Event Marketing Ideas - Promote and Publicize - Marketing

As the organizer of any event, the entire responsibility of event marketing lies on you. You have to make sure that the right people are invited, there is adequate media coverage, and so on. In a nutshell, the public has to be informed that a conference or seminar is being organized and you have to market it in such a way so that people attend it.

The job of being an event marketer is anything but easy. To co-ordinate and synchronize a thousand minute details and organize them properly can rob the sleep of several nights for quite a few months! That is why we have listed some event marketing ideas to help you out a little:

Sponsors They play a key role in any kind of event. Instead of choosing random ones, pick out quality sponsors who will be beneficial for the event. After they are roped in, use their marketing tools to promote the event. They should have a large email database and a strong online presence as such sponsors can increase the visibility of any seminar or exhibition very quickly.

Direct Mail Advertisements going directly through mail should always be to specific groups and not everyone. Try to get access to mailing lists from organizations that store mail addresses of different organizations on their database.

Radio and Television Call up local radio stations and work out a deal with them so that they keep announcing your event and give out tickets via various on-air contests. Do the same on television and offer discounts to early birds.

Social Media Create a profile on all the leading social media channels such as Twitter and Facebook. Keep the page active by posting news and updates about any topic that is related to the event. Interact directly with people visiting your profile and encourage them to participate.

Newspapers and Posters Place advertisements in newspapers regularly about the event. Try to generate curiosity via catchy taglines and slogans. Posters should be positioned at appropriate places where people are most likely to notices them such as malls, fast food joints etc.

Now that you know about some of the most lucrative methods of event marketing, you dont have to panic while organizing any event. There are various mobile applications in the market that are a huge help in providing a link between organizers and attendees. You can logon to the Internet and find out more.

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Join Your Local Chamber of Commerce- Bad Idea or Not - Business - Networking

Now before you tune me out and disregard this idea stick with me and Ill tell you how you can use it consistently to generate consistent business flow. I remember a few months ago, I wrote an article on Networking with Your Key Target Audience. It got a lot of buzz. Check it out and grab some cool tips on networking effectively.

Many small business owners have used the Chamber of Commerce as a CENTER OF INFLUENCE. What does the Center of influence mean? It means having a group of like-minded people who are connected / interconnected via a person, group, or association

How many small business owners are making money with the chamber of commerce?

Well heres a fact: We know that the Chamber of Commerce is helping people make money. Otherwise it would be a dead institution but trust me it is not. Its thriving in most areas.

Here is why?

The Chamber controls a large, active, and prosperous center of influence. The Chamber of Commerce is made up of business owners; company Presidents, CEOs, V.P.s, association presidents, and other movers and shakers. Because the Chamber cost a lot of money, it keeps out those who are unsuccessful because they cant afford the joining fee.

By charging this prequalifies its members and has consistently led to the local businesses and community leaders taking active part in the Chamber of Commerce over the years to get their monies worth.

I know it could be quite expensive joining the Chamber of Commerce but it gives you access to people that can grow your business.

I remember one client from London who had consistently used the Chamber of Commerce to secure corporate speaking engagements on her seminar titled Fitness at Work.

After a few years of frequenting the Chamber socials and networking meetings, she had secured half dozen companies who formally endorsed this bootcamps to all its employees! One Chamber meeting resulted in the towns largest employer including her flyer as a statement stuffer in their employees pay checks and they did it for free. Her flyer said, Special Offer to XYZ Corporation Employees: Free 1 Week Bootcamp, normally 149, when you bring this coupon. It resulted in 30+ new patients and she said theyre still bringing them in. She would not have grown her practice, if she had not joined the Chamber of Commerce.

How to Get Your Monies Worth

The key is being active. Its not a place to show up with your hand out, attend two meetings, and then whine you havent gotten clients. Its about relationship building and that can take time.

Offer to speak at meetings on topics of interest to business leaders. Giving a short educational speech in front of these business leaders is a great way to become known as a Player very quickly.

Heres what another small business owner did to grow her fitness bootcamp:

She attended the networking meetings and socials sponsored by the Chamber. She did this for about 3 months and then offered to sponsor a dinner for Chamber members to raise money for charity. As the leader / organizer, she was able to meet many people; they saw her as a local community leader, and have resulted in a booming business.

She got her name/photo in the paper and built community equity through her efforts. She found that the leaders who made up the Chamber took notice and started referring her fitness bootcamp. Give consideration to joining your local Chamber of Commerce.

