The Etiquette of Exchanging Business Cards

I came across this great video on "The Etiquette of Exchanging Business Cards". The video is a little stiff, but gives some valuable points on exchanging business cards.

Etiquette coach Syndi Seid goes over the do's and don'ts of presenting and receiving a business card. Seid makes a great point about "never hand out business cards like it's a poker game." I see this happening at various events and it as an ineffective way of networking.

Enjoy!

xxx

RWJ Consulting Group, LLC, provides consulting, coaching and training services to individuals, entrepreneurs, not-for-profits and corporations.For additional information call 267-254-6800 or visit www.rwjconsultinggroup.com.

Siemens Toastmasters is proud to acknowledge Reggie Waller

Toastmasters International first issued the Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) award in 1970. The DTM is the highest award for members displaying outstanding enthusiasm, participation, and leadership. Siemens Toastmasters is proud to acknowledge Reggie Waller, pictured at left, our first member to achieve the DTM in 2008. Congratulations, Reggie!

PowerPoint Presentations: Tips on making your business presentation a success!

Business professionals spend a reasonable amount of time giving presentations communicating new and existing ideas, proposals for investors, clients, etc. PowerPoint presentations has become a ubiquitous tool for these varying types of business presentations. At times though, I find that the technical aspect of the tool gets overused, misused, and the audience tends to walk away with an unclear message of the presentation. Here are some solutions to assist with getting your message to land with your audience when using PowerPoint:

Just like a speech, you must have an opening, body and conclusion. First, determine how much time you have for your presentation. Next, create the outline of your discussion. After you create your outline, you create the content within your presentation. This is a sample of how a 30-minute presentation would be structured:

Slide 1: Title (1 minute)
Slide 2: Agenda (2 minutes)
Slide 3 – 9: Body (Keep it focused on your audience) (14 minutes)
Slide 10: Summary (Recap Presentation) (3 minutes)
Q&A (black screen): 10 minutes

**20 minutes for you presentation which gives you on average 2-minutes per slide and 10 minutes for Q&A.

Here are some key takeaways when using PowerPoint for your business presentation:

Do:

- Rehearse your content
- Use it to support your topic/ discussion
- Summarize the slide or the main point
- Take time to introduce the material
- Keep your bullet points to 5 per slide
- Keep eye contact with your audience
- Use graphics and illustrations that support your topic
- Avoid jargon
- Allow enough time to set up and check your equipment. (make handouts as a back-up if equipment does not work)

Don’t:

- Use animation (it takes away from your talk and tends to distract your audience)
- Read from the slides
- Forget what’s in it for the audience (WIIFM)
- Place your back to the audience.
- Cruise through slides. If information is not relevant, then don’t display it. (unless giving handouts)
- Panic if the equipment fails

Black or White

Another way to add value to your presentation is the “B” or “W” key. When you need to elaborate on a point during your presentation and would like to take the focus off of the screen and back to you, the “B” key makes your screen black and the “W” that’s right it makes the screen white. Not shift or control key needs to be used in combination with the “B” or “W” key.

After the summary slide, this is great time for Q&A. Use the “B” or “W” key to make your screen blank, so that people know you have completed your presentation and to focus their attention on you.

Speaker Notes

There are a few ways to make notes on what you would like to say on each of your slides. The easy way is to print your entire presentation and write notes on each page. You can also click the View menu, click Notes Page. The notes section will appear under your slide. You can type notes in this section. To view your printed notes, click on the File menu, click Print. Under Print what, select notes pages and click okay. You now have a clean presentation with notes to do your practice run.

Note: When you display your presentation, the audience will not see you notes section.

Keep It Simple

While all the bells and whistles may look nice, keep in mind the message you’re looking to convey to your audience. Outline the message you want the audience to walk away with at the end of your presentation. The bells and whistles will not sell an idea that has not been thoroughly researched and thought out. Keep the presentation simple and focused directly to your topic.

xxx

RWJ Consulting Group, LLC, provides consulting, coaching and training services to individuals, entrepreneurs, not-for-profits and corporations.

For additional information call 267-254-6800 or visit www.rwjconsultinggroup.com.

Goal Setting: Ways to keep focused and motivated

At the beginning of the year, people typically set goals as a new year resolution (i.e. lose weight, spend more time with friends, run a marathon, etc.). At the end of the year, people find that they only reach some or none of their goals. Anatole France said “To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.” You must dream and believe in reaching your goals. Let’s focus on a plan of action to help you set goals. If you for example wanted to run a full marathon (26.2 miles), these are the things that you would want to consider:

Create a plan of action. In order for you to achieve your goal, you have to start with the what, when, and who questions. Identifying these questions upfront rather than later, will help make your journey less painful. Don’t create the plan and then put it away. Keep it in a place where you can review it every so many days to see where you are and where you’re going.

What is the goal that I would like to achieve. What is your dream, what do you want to achieve. For example, you want to run a complete 26.2 mile marathon. You should make this your goal and not someone else’s. This is a common trait when setting goals. I want to do this because my spouse or friends think it would be excellent for me. Well, if you don’t establish the goal for yourself, you will find it hard to achieve that goal.

When would I like to achieve this goal by. Set a realistic time frame around your goal. I want to complete this marathon in Philadelphia, PA by July 2008. If at all possible, try to break the goal into manageable components (i.e. 90 day increments). Also, creating milestones within the goal allows you to not feel overwhelmed. Be sure to have fun when you’re working to reach your goal. Let me say that again, have FUN when working towards your goal. When you start to take it too seriously, you start to loose focus and that causes you to shift your focus elsewhere. Don’t forget to celebrate when you reach milestones. This is great motivation to help you achieve the next level of your plan.

Who if anyone do I need to help me achieve this goal. Sometimes you need others support to help you overcome challenges and obstacles in order to achieve your goals. If you have not run in some time, you may need to engage some friends or a running coach for training and motivation. This is not a bad thing at all. Having people that are positive in nature supporting you with your goals, helps you keep focused and motivated on your vision. These are just some of many methods to assist you in setting goals. These methods can be utilized with any types of goals (short or long-term) you’re looking to achieve. Reflect on what you’ve learned throughout the process. Every goal starts with your vision, your dream. If you believe it, you can achieve it. Put your goal setting plan in place and work your plan.

xxx

RWJ Consulting Group, LLC, provides consulting, coaching and training services to individuals, entrepreneurs, not-for-profits and corporations.

For additional information call 267-254-6800 or visit www.rwjconsultinggroup.com.

Staying connected in your network

It's time for a little spring cleaning, not only with things around your home, but also with the contacts within your network. When is the last time you updated pertinent information for contacts within your network?

Well now is a great time to go through your contacts and do the following:

1. Add and/ or delete any contacts within your network.
2. Do you need to make changes to their email address, phone number or home/ business address.
3. Are there any special notes that you can add about a your contact.
4. Is your network growing to where you need to categorize your contacts.

Don't wait too long to update your network information. Keep it as current as possible, so when you need to contact someone, the information is up-to-date.

xxx

RWJ Consulting Group, LLC, provides consulting, coaching and training services to individuals, entrepreneurs, not-for-profits and corporations.

For additional information call 267-254-6800 or visit www.rwjconsultinggroup.com.