Present With Pizzaz

Those who want to establish themselves as experts in their field are encouraged to find speaking and teaching opportunities. Getting out in front of an audience is a time-tested way to demonstrate one’s mastery of the required skills and it is an excellent way to promote your enterprise and drum up business. Useful presentation techniques will make you feel more confident about your ability to communicate effectively.

Keep it simple and tell a story

The best speakers know that the more complex the topic, the more important it becomes to make that topic easy for an audience to understand. Distill a complicated message into fewer words. Include a personal anecdote or story that illustrates a key point you are trying to make. Stories and anecdotes make your presentation more compelling by placing the message into a context that is relevant to the listeners and helps them to make sense of the subject.

You are the star

You are the speaker and the stage belongs to you. Do not allow slides to upstage your talk. How do you do that? By not posting your entire talk onto slides and using them as a crutch. Avoid presenting an avalanche of text-heavy slides that you read from. Instead, speak to and connect with those who come out to hear you.

On your slides include important charts and graphs, key statistics, major talking points and relevant visuals that support and advance your message. Practice your presentation often and get to know your material, so that you are not overly dependent on slides.

Engage and involve your audience

Most of all, give the right talk. Know what the audience expects you to address. The person who schedules your talk can help you choose a topic and give you the heads-up re: big questions that audience members may want answered. To keep your audience engaged, pose a question or two at some point in your presentation. Also, be willing to answer questions as you go along and make your presentation more of a conversation with the audience.

We deliver

While good content is essential, that alone will not win over an audience. Body language and delivery also matter. Audiences size up and judge a speaker within the first three minutes of a presentation. Be sure to project confidence, expertise, good humor and approachability. Smile, make eye contact and use a pleasant, yet authoritative, tone of voice. Show appropriate enthusiasm and passion for your subject matter. Let the audience know that you like being up there speaking.

How to get to Carnegie Hall

Practice your talk and practice some more. It takes a lot of work to make a presentation look effortless. Skilled presenters give the impression that their clever ad libs and convincing responses to questions are all ex tempore, but nothing could be further from the truth.

The fact is, successful presentations are built on lots of preparation and rehearsal time. Wordsmith what may sound too complex or unclear. Carefully curate the text and images that will appear on your slides, so that they smoothly integrate with the talk. Anticipate questions that may be posed and formulate good answers. Read your talk out loud and record your voice, to make sure that you pace your delivery appropriately.

An effective presentation should inform, educate and entertain. Make that happen when you simplify your message and de-clutter your slides; interact with the audience by asking and answering questions throughout your talk; and practice a lot, so that you will be relaxed and confident as you present. Hit your mark and the audience will regard you as an expert. Mission accomplished.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

The Importance of Mastering the Chinese Negotiation Style

When your business grows to the point that you have the opportunity to expand into the overseas market or even if you hold a position in a company that involves business negotiation, it can be a very exciting time, especially if you get the chance to do business in China. In either situation, most people get all wide eyed at the idea of the profits that can be made but if you aren’t careful you can throw all of it away with one wrong move. You may thing you can answer the question “what is business etiquette” but when it comes to the business culture of China, there are a lot of unique rules that come into play.

The business culture of China is much more structured than in the west and adhering to their rules is of the utmost importance when entering into that market. In the United States, business etiquette doesn’t get discussed as much because most of the business negotiations styles are standard. We wear suits, exchange business cards, prepare, present and end with a hearty handshake. What is business etiquette in the U.S. involves guidelines but they’re very different in China and are based on nurturing the relationship, respect and cultural considerations. You’ll need to bow your head when you are introduced and be ready with a business card and your business cards must not be bent or worn in anyway. You’ll have to wait to be properly seated at meetings and make sure to speak clearly and not jump to conclusions or interrupt anyone. Showing respect is one of the most important factors that come into play when it comes to the business culture of China.

Chinese negotiation style is also unique and can take years to master, but there are some things you’ll want to keep in mind that will help, even if it is your first time at the table. First of all, bring plenty of business cards with you. You’ll be exchanging them a lot and you need to make sure yours are in perfect condition and have your information printed on the back in Chinese as well. Don’t flick the card at anyone either, hand it to them directly and when you receive one lay it out on the table after examining it, and make sure not to put it away until negotiations are finished. Secondly, learn the art of Guanxi which is very important when it comes to the Chinese negotiation style as well and this means you’ll need to have a hookup. You’ll need to have someone along with you that the group you’re negotiating with knows and trusts. Social status is very important in China, and other countries as well, so make sure that your group isn’t just made up of rookies; have someone there both groups can trust.

Chinese negotiation style is also built around a certain level of distrust, at least in the beginning. You’ll need to make sure that you have someone there who is Chinese to make the negotiations more comfortable. When you speak directly to whomever you are meeting with, use short and quick sentences that are to the point. This will help make you appear professional, legitimate and even save face when it comes to your business approach.

Americans and most of the west put their money on innovation and talent but in China loyalty, honor and respect are the most important aspects of any business partnership. Once you’ve met these aspects, the business relationship and profits will follow. Make sure to adhere to their structured Chinese negotiation style so that you can flourish in the foreign market. By understanding the business culture of China you’ll be much more likely to succeed.

8 Fatal Errors in Creating Presentation Slides

Creating good presentation slides will help your ideas to be able to be delivered with ease. A good slide is not a complicated or detailed slide, but it is a slide that is concise, simple and right on target.

Many people make mistakes when making slides. They make the slides not as a presentation tool, but as a full text to be read.

The followings are the lists of the fatal errors in creating presentation slides:

1. Too small font

Using too small font makes the audience cannot read your slide. Therefore, make sure that your slides can be read from the farthest distance of the audience who will attend your presentation. The general rule that you can use is a maximum of seven lines of text in one slide with the font size around 32 points.

2. Using capital

Capital letters are usually used for the slide title or header. However, the capital letters that are used on the entire text will make your presentation looks not professional. Using capital letters like this will be a disturbance because the letters are difficult to read and you look anger to audience.

3. Types of fonts that are too many and fancy

Using types of fonts that are too many and fancy will distract the audience attention. Use a maximum of three fonts in your presentation and be consistent in each slide. This will allow the audience to recognize the way you present the information.

4. Star Wars animation

PowerPoint presents animation functions that seem interesting, but if you use it not in place, this animation would be disturbing. This animation starts from the transition between slides and animations that appear in the text or images. Use simple animations such as Appear or Fade to keep your presentation look professional.

5. 4D theater sound effects

Have you ever listened to a presentation where every single line of text appears, then you heard the sound of applause or the barrage of bullets? Avoid using unnecessary sound effects. Just use sound only when you need it to explain something. You should remember that you are giving a presentation, not a music concert.

6. Rainbow colors

Colors are a beauty. However, when they are not used in their place, they will make the eyes tired. Do not use too many colors in one slide. Choose 3-4 main colors and use consistently in your slides.

7. Too many texts

Slide of presentation is not a paper. Do not list all the texts into your presentation. This means you tell your audience to read the text and not have to listen to you anymore because everything is written. Choose only the keywords that can be a tool and create a powerful presentation.

8. Too light or too dark background

Do not use a background that is too light or too dark. Use enough contrast so that the text can be easily readable. At the same time, you can give emphasis to a particular text. Some experts suggest a dark blue background with white text or yellow. But, you can also use a white background or other bright colors. Do not forget to test your presentation using a projector that will be used later on and make sure the colors in accordance with enough contrast.