Just be aware that some Chambers are more active than others, so if yours is stale it might NOT be a good idea. Ask around

I recently joined a free networking group here in Luxembourg called The Business Lunch. It started less than a year ago starting the just 8 members. Now it has grown to over 61 people attending the lunch every month.

You dont really have to belong to a paid network to get result. You just need to go to those that are active. Members talk about their business, refer business to one another and give testimonial about each other services. Its growing pretty quickly and I wouldnt be shocked if it doesnt grow its member to the 100s it the next few months.

If there is nothing in your area thats not giving you the result you are your potential audience need. Create one yourself.

In the next few weeks I will write an article about how to create your own networking and referral group.

Let me ask you this?

Are you working you local networking group or you thinks its a waste of time.

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Consciousness Research: History, Present And Future - Other

Being conscious is one of the most mysterious and most familiar aspects of human life; people feel the wind blowing on their face on the way to class, listen to an informative lecture and taste a delicious meal once back home, they are aware of it, they think. But how do people think? This question has been one of the most fundamental questions in biology, psychology and philosophy since the emergence of conscious human thought.

However, research on consciousness was once considered out of the reach of science and even banned as a research topic, as it was a subject only appropriate for philosophy and religion. One of the main reasons for this was that consciousness as a concept is highly subjective and very broad: it encompasses self-awareness and experiences according to Campbell and Reece (2008). On a more positive note, consciousness research, starting with Descartes in the 17th century, has seen a vast increase in scientific research performed in the past few decades, something accurately described by Velmans and Schneider (2007).

By providing an historical account on the scientific research of consciousness, it might be possible to create a better understanding of current issues in scientific consciousness research. However, in order to improve current research and understandings, it is necessary to maintain an aim toward the future, as is acknowledged by Searle (1998). Moreover, according to Revonsuo (2009), this future of consciousness research is only feasible if there came into existence a unified research program on which all future research is based. Despite this, a critical perspective in such concepts remains essential as often only hypotheses are constituted, which are formulated without being empirically proven.

One contemporary fundamental problem though, labeled 'the hard problem' by Chalmers (1999) seems to be intrinsically interwoven with consciousness research. This problem describes the difficulties in crossing the explanatory gap when linking brain mechanisms and the subjective experience that is part of consciousness. Therefore the technological progress made in the past years is auspicious, as it could possibly cross the gap between findings in cognitive psychology, neuroscience and scientific philosophy and the subjective aspects of consciousness, as acknowledged by Grienfield and Collins (2005) and others.

Definition of consciousness

One prerequisite for the analysis of scientific consciousness research is a working definition of consciousness, especially since consciousness is considered a very ambiguous term, something which tends to create confusion.

According to Revonsuo, consciousness is the 'subjective psychological reality within which all of us live our lives' (2009) but a distinction is made between various definitions of consciousness. Nonetheless, the most important concept required for a scientific explanation of consciousness seems to be that which refers to the presence of qualitative and subjective experience as an intrinsic part of consciousness.

Another attempt to provide a working definition is made by Grienfield and Collins, who also admit the concept is highly ambiguous, something responsible for major problems in consciousness research (2005). However, despite making various distinctions between notions such as wakefulness and awareness, and putting emphasis on the need to evade the mistake of confusing consciousness with self-consciousness, which is only an aspect of consciousness, it is acknowledged that consciousness is above all characterized by subjective and qualitative experiences. This same concept is also acknowledged by Velmans and Schneider (2007) and therefore, the definition of consciousness as characterized by subjective experiences will be used in this paper.

History of consciousness research

Systematic efforts to acquire an understanding of what constitutes this subjective experience are characterized by a long history. This history has its roots in the 17th century, the period in which Rene Descartes lived, the first person attempting to systematically research consciousness. The findings and theories derived from his research continue to influence others nowadays, as will be observed later. Moreover, his influence can be explained by the fact that he was the first person to highlight the most difficult problem still confronting consciousness researchers at present, which is the problem of explaining how consciousness could possibly emerge from the brain. The difficulty of this problem is described in Descartes' dualism theory, in which it is described how a clear distinction must be made between the mind and the body, since both of these are described in terms of very distinct characteristics: the main characteristics of the body are attributed to physical p rocesses, whereas the main characteristics of the mind are attributed to thought. However, such a distinction is not considered to be a satisfactory explanation for consciousness in the realm of science and therefore still remains a challenge in consciousness research nowadays.

