Being awesome at public speaking can be one of the most fear-inducing parts of modern life. However, it also can be one of the most rewarding tasks you can do. Talking in front of an audience is nothing to fear, so long as you are prepared. This article will discuss effective presentation skills. It includes everything you need to plan, prepare, and deliver an awesome presentation.
Related post: 8 Presenter Mistakes That Are Rarely Made Twice
Develop your big idea
This is your central argument and the main reason you are presenting. Every presentation should have only one main idea to keep focused. A great big idea is one that can be stated in simple terms as the purpose of your presentation. Do not create any presentation without a singular big idea as you can risk overloading your audience with information.
Start with your end objective
Before you even open up PowerPoint, sit down and think about the day of your presentation. What is the real purpose of your talk? Why is it that you were asked to speak? What does the audience expect? In your opinion, what are the most important parts of your topic for the audience to take away from your, say, 50-minute presentation?
Know what counts: Tips for Public Speaking: How You Can Become Awesome at Presentations
Remember, even if you’ve been asked to share information, rarely is the mere transfer of information a satisfactory objective from the audience. After all, the audience could always just read your book (or article, handout, etc.) if information transfer were the only purpose of the meeting, seminar, or formal presentation.
Jot down what you know about the audience
Before you begin to formulate the content of your presentation, you need to ask yourself many basic questions with an eye to becoming the best possible presenter for that particular audience. At the very least, you need to answer the basic “W questions.”
Who is the audience?
What are their backgrounds? How much background information about your topic can you assume they bring to the presentation?
Is it to inspire? Are they looking for concrete practical information? Do they want more concepts and theory rather than advice?
Why were you asked to speak?
What are their expectations of you?
Where is it?
Find out everything you can about the location and logistics of the venue.
When is it?
Do you have enough time to prepare? What time of the day? If there are other presenters, what is the order (always volunteer to go first or last, by the way)? What day of the week? All of this matters.
Lots of questions. Do you have lots of answers?
Build your call to action
Every presentation should have a call to action to influence the audience even after the presentation is over. Without a call to action, you risk the purpose of your big idea being lost to your audience and they will not know what you would like them to do next.
Develop your opener … effective presentation skills
We recommend developing your opener last, as you need the context of the presentation first before you can know how to begin. The opener of a presentation should intrigue the audience members to listen. There are many different ways to open your presentation such as through a story, joke, quote, video, or statistic.
We recommend starting off with a small pause then telling either a story or shocking statistic based on audience member and context of the meeting.
Build your main points
As people tend to have short attention spans, breaking up your key points into three main points is the best way to support your call to action and a big idea. These main points should be memorable and delivered in a Twitter-like format.
By simplifying main points, it is easier to 1) recap your presentation on what key takeaways your audience should remember and 2) help create supporting content around each main point.
Effective presentation skills … content is all there is
Effective presentation skills.
No matter how great your delivery, or how professional and beautiful your supporting visuals, if your presentation is not based on solid content, you can not succeed.
Don’t get me wrong; I am not saying that great content alone will carry the day. It almost never does. Great content is a necessary condition, but not a sufficient one. But your presentation preparation starts with solid content which you then build into a winning story that you’ll use to connect with your audience.
Do not fall into the trap of thinking that for your audience to understand anything, you must tell them everything.
Factors to consider when preparing a presentation, simplicity is essential
Simple does not mean stupid.Frankly, thinking that the notion of simplifying is stupid is just plain, well, “stupid.” Simple can be hard for the presenter, but the audience will appreciate it.
Simplicity takes more forethought and planning on your part because you have to think very hard about what to include and what can be left out. What is the essence of your message?
Effective-presentation-skills … build your outline
I suggest you start your planning in “analog mode.” That is, rather than diving right into PowerPoint; the best presenters often scratch out their ideas and objectives with a pen and paper.
