Tuesday, October 31, 2006

The importance of remembering names

"If you want to win friends, make it a point to remember them. If you remember my name, you pay me a subtle compliment; you indicate that I have made an impression on you. Remember my name and you add to my feeling of importance."
Dale Carnegie When you meet people for the first time you say "Oh I forget their name within seconds." True?
No, you don't forget the name, you simply didn't hear it in the first place. The reason for that is you're simply not listening.You can often be nervous and / or want to make a great first impression.well, the best way to do this is to concentrate for just one second as they give their name. As you shake hands and listen, repeat their name and try and associate the name with something memorable. This could be either someone you know with the same name or try to rhyme it with another word. any trick to help you remember.
When we go networking, we are there "to win friends." so listen to what Dale Carnegie says on the subject.

Sunday, October 29, 2006

"Chairman of Governors speaking"

At least the top man heard about the debacle and called to apologise. On that basis I even offered to return but only to help pupils who were interested in learning.

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

How important is academic excellence in the scheme of things?

I had my worst day presenting this week. I was asked to 'motivate' 200 6th- formers.The school is acknowledged as a top school when it comes to education.
But their manners and behaviour....wow. That wouldn't make them top or any where near it.
The head teacher spent most of the time "sshhushing" but to be fair it was mainly the boys.
Did they learn anything? A few did I suppose. What was my thinking about what is supposed to be THE TOP SCHOOL IN THE REGION? I was embarrassed and the experience left a bad taste in the mouth.
Good manners is just as important as good A levels. Do the teachers and governors realise this when it comes to success in life?

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Don't be in too much of a hurry to promote, until...

you get good.This is whatever you do for a living!
If you do all it means is you just speed up the rate at which the world finds out you're no good!

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Do you want a new job?

I met my friend Carl(not his real name) yesterday who told me his son was struggling getting a job as a trainee professional. He wondered if he wasn't good at this ..or wasn't profient enough at that. so I offered to see his son jeff ( not his real name).
He popped over this afternoon and what a delightful chap he was. There was no one thing I could put my finger on. We then discussed why he had had 4 'no thanks'. He was honest enough with both of us to say why he thought he didn't make it.
I then explained he had to get involved with business development! "Ugh?" he said.
I then explained marketing your services products and yourself is a numbers game. I sent him away with a supporting letter and a list of companies to contact. In the spirit of networking I will write a letter of support when he approaches these companies. Why? Because I know these people!!

Saturday, October 21, 2006

Back and refreshed...or what?

In the last three weeks I have been at my busiest and quietest! Busybecause it's that time of year and quietest because I have been away relaxing on holiday.
And you know what? Sometimes I find doing the latter more stressful. Am I odd, sad or what?
My analysis of the situation is whatever it is you love best...just keep doing it.When I sit in the sun I'm often thinking "I could be doing this" or "I'd like to write an article about x" or " I must speak to my team about y".Is that relaxing? i don't think so.But on the other hand if one just works and gets the monetary results what is the endgame? To build a stack of gold coins...to hand to your children so they can just go first class!
Isn't life complicated?

Fancy reading my new book? View here!

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

My friend ANDY BOUNDS SAYS

8 ways to make your presentation better straight away
1. When preparing a presentation, your first thought – 100% of the time – must be "what do I want to get out of this presentation?" Write this down and keep referring to it. For every new point you add to your presentation, ask yourself "does this new point help me achieve my objective?" If it doesn't, don't include it in your talk.
2. Always think "The audience is more important than me". Therefore think what will interest them, not what interests you. Also, as C.P. Scott once said "Never overestimate your audience's knowledge; never underestimate their intelligence." Your audience does not know as much about your subject as you. Therefore, help them. Ensure your structure is very easy for them to follow; explain jargon if you can't avoid using it.
3. Want to find the main points of your presentation? The points you absolutely must get across to achieve your objectives? The easiest way to do this is to write all your points down and then play "Winner stays on". Look at the top two points and ask yourself which is the most important. Cross out the other one. Now look at the "winner" (the point you didn't cross out) and compare it to the third point. Again, cross out the less important and compare this new winner to point four. Do this repeatedly and you will find your main points very quickly.
4. Use the word "you" at least once in the first 2 sentences of your talk. If you don't, you are not talking to your audience, you're describing yourself. (A good tip… ask yourself "could my audience think I could give this identical talk to one of their competitors?" If they could think that, it's too impersonal).
5. Practise the first 2% of your talk for at least 20% of your preparation time. Losing them at the start is fatal. Practise every aspect of your start. Not just the words, but your body language, voice, tonality etc.
6. Using PowerPoint? Audiences tend to remember more of the top half of slides than the bottom half. So put your main points at the top. Don't do what most presenters do and build up to your main points at the bottom. Audiences won't remember them.
7. Audience concentration levels dip in the middle of a talk. So don't put your main points there. Bring them in very early instead.
8. If making a sales pitch, mention your unique selling points. And make sure they are unique! "We provide great customer service"… "We treat you as partners, not customers" don't make compelling arguments if your competitors say these same points in their pitches. Which they will.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT HIM HERE