Ideas in the 18th century differed greatly and were in some cases contradicting, which is illustrated by Kant, who rejected the notion that science could ever explain consciousness, as calculations and experiments could not be applied to describe or test mental processes since these varied only in time and were subjective. Similar to Descartes' dualism, these concepts formed the basis of the premise that psychology, the study of the mind, was 'not a proper subject for scientific enquiry', a conviction held by many until the late 19th century.

Despite this, human enquiries about the nature of consciousness set in motion two important developments that contributed to the scientific study of consciousness in the 19th century. First of these is the development of psychophysics, which regards mental phenomena suitable for experiments and mathematical modeling. The basis of this method is formed by sensations, and thus subjective experiences, and shows that differences in intensity depend on the strength of a certain stimulus. However, it could not yet be measured what the connection between this intensity of sensation and nervous activity was.

Additional to the development of psychophysics were significant improvements made in the understanding of the nervous system which gradually accumulated in the acknowledgement of the neuron as the basic information processing unit. This is considered one of the major developments in the last fifty years, and came parallel with the rise of information theory, a mathematical technique that allows the quantification of 'the amount of information in a signal, the rate of transmission of information through a communication channel, and the capacity of a communication channel'.

Linking the application of this theory to mental processes was an important step in the search for a scientific account of consciousness. Eventually, the impact of information theory on psychology led to the formation of cognitive psychology, which is especially noteworthy as consciousness is often an object of study for cognitive psychologists. Cognitive psychologists eventually demonstrated that various cognitive processes such as memory, perception and action are partly processed on a subconscious, automatic level; something also considered one of the major developments in consciousness research.

However, one of the major disadvantages of cognitive psychological methods was that the results of cognitive psychological experiments often relied on methods such as introspection and meta-cognition, which do not take into account the possibility that subjects are actually not conscious of a certain stimulus when they detect one, but that their success is the result of processes performed on the subconscious level, which is a significant limitation in consciousness research, as this would evade the notion of subjective experience .

Fortunately, the development of new brain imaging techniques in the past decades has contributed significantly to a solution of this problem and is still giving rise to a great number of neuroscientific breakthroughs, as well as a large variety of theories attempting to explain of consciousness. However, these different theories have also contributed to the incoherency of consciousness research, which will be discussed later on.

Current findings & the hard problem

Nonetheless, brain imaging techniques (including MRI, fMRI, PET, and EEG) share their ability to provide structural insights into the neural processes and their location in the brain, and have provided neuroscientists with a great number of opportunities to assist them in their search for the neural correlates of consciousness . A characteristic of scientific consciousness research in the past decades can thus be observed in the rise of a vast amount of neuroscientific research aimed at certain aspects of consciousness. '

Several applications of this research are for example aimed at the study of neuropathologies, impaired and altered forms of consciousness (sometimes also induced by drugs or certain brain supplements). An illustration of such research attempts to study the characteristics of brain functioning of people in a 'minimally conscious state', which is a condition of 'severely altered consciousness in which minimal but definite behavioral evidence of self or environmental awareness is demonstrated'. Unfortunately, the results of this research have proven unsuccessful in mapping the neural processes that govern consciousness. Similarly, as is illustrated by the failed attempts of researchers studying the loop of bioelectrical activity in corticocortical and thalamocortical loops, which is responsible for the subjective experiences that constitute consciousness according to the 'master-loop' hypothesis , no other research has as of yet been able to discover neural mechanisms that ex plain subjective experiences.

These failed attempts in discovering the neural processes that constitute consciousness illustrate the major problem in consciousness research: the 'hard problem'. This 'hard problem' is observed to be the reason for most failed scientific explanations of consciousness. According to Chalmers, the problems facing consciousness research can be divided into two categories: the 'easy problems' and the 'hard problem'. The easy problems included those of explaining certain mental phenomena such as the integration of information, the focusing of attention and the differences between sleep and wakefulness, and can all be explained by cognitive and neurophysiological models, something which is acknowledged and more accurately described by Greenfield and Collins.