Personally, I use a large whiteboard in my office to sketch out my ideas (when I was at Apple, I had one entire wall turned into a whiteboard!). The whiteboard works for me as I feel uninhibited and freer to be creative. I can also step back (literally) from what I have sketched out and imagine how it might flow logically when
The analog approach (paper or whiteboard) to sketch out my ideas and create a rough storyboard helps solidify and simplify my message in my head. I then have a far easier time laying out those ideas in PowerPoint.
Review your structure
Take a page out-out the McKinsey presentation handbook: presentation structure is paramount. Without it, your wonderful style, delivery, and great supporting visuals will fall flat. If you took the time to the first step to outline your ideas and set them up in a logical fashion, then your thinking should be very clear.
Your audience needs to see where you are going. And it is not enough to simply have an “agenda” or “road map” slide in the beginning that illustrates the organization of your talk. If you do not have a solid road of logic and structure, then an outline slide will be of no use.
What is your elevator speech?
Check the clarity of your message with the elevator speech test. This exercise forces you to “sell” your message in 30-45 seconds. Imagine this is the situation:
Could you sell your idea in an elevator ride and a walk to the parking lot?
Make your presentation interactive
“It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers.” (James Thurber)
Avoid simply lecturing to your audience. Engage your audience in an active discussion.
Here are some ideas to stimulate your thinking.
Listen attentively before responding to questions.
Encourage interactions between audience members.
Present an accommodation challenge and ask audience members how they would address the issue.
Respectfully reflect back to people what you observe to be their attitudes, rationalizations, and habitual ways of thinking and acting.
Allow plenty of time for questions. Address all questions within your presentation or direct participants to appropriate resources.
Demonstrate or provide hands-on experiences with assistive technology.
Give useful or entertaining prizes for responses from the audience or have a drawing for a larger prize at the end of the presentation.
If your audience is small, ask members to identify themselves and their
experiences and interests related to the topic.
Involve the audience in a learning activity. People remember more of what you teach them if they can learn it via an activity.
Ask audience members how they have used specific accommodations or worked with students with specific disabilities. Ask questions like, “Has anyone done this? How did it work for you?”
Stimulate group interaction and problem-solving.
Conclude with a strong ending
The most important and remembered words you speak are the last ones.
Summarize key points.
Consider concluding with examples that show the importance of providing educational opportunities for students with disabilities. One idea is to have an alumnus with a disability discuss how he or she navigated your campus, worked with the disability services office, received the accommodations he or she needed, graduated with a degree and went on to succeed in employment.
Empower your audience to use the information you presented to improve access for and education of all students with disabilities.
Manage your anxiety
There are two types of speakers. Those who get nervous and those who are liars.
-Mark Twain
Nervousness before a talk or workshop is healthy. It shows that your presentation is important to you and that you care about doing well. The best performers are nervous before stepping on stage. Below are suggestions for assuring that anxiety does not have a negative impact on your presentation.
Use nervousness to your advantage—channel it into dynamic energy about the topic.
Remind yourself that you and the audience have the same goal, and, therefore, they want you to succeed as much as you do.
Speak about what you know. Keeping your presentation within the realm of your knowledge and experience will build confidence and minimize nervousness.
Focus on delivering your message, not on how you feel.
Be relaxed, poised, and at ease on the outside, regardless of how you feel internally. Acting relaxed can help make you relaxed.
Keep presenting! Your anxieties decrease the more presentations you give.
Work on building confidence
The more you are on top of your material the less nervous you will be. If you have taken the time to build the logical flow of your presentation, and designed supporting materials that are professional and appropriate, there is much less to be nervous about. And, if you have then actually rehearsed with an actual computer and projector several times, your nervousness will all but melt away.
We fear what we do not know. If we know our material well and have rehearsed the flow, know what slide is next on the deck, and have anticipated questions, then we have eliminated much (but not all) of the unknown.
When you remove the unknown and reduce anxiety and nervousness, then confidence is something that will naturally take the place of your anxiety.
