The secrets to giving a persuasive presentation aren’t known only to a select group of people. You can easily improve your presentation style by making a few minor changes.

Choose Your Topic Carefully

If you’re able to choose the topic of your next presentation, consider a topic that’s important not only to you, but also to those who will be in attendance. Understanding who your audience is and choosing a subject they care about is the first step to creating a memorable and persuasive presentation.
When presenting to a group of co-workers or a client, find out if other people will be giving presentations and what their topics will be. This can help you avoid creating a presentation that is closely related to topics already being discussed. Give your presentation a catchy title to entice your audience in advance.

Create a Solid Message

Once you’ve chosen a topic, research it to find out everything you need to know for the presentation. Determine your overall message and make sure that each subtopic, slide, and bullet point supports this message. A persuasive presentation usually focuses on one topic so the audience is able to fully understand and grasp its meaning.

After putting your presentation together, allow others to review it. Make sure they understand the message you’re trying to send. Ask for helpful feedback so you can make the appropriate changes before the day of the presentation.

You may need to review the presentation several times until it’s persuasive and coherent enough to be appreciated by those attending the meeting.

Create Simple Visuals

A persuasive presentation does not rely on fancy visual aids. If you want to be persuasive, keep your slides as simple as possible in order to keep the audience’s attention on you. Only you can create a sense of urgency about the topic you’re speaking about through your body language, how you present the information and the answers you give to questions the audience may have. While colorful charts and graphs may be fun to design, they can be very distracting to those who should be listening to what you have to say instead of admiring your power point skills.

Involve Your Audience

Involve your audience by asking questions, telling a few jokes and being relaxed while you speak.By involving the audience, you’re subconsciously inviting them to embrace what you have to say. Even though your presentation needs to have a clear message, you want to deliver this message in a non-threatening way by telling a story or relating it to an issue your co-workers or your clients are currently facing.

Keep the audience interested in your topic by making sure they are as involved as possible in the presentation. Make sure you leave enough time to answer a few questions as this will encourage dialogue between you and the audience as well as between audience members.

Giving a persuasive presentation will take practice. Over time, your skills will improve. Watching co-workers give presentations is a good way to learn more about what to do and what not to do. If possible, record your presentation so you can watch it and critique your performance.

Sharon Alexander – Claim That Job.com

For more career management information and to get a free job hunting report, visit Claim That Job.com

I would like to argue this fact. I think that, granted, these high fliers may have ideas, but what carries it all forward it the humble ink cartridge. Hugely under-valued and over looked, this little device is the saviour of many an idea that has only been formed in the mind.

Granted, we now have computer generation and email that can transport pictures and text across the globe and take ideas from one person to another in an instant. But there is no substitute for the tangible element that a piece of paper and an ink cartridge can bring.

All the best ideas make it into print for the needs of people who want to go over the printed concept. Printed documents are also much more widely trusted than an electronic version and how much easier are they to distribute at a meeting as opposed to setting everyone up on a laptop of computer and then trying to discuss and bandy about the options and ideas.

Books have always been the perfect subject for printing with ink cartridges, albeit the industrial size. Of course, with our technological age, we now have electronic books but I don’t know how popular these will be.

Of course, they are easier to get hold of, just simply download your required title from the internet, even back titles can be easily sourced, and away you go. This will take up less space than a book collection but whoever didn’t love their book collection?

There’s nothing quite like the satisfaction to be gained from the reading of a proper printed book. First you experience the immediate visual pleasure of artistic or thought provoking covers. Then there is the texture. The feel of the paper is somewhat satisfying as you turn each page to uncover the next instalment.

Books also have a smell that an electronic book will miss out on. I’m not weird and I know I’m not the only one, but I love the smell of a book. Many a Saturday afternoon I can be found between the shelves in a book shop or library sniffing pages, it immediately takes me back to my childhood. The way the ink cartridge has transported idea into visual text, the style and size of the font, all manner of things about the way a book is styled will subconsciously play into your imagination and help create a character within your mind.

Reading from a normal book brings a satisfaction beyond what you would get from an electronic version. There is something inherently enjoyable about holding and handling that book, about being able to put it on your shelf amongst the others and know that at any point you can simply pick it up and know that as soon as you begin reading, you will remember how the characters appeared in your minds eye. You know they will be exactly as you imagined them the first time you read the book, even if it was a childhood book.

So, it would seem that as much as we all love our gadgets and gizmo’s there really is no alternative to the humble ink cartridge.

Shaun Parker is a leading printing expert with many years of experience in the publishing industry. Find out more about ink cartridges at http://www.inksave.co.uk

So, strong presentation skills are vital to success, but can everybody pull off a great presentation? Of course some people appear more naturally skilled than others at public speaking – perhaps due to greater confidence and lots of practice in communicating – but even the most shy and unconfident people can learn to present well. Equally, those who already present effectively can always improve with further training and coaching, perhaps to hone specific areas.