However, the hard problem is of an entirely different nature and refers to the fundamental aspect of subjective experience that is intrinsically interwoven with consciousness. This problem emerges from the necessary, but unproven, assumption that physical processes give rise to subjective experiences. The difficulties are observed in the unexplainable character of subjective experiences rising from certain mechanisms, as, even when a particular mechanism is explained by cognitive or neuroscientific modelling, it cannot be derived from research why the actual subjective experience is connected to this mechanism. This creates an 'explanatory gap' between the subjective aspects of consciousness, and the objective nature of neuroscientific research, which is responsible for 'the most difficult challenge for the science of consciousness.

Consequently, it can be observed how this 'hard problem' shares similarities with the mind-body problem initially described by Descartes, who proposed an absolute distinction between matter and mind. However, according to leading neuroscientists, this gap is caused by a lack of current understanding of the brain and the related mechanisms, suggesting that the gap will be bridged as neuroscience and related technology continue to develop. This auspicious conclusion is derived from the similar manner explanatory gaps existed and have been bridged in many fundamental questions in science, such as the explanatory gaps between physics and chemistry in the 19th century, or in the search for the origin of life in the 20th century .

The future of consciousness research

Apart from this, a lack of coherence and unity in consciousness research seems to be a more basic problem in consciousness research. Theories range from quantum theoretical approaches based on collapsing quantum fields, coherent superposition of microtubules and other microphysical phenomena, to various neuroscientific theories. Illustrations of these neuroscientific theories are based on the response of receptors at specific types of synapses, the existence of specific 'consciousness neurons', and the dependence on synchronized activity of large neuron groups. Concluding from this, scientific consciousness research seems to be thriving, but the field itself has yet failed in 'establishing a shared big picture of consciousness' , and most of the theories often propose different principles and lack empirical evidence, which appears unbeneficial to consciousness research.

According to Revonsuo, a solution for this situation would be a unified research program based on the premise that consciousness is a 'biological phenomenon that literally resides within the confines of the brain' (2009), something which has earlier been acknowledged to be a necessary premise by Churchland (1997). This research program would view consciousness as part of a specific level of organization in the brain and would relate consciousness research within the various biological sciences, especially cognitive neuroscience, to this basic principle. By subdividing the explanation of consciousness into several levels of description, which are fundamentally smaller subtasks, a multilevel model would be created which frames the various aspects of consciousness in the right context and thereby establishes a research program that is unified and coherent. However, promising as it is possibly presented, it must be observed that this is only a proposal and its scientific feasi bility not proven yet.

Nonetheless, the systematic approach of creating of unity and coherence in the field of consciousness might prove to be of essential importance, considering that science has answered many fundamental questions of life so far, but yet the nature of consciousness remains an elusive concept.

Observing in retrospect, consciousness research has seen the rise and fall of a large number of theories and concepts since Descartes' expressed his dualism theory; ranging from dual aspect theory, parallelism and materialism, proposed by various philosophers, to materialism, psychoanalysis, cognitive psychology and the growing understanding of the nervous system, on which the scientific approach nowadays is mostly based . Especially the latter aspects, supported by the most recent technological advancements such as brain imaging techniques, might prove to be successful in providing a satisfactory explanation of the subjective experiences that constitute consciousness, and thus solve 'the hard problem'. Yet, the failed attempts in finding a scientific explanation of consciousness illustrate that technological improvements might have to be made before this would be possible. Parallel to this, the current lack of a coherent and theoretical basis has shown to be problematic. Fortunately, auspicious concepts such as the research program proposed by Revonsuo (2009) have the potential to be of great importance.

Therefore, technological improvements or a unified research program could explain the explanatory gap one day, making the assumption this is possible. Moreover, as history has proven several times so far, humanity has the capacity to build bridges across such gaps, unbridgeable as they might seem at first, and thus it might only be a matter of time until that which makes us all think, can finally explained by science.

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Well-written papers start from a well chosen topic - Education - College and University

Research papers are college assessment papers that are brought to evaluate a students mental level for a particular subject, after an entire year. All year a student attend classes, listens to lectures and take notes only to present the topic from its own point of view.

Research papers are quite akin to term papers as they both are assigned to college students. A term paper revolves around a certain topic of a subject while a research has more about an open choice theme. Where choices are endless and that leaves a student perplexed. In order to tackle Term Papers easily, read these tips on how to cope and manage everything.

Writing of a custom term paper on a certain topic tends to ground students to a specific area. This scarcity of room for researching makes the research further intricate and naturally makes it harder to write as it is required. When student starts their research thats mostly from search engines, what they get hold of is mostly rubbish.