The bottom line
To give effective presentations where participants gain valuable information in a dynamic way, make sure to:
prepare well in advance
incorporate universal design principles
facilitate interaction, sharing of experiences, and creative problem?solving within the session
promote a welcoming and non?judgmental learning environment
Need some help in capturing more improvements for your staff’s teamwork, collaboration, and learning? Creative ideas in running or facilitating a teamwork or continuous learning workshop?
Call today for a FREE consultation or a FREE quote. Learn about some options to scope your job.
Call Mike at 607-725-8240.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step. Call today.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy continually improving your continuous learning?
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed how reasonable we will be.
More reading on learning from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
9 Things to Know About Creative Visual Design Content
8 Presenter Mistakes That Are Rarely Made Twice
Know These Great Secrets of Collaboration and Co-Creation
How Good Is Your Learning from Failure?
Mike Schoultz is a digital marketing and customer service expert. With 48 years of business experience, he consults on and writes about topics to help improve the performance of small business. Find him on G+, Facebook, Twitter, Digital Spark Marketing, and LinkedIn.
Read this: Are You Looking for an Extraordinary Fast Track Career
Lessons learned in life … lesson One
My first real lesson in life came as a college student at the University of Virginia (UVa). I grew up in a southeast cotton mill country. During the summers in high school, I worked in a cotton mill, rewiring the mill. It was hot, grueling, and sometimes dangerous work, rewiring could not stop the mill. The hours were long and the pay was meager.
As you might guess, I was really, really excited to go away to college. I think that was my parents’ secret goal when they encouraged me to work at the cotton mill!
What I discovered at UVa opened my eyes. The learning environment was different. The students were more experienced and much more competitive than my peers in Goldsboro High School. They had fresh perspectives and provocative opinions. They caused me to pause frequently, laugh regularly, and think differently. I soaked it all in. Not just the classroom discussions, but the lessons I learned from life outside the classroom.
So what did I learn at UVa? I learned what you do with your education was more important than what was learned in the classroom. UVa sparked in me a passion for lifelong learning, a passion to question, explore, to think. This beginner’s mind is always an open mind – a mind allowing for doubt, embracing possibility, and seeking fresh perspectives.
Graduating was just the beginning of a life-long journey of learning.
I learned my second lesson after I entered the work world. I graduated with a degree in engineering and began in flight school as an Ensign in the US Navy Reserve. The training was difficult and wasn’t as glamorous as I thought it would be. In fact, flying turned out not to be my cup of tea at all.
After 9 months of flight training, I finally accepted that leaving the training behind was the right thing to do. That was probably the most difficult decision up until that time. It was akin to leaving the priesthood, as I had always thought I wanted to be a pilot like my father. It was ‘quitting’.
My lesson; if you aren’t happy doing what you are doing, don’t wait, make sure this is what you really want, but do it without regrets. I did it and wish I had done it 3-4 months sooner. That was how long I agonized over the decision to move on.
Class continues daily … Lesson Three
After my years in the Navy, I went on to work at IBM Federal Systems. After only a year I was bored. I was suffering from the most insidious disease known to mankind, a disease that cripples millions of people every day: The Cancer of Complacency.
My learning curve had flattened. I wasn’t growing. I wasn’t learning. I wasn’t challenging myself. I was stagnating. Thomas Edison once said, “Show me a thoroughly satisfied man and I will show you a failure.”
It was the dawn of the digital era, and the world of technology was exploding with possibilities and potential. A job change was required and at my initiation, the company moved me from a mechanical design department to an integration and test department on a new large program in development. There were lots of new things to learn and many new digital tools to use. Probably one of the best jobs I had in my career … 3 years later the job took me to sea with the weapon system, where we were supporting the Navy testing in the real world.
I learned a valuable lesson from that experience. It’s this. Take risks. You will make mistakes. You may even fail. I can’t begin to count all the mistakes I made. But I’ve learned more from my mistakes than my successes. I’m a better business leader today as a result of those mistakes.
No failure is final or fatal. If you only focus on your mistakes or the possibility of failing, you will miss remarkable successes as well. It doesn’t matter that you are always right. It does matter that you are always learning and growing.
Here is lesson four.
