigorous system of evaluation so the marketing department can do more of what works and stop doing what doesnt work.

I repeatthis information would reflect the strategies and tactics and creative direction. It would be easy to draw conclusions about the effectiveness of the strategies, tactics and creative direction from the results. In contrast, the presentation in its current form only lists ideas. There are no benchmarks or no quantitative estimates that would give meat and meaning to the bullets about strategies, tactics and creative direction.

Beyond the waste of money, the most troubling thing about this situation is that none of the participants considered any other form of communication. Someone decided the DM had to communicate with the DS, and the default delivery system was a presentation with slides.

How about you and your company? Do you default to presentation with slides mode instead of considering other delivery systems? What about agendas and conversation? What about written reports with the background, followed by a meeting agenda that focuses on the activities rather than the theory? What about a calendar and a spread sheet that makes the statement Here is what were going to do, when were going to do it, and the anticipated results? There is overload of information in the business world. You dont need to add to it.

Differentiate yourself and increase productivity by demonstrating your actions not your understanding, and making a name for yourself, not as a great presenter but as a great and productive conversationalist.

Time and money are the most limited resources a company has. Susan G. Trivers, MBA helps companies recognize their default communication habits, create new habits to use instead, and at the same time enhance the voices of the people in the organizations. Clients include Fortune 500 companies, independent professionals (attorneys, CPAs), CXOs, and anyone whose career advancement requires them to speak in public. She is author of The Red-Hot Guide to COOL Speaking–Craft and Deliver Presentations that are Creative, Original, Outsized & Liberated, and has helped clients win over $8 billion in new business.

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To create a seamless and smooth panel discussion here are some tips every facilitator must know:

Meet the panelists in advance: The meeting can be a phone call. Get a sense of their styles and message points. Decide how long each person will speak and in what order. Have them send an introductory paragraph.

Consider logistics: Contact the meeting planner and visit the room. Discuss room set-up, lighting, refreshments, microphones and AV equipment. Decide whether the panelists will sit or stand during their presentations.

Arrive one hour early: Check the room, test the microphones. Check seating visibility. Be ready to greet the panelists with a smile. Youre the host. Make them feel welcome.

Prepare a short bio:. Give your bio to the person who will introduce you as the facilitator. Keep it brief-no more than a paragraph.

Make your opening remarks: A statement about the topic and the benefits for the audience will prepare the audience to listen. We expect to have a lively discussion tonight about the state of the economy. Our three speakers have differing view about where to put your money. Our first speaker.

Set the ground rules: Let the audience know what to expect. There will be a 30 minute question and answer period after the presentations. Please hold your questions until the end.

Introduce the speakers: It works best to introduce the first panelist. After the presentation, introduce the next panelist. If you read all the introductions at once, people will forget the information. Practice saying their names and write them out phonetically if the names are difficult.

Act as time keeper: Sit in front of the panelists and give them a 5 minute time signal. You can write the number 5 on an index card or you can hold up 5 fingers. If the panelist is running over, give the speaker a wrap up signal. Or interject, You have 30 seconds to summarize.

Facilitate questions: Its your job to keep order. Thank the panelists, applaud with the audience and open up the floor for questions. Explain the process. Please stand, say your first name, and be brief.
If somebody is rambling on, jump in and paraphrase or ask them What is your question?

If nobody asks a question, the facilitator can ask the first question. So have one ready. Or choose somebody in advance to ask the first question.
At the five minute mark, let the group know that youll have time for a couple of more questions. Then announce, Last question.

Summarize and acknowledge: That was an interesting discussion. Youve given us a new way to look at our investments. Please help me thank our panelists. (Applause)

Copyright Diane DiResta 2005. All rights reserved.

Diane DiResta, President of DiResta Communications, Inc. is an International speaker, training coach, and author of Knockout Presentations: How to Deliver Your Message with Power, Punch, and Pizzazz. To subscribe to Impact Player, a free online newsletter visit http://www.diresta.com

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