So what is involved in becoming an effective presenter? Standing in front of people, managing to string together the basics of a pitch or presentation is one thing but will staff, colleagues or clients remember what you were saying at the end of your presentation? Have you left your audience full of enthusiasm for your idea or needing a strong coffee to wake up? Do they have confidence in you?

A successful, impactful presentation is built on a whole suite of factors. Opening with a bang, using the right body language, maintaining eye contact, varying your tone, signposting and using relevant and engaging language, anecdotes and examples all make a difference. And of course there are plenty of things you can do to control those pesky nerves.

Presenting, however confident a person you are, can be a very daunting task. A well rehearsed presentation can be put in jeopardy due to the onset of nerves. Whether public speaking or presenting in front of friends, colleagues or complete strangers, an element of nerves is natural. The fear of embarrassment, making yourself look stupid or not making sense are all normal human emotions which, with the correct training can actually be harnessed in order to improve your presentation.

Modelling can be a great way to improve presentation skills. Carefully observing and analysing what good presenters do and then emulating those techniques can be a powerful way to improve your own skills.
In conclusion, yes some people do have a stronger natural talent for presenting and engaging an audience. But the good news is that everyone can improve and give a great presentation if they know what it is that makes a difference and how to apply the techniques. And if they’re given opportunities to practise and receive helpful and personalised feedback. The potential for progress is enormous and the rewards to be reaped both for your business and personal life are worth the effort.

Dominic Donaldson is an expert in the communication skills sector.
Find out more about presentation skills and how to boost your confidence in your career at Speakfirst.

However, instead of considering the new features a positive step in multi-media experience, the real truth is that most Gmail users should consider it an invasion of personal productivity and have the right to feel an ever increasing sense of disappointment and concern. There’s 3 reasons why the addition of Gmail voice & video chat should concern most users.

Reason #1: Personal Productivity
The first involves the growing “Email Monster” phenomenon that attempts to destroy daily productivity levels. Let’s face it, e-mail is a great communication tool but it is not today what it was intended to be when it was created. Or maybe it is and people just do not care. But the use of e-mail in your personal and work environments hinders productivity no matter how it is measured. The time savings realized through immediate communication are more than offset by unproductivity through the reading, writing, sending, and receiving of SPAM, non-value add information, and the urge to remain on the lookout for “that” e-mail.

The announcement by Google to integrate voice and video chat into Gmail simply furthers the concern for additional productivity loss. The fact that voice and video exist at all is enough of a scare as it will pull people away from what they should be doing. HOwever, the fact that they exist within an e-mail interface is even scarier as the time spent in your Gmail inbox will no doubt increase.

Reason #2: Additional Distraction
A huge problem with e-mail involves its role as a distractor. How many times have you logged in to check an e-mail only to check a second, third, and many more? It’s generally hard for anyone to not check an unread e-mail and this leads to an ever increasing number of distractions and opportunities to be pulled away. It does not take long before an e-mail leads to a website or another article that you read and ultimately compound the distraction issue. Effective productivity is lessened by distraction and e-mail is enough of a distraction by itself. Unfortunately, the addition of voice and video chat serve as additional distractors that can only have a further negative affect on your time.

Reason #3: Increased Pressure To Login
One of the most important ways to combat the Email Monster is to “unplug” from e-mail altogether. However, human nature and curiosity often gets the better of a mental war of most people. The pressure to log into your e-mail account is already high. Yet the additional of voice and video chat will only contribute to the problem and make it increasingly difficult for those users who have made the important decision to “unplug”.

Overall, Google has demonstrated an great sense integration and centralization of its tools and has rolled them out in a way to enable faster and more widespread communication. However, this same integration and centralization is poised to have severe and negative consequences on Gmail users when viewed from a perspective of personal productivity and daily accomplishment.

If you are spending more than 20 minutes each day managing your e-mail than your productivity is being destroyed by the “Email Monster” – destroy this monster by watching this short, 2 minute video absolutely for free at http://www.EmailMonsterMovie.com

One of the hardest parts of planning for a difficult conversation is to think through how your own behaviour may have contributed to the problem. Think of some typical examples.

You are a manager and one of your employees is not making his target. Your manager is pushing you to achieve the target for your department. All it takes is that everyone pulls their weight, but this one person is letting you down. He is causing the problem.

But is he entirely to blame? Are you sure you have made the target clear? Has he ever reached the target? Did you give him positive feedback when he succeeded? Do you give him immediate feedback when he does not make target? Have you ensured he has all the resources he needs to get the job done? There is any number of ways that you, the manager, could be part of this problem.

Think of a family situation. Your teenage son, who now has a driving license and has been allowed to drive your car, comes home way after the times you agree. He started out by being only fifteen minutes late, then thirty, now it is often an hour or even more. You have spoken to him, said that you worry when he is late and he promised to be on time. But he comes in later and later.