Class continues daily … Lesson Four
My fourth test came many years later when I decided to leave the engineering world and move to market and business development. It was my next life test, as it was as different as I could have expected. I had made the jump to continue the learning and development experience. Why in the world would I do that? I saw something that was unique, that intrigued and inspired me, something that frankly surprised me.
Working directly with customers was the change that made the decision easy. They were not a group of cold, insensitive men and women. I saw people who were innovative, engaging, and flexible. I saw people who shared the same rock-solid values that I learned growing up in the Southeast – values like honesty, integrity, and hard work. I saw people who really cared about their communities, and cared about their jobs.
Again the lesson was about adaptability, change, and continual learning. Taking new risks and doing new things to challenge yourself. Ultimately, you start to trust yourself. Trust your gut.
Class continues daily … Lesson Five
My fifth and final lesson is what I’ve learned on the world stage. I’ve had the good fortune of traveling on business and pleasure to the far corners of the earth. What I learned can be summed up by Dorothy’s observation in the Wizard of Oz: “Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore!”
None of us are. The world is not going to be flat, it is flat. It is filled with amazingly diverse cultures, traditions, people, and beliefs. We shouldn’t grow myopic in our outlook. Simply clinging to the present, and doing things the way we always have would be like trying to navigate a new world with an old map.
The world is changing every day. For instance, there are more people speaking and learning English in China than the total population of the United States!
What have I learned in my travels? We truly are not in Kansas anymore. We are becoming citizens of a global village.
Sometimes, the pace of change feels scary but mostly it’s invigorating. Now, we can’t stop the change, but we can embrace it. How? Get a passport. Explore other countries. Get a job overseas. Expand your horizons.
Let me leave you with this final challenge. When everyone is convinced that something can’t be done, that it shouldn’t be done, go out and do it!
Because class truly continues today and every day!
Remember, what got you here won’t get you there. Don’t let what you know … limit what you imagine. Lead with initiative and own each moment.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step. Call today.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy to continually improving your continuous learning?
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way.
More reading on mentoring from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
Mike Schoultz is a digital marketing and customer service expert. With 48 years of business experience, he consults on and writes about topics to help improve the performance of small business. Find him on G+, Facebook, Twitter, Digital Spark Marketing, and LinkedIn.
I am a big baseball fan … have been all my life. It is only natural then when coaching employee advancement; I like to use simple analogies of the career advancement of baseball players (ones that you don’t have to be a baseball player or fan to understand).
But wait. Before I tell you about the stories I use in this regard, let me tell you a story about dreams.
Coaching employee advancement
Believe? Do you believe in having dreams? Holding on to them? Here is a story about holding onto dreams that we found on several websites (all listed authors unknown). We believe it is an excellent story that illustrates the power of holding onto dreams.
I have a friend named Monty Roberts who owns a horse ranch in California. From time to time he permitted me to use his home for youth-at-risk fundraising events.
At the last event he introduced me by saying:
I want to tell you why I let Jack use my home for this fundraising. It goes back to a story of a young man who was the son of an itinerant horse trainer, who traveled from town to town training horses. As a result, his son’s education was continually interrupted. When he was a senior, he was asked to write a paper about what he wanted to be when he grew up.
That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal of someday owning a horse ranch. He wrote about his dream in great detail, and he even drew a map of a 200-acre ranch, showing the location of all the buildings, the stables, and the track. He also drew a detailed floor plan for a 4000-square foot home that would be located on the ranch.
He put a great deal of his heart into the project and turned in the paper the next day. Two days later he received his paper back. On the front page was a large red F with a note from his teacher that asked him to see him after class.
The student went to the teacher after class as instructed and asked why he had received a failing grade.
The teacher said:
This is an unrealistic dream for someone like you. You have no money. You come from an itinerant, low-income family with few resources. Owning a horse ranch such as this requires a lot of money. There is no way you could ever achieve this dream. Then the teacher told him he would reconsider the grade if the paper were rewritten with a more realistic goal.
The boy went home and thought about what to do next long and hard. He asked his father what he should do.