Further more if researching from a library, again seeking out for the right material isnt easy and even after much struggle, you cant seem to find the needed thing. To cope from this dilemma and many others you need some guidelines in order to walk in the right direction. There are some easy ways too for writing out your term paper, here are they.

When choosing a topic, be absolutely sure of its branching aspects and scope. If you opt for a topic that doesnt have enough room for research then everything will be futile. In order to write a well-researched custom paper, the topic should be thought through before its finalizing.

For achieving this goal, go back to all your notes and lectures, you may stumble upon many interesting topic. Now that you have a more constricted area to choose contemplate on their multiple aspects. The topic which seems to be multi faceted should be your final choice. If you arent sure which to choose, consult a teacher to assist you, as they are always a big help.

The choosing of topic if undertaken right and you are satisfied from it, you are on your way to a good reputation. As topic is what attracts the reader to your writing. A well-chosen topic is what that helps you write a better paper so it must be given complete attention. Now that you possession of an ideal topic its time for research. A well-written term paper is brimmed with intelligently surmised questions. Shuffle your topic around and try to form wise questions from it. Once you get a question, split it up in sensible phrases. These phrases will serve as key-words for your research. Now start your research with these phrases, pick up all content that has these phrases in it.

Now everything gets much easier as compared to other ways of researching. Now all the hard work thats left is reading out and assessing of all the accumulated data. This may seem as heady chore but once you get passed from it, the writing of the papers will be way easy.

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Strapless Wedding Dresses because at present, affiliates can freely select from thousands of affil - Awards

Strapless Wedding Dresses because at present, affiliates can freely select from thousands of affiliate programs and they can quickly switch from one program to another. As to how much money one can get from affiliate marketing actually depends on the affiliate. There are all kinds of affiliate programs that you can promoteStrapless Wedding Dresses . Usually, this kind of affiliate program offers a very low first-tier payment but a sky-scraping second-tier commission. Because of this new version of the internet, now people who happen to live a bit off the grid have access to a form of connectivity that is just as fast and reliable as anything you get in a city. If you are going from dialup to satellite broadband internet in Massachusetts or Oregon, you are entitled to expect far more than 2 or 3 times the speed with your new service. The topic of the personal website I will address in an upcoming article. Simple, easy to learn information that you and your employees can fol low to great effect.To Your SuccessPeter Iwaniszewski. The program owner would then distribute your ad to various affiliates who would then place your ad on their websites. Just get to know "your people". Second, setting up an online business requires only a fraction of the cost required to set up an actual business establishment, which means a lot of savings for the business owner. I have a hard time seeing how a true gamer won't save a ton of money using this service. And that can really be a shame, since staying in touch is an incredibly valuable asset. Otherwise, our competition will end up satisfying the customers better than our own interest. As your articles help you in building your business and your site, you will have more articles to write and maybe then you wont be having second thoughts about articles. You just have to know what you like to do or want to do and then find an opportunity that will work for you. li class="li2"Don't excessively post on people's wall s or group walls. There are times when a game comes out that you absolutely know you must own. In reality, why they do it should not matter to you.Let's say you make widgets and these widgets use pressure gauges. This works well especially when both sites feature the same niche. It could be that your product is that solution, but you don't want them to know that. These profiles will be much more personal and will provide a mechanism for social networking among all peers. li class="li2"It's Free/olThe Do's And Don'ts Of Facebook Marketingol class="ol1" li class="li2"Don't Ever Spam People. PPL affiliate programs work the same way, although affiliates are paid a fixed fee whenever his referral converts into a lead for the company. You are purchasing this site so you have to bear in mind the amount of traffic the other website receives. So many web series depict very creative circumstances that you don't get to see on traditional tv. Again, do not just talk about yourself. If y ou have a spouse that can support you - then fine. You can use this infor

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Effective Business Presentations - Show and Touch - Business - Presentation

Effective business presentations help clients and prospects see, feel, and get in touch with solutions. Yes, you're already familiar with 'show and tell.' But what about 'show and touch'?

In my training seminars on presentation skills, I often teach subject matter experts how to do this. And, believe me -- it isn't always easy. One of the big points of resistance I get is showing and touching.

You see, many experts fervently believe things such as:

The data tells the story

More data tells a better story

Facts and numbers tell the story

Advice should be supported with written data

Notice how 'showing and touching' are absent in these belief statements.