Can you see that you are part of this problem by allowing the deadline to slip further and further out? You have allowed him to come home late without any effective sanction, so you have taught him that your standards are flexible. He has learned that he can stretch them, and can do so without consequence.

When you step into a conversation convinced that you are in the right and that the other person is wrong and is entirely the cause of the problem, you feel as if you own the moral high ground. Clearly, if the other person would just see things and do things your way, there would not be a problem. So when you raise the issue with them, you tell them what you see happening, you explain how strongly you feel about it, and then you tell them what you want them to do about it.

All you need is their agreement to your solution, and since you are pushing so hard for it, the easiest thing for them to do is to agree. And they do! You think you have obtained their commitment, and you expect that they will change their ways. Which they do not!

So you broach the subject again, only this time you explain the problem more forcibly, you say more strongly how you feel, and you threaten dire consequences if they do not do something about it.

At best, things will improve for a time, then relapse.

Going into conversations in the belief that the other person is entirely responsible for the problem, and with the intention of getting them to fix it by agreeing to do things your way, has little hope of obtaining the behaviour change that you want. In situations where you do not have any power or authority, this conversational style has no chance of success at all.

Think how ineffective it would be in a conversation with your mother-in-law over her interference in how you raise your children, with your boss when you think you have been unfairly treated, or in a conversation with a friend whom you feel has behaved inconsiderately.

In preparing for conversations on issues like these, you need to realize that feeling strongly about something does not mean that you are in the right about it! Maybe you had strong feelings but you did not speak up, and you have helped create the problem by giving tacit approval to things as they were. Perhaps there are many legitimate views of what happened and yours is just one. You might also be plain wrong!

Accepting that you may be part of a problem allows you to step off the moral high ground, and helps you hold back on telling others how you want them to change. It helps you go into a conversation without arrogance, and gives you a much better chance of hearing all sides and of finding a solution to which everyone can commit.

Maureen Collins trains people how to handle difficult conversations, on difficult topics, with difficult people in her consulting practice, Straight Talk. She has a B.Sc. degree in Psychology from Edinburgh University and over 25 years of consulting experience. She consults in communication in the workplace. In Straight Talk, Get free Straight Talk Tips. http://www.straight-talk.co.za

Alternatively, your sense of outrage may take over and one day you explode in frustration and anger. Afterwards, the disciplinary process that you have to undergo and the difficult relationship you have created between you and your manager make what had been a bad situation even worse.

There is a better way! If you follow the steps below you have every chance of creating a conversation that gives you the positive outcome you need.

Consider a situation where you have a very competent manager who has a lot of experience and company service. Your problem is that when you raise an idea of your own she shoots you down before she has heard more than a few words of what you have to say. You are becoming more and more frustrated and feel that you not being allowed to grow or develop in your job.

You need to speak up, but to do so in a way that does not result in accusation or argument, achieves a change in the behaviour of your manager, and enables you to keep your job. When your power base is low, the stakes high, and you want to broach a difficult subject with the least possible risk to your relationship, and your job, proceed with care.

Use the steps below.

Open the conversation by setting a tone that does not accuse, but does signal that something serious is to follow. Avoid getting into any detail at this stage. You can start with a general question or you can label the issue more specifically. The question form is respectful and also allows the manager to say if the time or place is not suitable for the conversation.

A useful general question is: Can we talk about something that is concerning me. Alternatively you could be a little more specific by asking: Can we talk about something that is getting in the way of our working together.

Then describe exactly what happens that is causing your frustration. Be very specific. It helps if you refer to a recent incident that the manager may also recognise.

The next step is to describe how you feel abut the situation. Remember, this is your interpretation and your manager may see it quite differently. You could say: Maybe I am being too sensitive, but I am beginning to feel you do not want any input from me.

Finally, ask for feedback: I am wondering if there is anything I can do to share my ideas with you more effectively. This is a safe way to minimize defensiveness and encourage dialogue.

If you use these steps you will help your manager understand how her behaviour is affecting you. You have not been accusing or given her any reason to become defensive, so it is unlikely that the conversation will result in argument. In the event that she was unaware of her behaviour, she may appreciate that you spoke up and will be more sensitive in future.

Remember that the best way to make sure someone continues with a behaviour is to give them positive feedback, so if your manager changes her behaviour even a little, for the better, be sure to acknowledge it. Everyone enjoys positive feedback!

When you approach difficult conversations using this process, you will open the door to healthy dialogue and better working relationships.

Maureen Collins trains people how to handle difficult conversations, on difficult topics, with difficult people in her consulting practice, Straight Talk. She has a B.Sc. degree in Psychology from Edinburgh University and over 25 years of consulting experience. She consults in communication in the workplace. In Straight Talk, Get free Straight Talk Tips. http://www.straight-talk.co.za