His father said:
Son, you will have to make up your mind about this. It is a very important decision for you.
Finally, after careful thought, the boy turned in the same paper, making NO change. His remark to the teacher was:
You can keep the F, and I’ll keep my dream.
My friend Monty then turned to the assembled group and said:
I tell you this story because you are sitting in 4000 square-foot house in the middle of my 200-acre ranch. I still have that school paper framed over the fireplace.
He added:
The best part of the story is that two summers ago that same schoolteacher brought 30 kids to camp out on this ranch for a week. When the teacher was leaving, he said: Look, Monty, I can tell you this now. When I was your teacher, I was something of a dream stealer. During those years I stole a lot of kids’ dreams. Fortunately, you had enough gumption not to give on yours.
So I often use that story when coaching staff about holding onto their dreams.
But let’s get back to baseball and the analogies I use when coaching employee advancement. Here are five stories I use in this regard:
There are many skill jumps necessary for a player to move from little league to high school to college through the minor leagues and finally to make it as a major leaguer.
Only the very talented few make it all the way. Obviously, each step requires more talent and more success, and many are left behind at each step. It is no different in the business world … with success being the primary measure of talent.
Career advancement plan.
Be prepared
There is always some luck involved regarding openings, their timing, and who is the available competition. Baseball followers can always name a player who got their opportunity when a player in the current line-up went down with an injury. Whether in business or on the ball field, you need to be always prepared to seize your opportunity.
Coaching employee advancement … take a risk
Often ball players need to move to new teams to gain their opportunity, particularly when there is an overabundance of competition where they are currently playing. It is the same in the business world … you have to be prepared to take a risk and make a change.
Pay attention to retention
Great teams always find a way to pay special attention to the development and retention of their best talent just as the best businesses do.
Love what you do
On many occasions players in the minors keep playing though they know they probably will not advance in the minors further … they just love doing what they do. Business people often have to decide how much they love what they do or find other opportunities in new areas.
Many good examples from these stories, don’t you think?
What examples or analogies do you use to coach development or advancement with your staff?
Please share a story or two from your experience vault and join the conversation.
Need some help in capturing more improvements for your staff’s leadership, teamwork, and collaboration? Creative ideas in running or facilitating a team or leadership workshop?
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy continually improve your continuous learning?
Do you have a lesson about making your learning better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way.
More reading on learning from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
The Nine Most Valuable Secrets of Writing Effective Copy
How Good Is your Learning from Failure?
10 Extraordinary Ways for Learning to Learn
Continuous Learning Holds the Keys to Your Future Success
Mike Schoultz is a digital marketing and customer service expert. With 48 years of business experience, he consults on and writes about topics to help improve the performance of a small business. Find him on G+, Facebook, Twitter, Digital Spark Marketing, and LinkedIn.
There is no question that internet search has drastically improved in the last decade. But that doesn’t mean you haven’t been frustrated with your search results, right? To search the Web more effectively, there are the fundamental laws of internet search you must master.
These basic skills will make your searches less frustrating and more successful. In this article, we’ll go over the top basic Web search shortcuts that will make your searches more successful by bringing back relevant results the first time you use them.
See how many you use often.
More to study: Know These Great Secrets of Collaboration and Co-Creation
These are tried and true web search methods that will work in virtually any search engine and directory. All of these tips can be used by anyone regardless of skill level.
The more narrowed down you can get your keyword descriptors, the more successful your Web search usually will be.
For example, if you were searching for “coffee,” you’d get way more results back than you could use; however, if you narrowed that down to “roasted Arabica coffee in Detroit Michigan,” you’d be more successful.
Now that is a long-tailed keyword phrase, yes?
Fundamental laws of internet search … use specific terms
It is simply amazing how many Web pages are returned when performing a search. You might guess that the term blue dolphin is relatively specialized. A Google search of those terms returned 3,240,000 results! Amazing, isn’t it?
To reduce the number of pages returned, use unique terms that are specific to the subject you are researching.