So you can imagine, the kind of resistance I face when nudging people away from telling, telling, telling.

Why is telling such a bad idea?

When you 'tell' your clients and prospects about your solution, you are talking at them. Even if you are sharing awesome facts and phenomenal content, you're still giving a one-directional data dump. This is a far cry from having an interactive conversation.

By 'telling' your audience everything, you only reinforce the feelings and thoughts they might be having. Things that they would never say directly to you. I'm just taking a wild stab at the nature of some of these internal meanderings:

This guy is an arrogant know-it-all

I've heard it all before

I never have a chance to ask MY questions

I don't see what this has to do with my job

If instead, you show your solution -- and let your audience touch a prototype, you shift the nature of the discussion. Instead of talking at your audience, you're guiding interaction.

Often when participants see, feel, and connect with your solution, they will speak up. They'll contribute interesting bits of information. They'll share personal stories that can shed light on a usability issue. For instance, how this solution will help them save time, reduce redundant activities, or get more done for less cost.

And here's the best part: they will tell you these things using a simple, commonsense, and down-to-earth language. This is incredibly valuable for communicating to your target group. It also gives you enormous leverage to connect with other groups in similar industries or positions.

I coach a lot of sales professionals who are using prototypes and demos to build persuasive presentations. Initially some sales teams struggle with this shift from telling to showing.

The reason is simple. When you tell, you're in control. When you use 'show and touch,' you're facilitating. This requires a different skill set and delivery style. Instead of using a directive presentation style, you need to be more facilitative.

In a new home study course on visual storytelling, you can find this systematically broken down into step-by-step blueprints.

Right now, here's a simplified method for you to 'grab-and-use.'

1. Show your solution. If possible use a physical model or prototype your audience can see.

2. Encourage touching. Get participants up out of their seats. Provide time to touch, interact with, and get a hang of how things work.

Not so hard, right?

Show and touch.

As virtual communication increases, this is a very valuable concept to keep in play. Show the picture, map, or model. Encourage touching. This makes concepts, ideas, and proposals much more concrete.

Fuzzy ideas become tangible. This is a crucial step for encouraging your audience to discuss proposals and buy-in to your solution. While this topic is hot in your mind, write down your ideas. Use this method in your next presentation. You'll be much more persuasive -- without having to be pushy. Show and touch.

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Best Storytelling Tips for Marketing Presentations - Business - Sales

What's the worst horror story you can imagine for a presenter giving a marketing presentation? Falling in love with his or her story!

Recently, I coached a presenter. He was 'all over' stories. And truthfully, his storytelling ability was great. If you wanted to sit around the campfire for hours and hours on end.

But, for a business setting, his commitment to 'storytelling' was a death sentence. During his presentation, I looked around the room. People were staring at the ceiling. Others were examining their watches as if they contained hidden gold. No one wanted to hear one more colorful word. Not one more elaborate metaphoric example.

Know what I'm talking about? It's the storyteller syndrome. Gone overboard.

In every part of presenting, there is a risk. You can take a good thing and drag it into the ground by overdoing it.

Clearly, this does not have to happen. Use these 3 tips to make sure you use storytelling to your advantage in marketing presentations.

Tip 1: Stick To The Point

In business presentations, unlike campfire stories, you have to stick to the point. Many audiences are filled with people who are already overloaded and overwhelmed with information.

If you want to keep their attention, you must stick to the point. Watch out for any tendency to drift off topic with your favorite colorful examples.

Hint: if this is a problem for you, work with a colleague. If they notice you are going off track, establish a hand signal to mark the moment. Then, be sure to use this signal to refocus your message and stay on point.

Tip 2: Read Your Audience

Read your audience the same way you read the gauges in your car. Are you running on empty? Does your audience need a bio-break? Are they getting fidgety and restless? Are people edging to the door or fixating on their watches?

Watch for the signs and symptoms of disengagement. If you notice these, switch to a more focused delivery style.

You can win your audiences' attention if you keep their signals at the forefront of your awareness.

Tip 3: Let Your Audience Speak

Storytelling is not a one-sided activity. Ask questions. Get people talking. Use their comments and questions to infuse energy and creative spark into your story.

Nothing is as exciting as spontaneous interaction. When you use this in your storytelling you will not be at risk of talking to a bored or restless audience.

In addition to participants having a change to speak, other people in the audience often connect with comments made by peers. These comments provoke interaction, discussion and collaboration.