The minus operator (-) to narrow the search
How many times have you searched for a term and had the search engine return something totally unexpected? Terms with multiple meanings can return a lot of unwanted results.
The rarely used but powerful minus operator, equivalent to a Boolean NOT, can remove many unwanted results.
For example, when searching for the insect caterpillar, references to the company Caterpillar, Inc. will also be returned. Use Caterpillar -Inc to exclude references to the company or Caterpillar -Inc -Cat to refine the search further.
Probably one of the most useful ways that have saved me some serious Web search time over the years is the simplest – and that’s searching for a phrase by putting it in quotes.
When you use quotation marks around a phrase, you are telling the search engine only to bring back pages that include these search terms exactly how you typed them in order, proximity, etc.
This tip works in almost every search engine and is very successful in bringing back hyper-focused results.
If you’re looking for an exact phrase, put it in quotes. Otherwise, you’ll come back with a huge jumble of results. And that is not a good result, is it?
Fundamental laws of internet search … maximize Google AutoComplete
Ordering search terms in general to specific in the search box will display helpful results in a drop-down list and is the most efficient way to use AutoComplete. Selecting the appropriate item will save time typing. You have several choices for how the AutoComplete feature works:
The standard Google start page will display a drop-down list of suggestions supplied by the Google search engine. This option can be a handy way to discover similar, related searches.
For example, typing in Tucson fast will not only bring up the suggestion of Tucson fast food but also Tucson fast food coupons. Use browser AutoComplete.
Use this Google start page to disable the Google AutoComplete feature and display a list of your previous searches in a drop-down box. I find this particularly useful when I’ve made dozens of searches in the past for a particular item. The browser’s AutoComplete feature must be turned on for this option to work.
Click one of these links for instructions detailing how to turn AutoComplete on or off in, i.e., Firefox.
Fundamental laws of internet search … employ the operators available
There are several other less well-known ways to limit the number of results returned and improved your search effectiveness.
The plus operator (+): As mentioned above, stop the search engine typically ignores words. The plus operator tells the search engine to include those words in the result set. Example: tall +and short will return results that include the word and.
The tilde operator (~): Include a tilde in front of a word to return results that include synonyms. The tilde operator does not work well for all terms and sometimes not at all.
Numeric ranges: You can refine searches that use numeric terms by returning a specific range, but you must supply the unit of measurement. Examples: Windows XP 2003..2005, PC $700 $800.
Site search: Many Web sites have their site search feature, but you may find that Google site search will return more pages. When doing research, it’s best to go directly to the source, and a site search is a great way to do that. Example: site:www.intel.com rapid storage technology
The wildcard operator (*): Google calls it the fill-in-the-blank operator. For example, amusement * will return pages with amusement, and any other term(s) the Google search engine deems relevant. You can’t use wildcards for parts of words. So for example, amusement p* is invalid.
You can use “wildcard” characters to throw a broader search net in most search engines and directories. These wildcard characters include *, #, and ? with the asterisk being the most common. Use wildcards when you want to broaden your search.
For example, if you are looking for sites that discuss trucking, don’t search for the truck, search for truck*. This will return pages that contain the word “truck” as well as pages that contain “trucks,” “trucking,” “truck enthusiasts,” “trucking industry,” and so on.
Lacking control?
The OR operator (OR) or (|): Use this operator to return results with either of two terms. For example, happy joy will return pages with both happiness and joy, while happy | joy will return pages with either happiness or joy.
Related sites: For example, related:www.youtube.com can be used to find sites similar to YouTube.
Change your preferences: Search preferences can be set globally by clicking on the gear icon in the upper-right corner and selecting Search Settings. I like to change the Number of Results option to 100 to reduce total search time.
Forums-only search: Under the Google logo on the left side of the search result page, click More | Discussions or go to Google Groups. Forums are great places to look for solutions to technical problems.
Advanced searches: Click the Advanced Search button by the search box on the Google start or results page to refine your search by date, country, amount, language, or other criteria. Lots of flexibility for you.
Use browser history
Many times, I will be researching an item and scanning through dozens of pages when I suddenly remember something I had originally dismissed as being irrelevant. How do you quickly go back to that Web site?
You can try to remember the exact words used for the search and then scan the results for the right site, but there is an easier way. If you can remember the general date and time of the search, you can look through the browser history to find the Web page.
Search within a site
Here you can use Google to search within the site, and since most site search tools just aren’t that great, this is a good way to find what you’re looking for with a minimum of fuss.
This is a great way to easily find what you’re looking for. Simply use this command within Google’s search bar to search within a site: the word “site,” then a colon, then the URL of the website you’d like to search within.
For example; site:websearch.about.com “how to find people” plugged into Google will bring back search results only from this domain that are related to finding people online.
You can search within a Web address using the “inurl” command via Google; this allows you to search for words within the URL, or Uniform Resource Locator. This is just another interesting way to search the Web and find Web sites that you might not have found by just entering in a query word or phrase.
For example, if you only want to find results from sites that have the word “marshmallow” in their URL, you would plug this query into Google’s search bar: inurl: marshmallow. Your search results will only contain websites with that word in their URL.
The bottom line
A tool is only as useful as the typing fingers wielding it.
Remember, you must practice being good at most of these techniques.
That old acronym GIGO, garbage in, garbage out? Search engines will try to place the most relevant results at the top of the list, but if your search terms are too broad or ambiguous, the results will not be helpful. It is your responsibility to learn how to make your searches both fast and effective.
The Internet is a great equalizer for those who know how to use it efficiently. Anyone can now easily find facts using a search engine instead of dredging them from the gray matter dungeon — assuming they know a few basic tricks. Never underestimate the power of a skilled search expert.
Need some help in capturing more improvements for your staff’s teamwork, collaboration, and learning?
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy continually improve your continuous learning?
Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he writes about topics to help improve the performance of a small business. Find him on G+, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way.
More reading on learning from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
9 Things to Know About Creative Visual Design Content
No matter if it’s in person or by means of an online MBA program, earning an MBA degree is a crucial step toward reaching your career potential. While you will definitely be working on the advancement of your education, one important factor to consider is whether this will aid you in increasing your salary.
Happiness is a salary increase
By doing some research, you can see if an MBA will actually lead to a higher salary, which can help you determine whether it’s a wise financial decision to pursue one. Here, you’ll learn more about MBAs, find out if they can lead to an increase in your salary, and see what other elements like location and industry can also play a role in the overall scheme of things.
What is an MBA?
MBA, or Master of Business Administration, is a degree that has focus on educating students on leadership skills and business principles. By participating in this program, you’ll be better prepared to take on higher-level roles and leadership positions. Also, you’ll be able to pick an area of expertise for your MBA studies, like human resources or accounting. Usually, most MBA programs take two years to complete in-person, online, or a combination of both.
MBA salary increases
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, by earning an MBA degree, you could see an increase in salary of nearly double what you earned before the program. Even though an MBA program usually costs around $50,000 to $100,000, you’ll surely earn a higher salary from it.
The potential advantages of online MBA programs
Although an MBA offers you limitless career possibilities, it would still be too idealistic to anticipate an instant pay rise after graduation. By earning this degree, you’re given a chance to upgrade your professional opportunities. On the other hand, an increase in salary is simply one of the factors for success in the future. If you’re interested in speeding up the process, you may want to consider an online program to work on the skills necessary for leadership positions. Another advantage of enrolling in an online MBA program is the high probability of getting an internationally competitive average salary. So, don’t hesitate and look for the best MBA in Australia to find something that suits your needs.
Factors that can influence an MBA salary
Besides your location and industry, there are other factors that can have an influence on the size of the salary increase you may enjoy after graduating. Also relevant is work experience, which may add substantially to your salary increase after graduation. Whether you’re searching for a new opportunity with a new organization upon graduating or working while earning your degree and planning on staying with your company after graduation, work experience will have its influence.