Professional presenters often use storytelling to express ideas, emphasize key points, and engage audiences. With persuasive storytelling, you can inspire creativity and collaboration.

Effective storytelling is the mark of a distinguished leader and presenter. If you want to connect with your audiences, get familiar with planning, preparing and performing with stories.

As one of my clients puts it: "you get better results with better planning." This is smart business and a smart storytelling practice.

Develop your business storytelling skills so you can communicate effectively to your audience. Persuasive visual stories can help you reach more customers and grow your business.

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Business Presenting for Leaders - Break The Rules - Business - Small Business

Are you following the 'rules' for presenting in your organization or industry? If so, you could be killing your career. The most exceptional leaders are known for breaking the rules. Get the recognition you deserve with these 3 easy rule-breaking tips.

"A conservative is a person who does not think anything should be done for the first time."

-Frank Vanderlip

If you're just starting out in presenting, what's your first thought?

How are things done? What are the rules?

If you're an expert presenter, you most likely have learned the rules. And now you know the truth: every rule is meant to be broken.

The only question is: when?

Whether you are a newcomer or a seasoned pro, let's take a look together at the fun and fascinating pull of being a rebellious leader.

Leaders in business are known for breaking rules. After all, if they didn't, we wouldn't even know their names. These three men broke many rules - just a few to make the point.

Steve Jobs. He broke the dress code by appearing in his trademark jeans and black t-shirt.

Donald Trump. He broke the rules by being outspoken and radical in his opinions and emotions.

Bill Gates. He broke the rules by giving away more money than most people ever make in their lives.

But you don't need to be a well-known business leader to break the rules when you give business presentations. You just have to have courage, creativity, and a good dose of rebellion. Use these 3 tips to kick things up a notch in your presentations.

Tip 1: Tell the Truth

Hey, shouldn't this be a norm? Sadly, it's not. There's a collective tendency to mush the facts, blur the details, and slide past difficult topics.

If you want to truly stand out as a different and leading expert in your field, speak the truth. Share your personal experiences and feelings. Talk to your audience with full disclosure.

They'll see you as an open and authentic communicator -- not just another talking head.

Tip 2: Speak Informally

This tip drives some people in my trainings and coaching sessions absolutely bonkers. Responses run the gamut from "But I can't!" to "It's not professional." to "No one would ever accept this in my industry."

I'm not suggesting that you are speaking in foul language or telling terrible jokes. But how about talking like a human being? Break that unspoken rule that says: Experts should sound formal -- and spit out facts like they are spitting sand.

Break that one. Speak naturally and say things in simple, plain English. Between you and me, this shouldn't be a problem. Everyone will appreciate your no-nonsense style. However, for many experts this is threatening. Shake things up a bit. Speak like an ordinary human being.

Tip 3: Simplify

There's some unspoken rule in many conferences and industry associations. It's the rule that experts must make things complicated. Break this rule!

Be willing to stick your neck out. As motivational speaker Jim Rohn used to say, "Get arrested for something!"

Get arrested for telling the truth, speaking informally, and simplifying. The world will be a better place when more of us break these rules.

If these norms and standards of your industry seem to be in contradiction to these actions, stop. Think long and hard. Do you want to spend another second covering up facts, talking as if you have marbles in your mouth, and making everything complicated? Don't you have something better to do?

Break the rules. You're likely to be recognized as an expert, a leader, and a visionary in your field.

Authentic presenting is the mark of a true leader. Get the skills you need to present your ideas, tell the truth, and simplify solutions.

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5 Tips To Start Your Next Business Presentation - Business - Small Business

Funny thing. One of the biggest questions in presenting is not the content, the PowerPoint or the delivery. It's more primal: "how the heck should I start?" Learn 5 tips so you can have a strong start to your presentation.

My guess is you've got a big presentation looming -- so without further ado, here are the five things to do to start strong!

Tip 1: Do Your Prework

Even if you are short on time, be sure to do the necessary prework to connect with your contact. In many cases someone else will be introducing you. In a hectic work schedule, getting together with your introducer is often pushed to the last minute -- or doesn't occur until you walk into the room.

To be proactive, send an email saying you're coming to present. Give the introducer 3 key points to help him or her prepare. If you don't have time to write, leave a brief voice mail. This alerts the person that you are on your way and will connect at the event.

Tip 2: Help Out!

Coach the person who is doing the introduction. If you have a chance, print out a copy of the introduction in advance.

Hint: one page maximum! Write it in a large, easy to read font. Emphasize key points that are specific to each audience.

This shows that you care about the success of your presentation.

Tip 3: Emphasize Tone

With or without a written introduction, take a moment to meet with your introducer. Emphasize the tone you want to create. Should the person introduce you with humor or more formally? Highlight key principles so you can guarantee a strong start for your presentation.

Tip 4: Do It Yourself

In many settings, you will introduce yourself. This requires the same kind of attention to detail that you've been doing when working with a contact.

Plan your introduction and specifically focus on the tone, mood, and connection to your specific audience. When you start strong and set a warm, friendly tone, your audience is much more willing to listen to the rest of your talk.

Tip 5: Be Brief

Being brief is one of the best ways to start! Instead of droning on and on about your topic or your expertise -- be concise. A short and punchy opening alerts the crowd to the value of your presentation.

Practice the art of being brief by doing 3 things:

Write out your introduction.

Do this the old-fashioned way - with pen and paper. This helps you connect with a more conversational tone and style.

Practice speaking your introduction out loud.

Do any of the words sound stilted or pompous? Notice if what you have written is how you speak naturally.

Edit out any words that do not 'sound the way you speak.'

Go ahead. Be ruthless. Even surgical. Eliminate any long words that are not how you naturally speak to a friend or non-expert colleague.

With these 5 tips, you can start strong and give a powerful presentation to any crowd.

Develop professional skills to give phenomenal business presentations. Start strong, tell the right story, and end strong to reach more customers and grow your business.

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Business Presenting - It's Always About Your Audience! - Business - Small Business

What's the number one "Rule" in presenting? "It's always about your audience." Discover the power of this rule -- and score your skills in a quick Presentation Readiness Quiz.

Far too many presenters and subject matter experts focus on themselves, their topic, and their ability to answer questions. These are, of course, crucial skills.

However, if you only focus on these, you'll miss the target.

The number one "Rule" in presenting is: It's Always About Your Audience. In my training evaluations, I often ask senior managers, sales directors, and top leaders, "what's the concept you use most often?" The answer I get is:

"It's Always About The Audience!"

Think about this: you must investigate, evaluate, and refine your presentation to adapt to each specific audience. You can divide this into three categories.

1. What do you know about your participants? 2. What are their reasons for being in your presentation? 3. What is the flow of your story to appeal to your audience?

Keep this in mind as you jump into planning your important business pitch or speech. It's not about your topic, data, or research.

I know. This is a mind bender. And it can take a moment to shift your focus. While you're digesting this, let me tell you a story.

Earlier this week, I spoke with a young woman. She was on fire about her new business, and planning to give presentations to attract funders. As she described the volumes of charts, diagrams, and maps, and PowerPoint slides, I got nervous.

It sounded like a perfect recipe for data overwhelm.

Clearly this wasn't her intention. So, I told her what I'm going to share with you right now:

Step away from your data. Step back from sharing every last chart, diagram, and slide. Move away from showing the entire chronological history of your project.

Instead, burn this single phrase in your mind:

It's always about your audience.

How much can your participants absorb in your 10-minute, 30-minute, or 60-minute presentation?

The answer: not that much!

Keep your message simple enough for your audience to absorb.

Whether you are a part-time presenter, or a full-time professional speaker, this is the single critical rule you must remember and use. If you want to master the fine art of presenting, and attract investors, your message must be simple. This will encourage smart decision-making, and win business results.

I'm sure you agree -- keeping things simple is a recipe for success.

In addition to understanding this conceptually, be sure to use it. Don't let this rule gather dust bunnies in the back of your closet. Put it into action.

Let's do this right now. It should take you less than two minutes to put this to use.

Are you really ready to present? Grab a pencil and find out. Answer yes or no for each line. Jot down ideas for actions you will take to be fully prepared.

What's your Presentation Readiness?

Are you confident in putting your audience first?

Do you understand your audience issues? Are you aware of specific needs of individuals? Do you truly know why people are attending your talk? Are you adapting your story to match each specific audience?

Are you confident in customizing your story?

Are you prepared and confident in your content expertise? Are you sharing your personal experiences? Are you showing and telling specific stories? Are you adjusting your story flow?

As you can see, with a small amount of action-oriented preparation, you can immediately apply the most important rule in presenting: "It's Always About Your Audience."

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