MBA salaries and industry leaders
It should also be noted that the company you’re working for considerably affects the salary you’re getting upon graduation. It’s highly unlikely that a start-up company functioning on a modest budget will be able to provide a competitive salary as an established industry leader would. Furthermore, in some high-paying industries, the competition for positions is more brutal, which further affects the chance to land such well-paid jobs. That’s why an MBA makes it easier to stick out among the crowd while applying to those more lucrative positions.
MBA degrees will boost your career beyond the pay rise
Besides an increased salary as one of the many reasons to enroll in an MBA, it’s essential not to forget about the less-palpable returns of MBA careers. In case you have worries about keeping pace with your industry’s evolution, postgraduate studies will aid you in staying up to speed with the latest improvements in management and business. Also, as the MBA degree can be earned online, you’ll have no problem advancing and upskilling quickly and not disturbing your work life.
By studying one of the MBA programs, you’ll obtain formal acknowledgment of your skills and experience, which is another strong reason to earn an MBA degree. That way, you will have further proof of absolute expertise in the industry, which will, in turn, contribute to the immediate credibility of your work experience. You should get the appreciation you deserve as well. Also, you’ll get a chance to meet professionals in the field and expand your business network through the interactive learning environment, further contributing to stronger relationships within your industry.
Chris Anderson, the Ted founder said: When I think about compelling presentations, I think about taking an audience on a journey. A successful talk is a little miracle — people see the world differently afterward. Being awesome at public speaking can be one of the most fear-inducing parts of modern life. However, it also can be one of the most rewarding tasks you can do. Talking in front of an audience is
nothing to fear, so long as you are prepared with these tips for public speaking. This article will give you everything you need to plan, prepare, and deliver an awesome public speech.
Be a master at grabbing and keeping his audience’s attention, which is the number one goal of any public speaker. And also any compelling speech. Take them on a journey by way of an interesting story or maybe several.
How do you do it, you say? Pay attention to these 10 key lessons from a rhetorical playbook. Follow them diligently and practice, practice, practice.
Let’s get started:
Tips for public speaking … speech title is critical
Match your topic to your objectives and audience interests. This will help capture the audience’s attention, raise expectations, and give you a specific focus. All are critical to your success.
And to achieve your goal, you must know your audience and do your research homework. Let what you learn the show in your speech.
Tips for public speaking.
Public speaking techniques … simplicity
You can keep it simple, even if you have mountains of research to report.
First, fine-tune your core message. Chisel away at your topic until you can reduce your presentation to a core message. Once you achieve this, all your ideas can march behind it.
This is as true for business presentations as it is for political campaigns. Consider Obama’s campaign speeches. He used his simple slogan to make us believe he was the politician for change — something so many Americans longed for — and he appealed to us to have faith (to believe) in the change he was offering us. He won people through a simple slogan, which then allowed him to more easily serve up his ideas about meaty topics.
Topic priorities
Be aware of the great line by Goethe, “Every word that is uttered evokes the idea of its opposite.” What this means is that when you express one view, the odds are high that people will reflexively think about other, unmentioned aspects of the topic.
A presentation that does not deal with this “evoking of opposites” loses the audience’s attention because it fails to address the questions and concerns that come up in people’s minds. So anticipate them. Show your audience that you understand the contrary view better than they do, and explain why your proposal or argument is still superior.
Make sure your points include things that are not obvious or known. Offer your unique opinions. Weave in proof points and examples. Then you can use the stories to help illustrate your points.
Public speaking tips and tricks … use down to earth speech
Chisel away at your speech wording until you can reduce your presentation to a core message. Once you achieve this, all your ideas can march behind it.
This is as true for business presentations as it is for political campaigns. Consider Obama’s campaign speeches. He used his simple slogan to make us believe he was the politician for change — something so many Americans longed for — and he appealed to us to have faith (to believe) in the change he was offering us.
He won people through a simple slogan, which then allowed him to more easily serve up his ideas about meaty topics.
Getting ready is most important.
Getting ready
Know your opening and closing statement COLD. Rehearse well. 3 hours prior to your speech, go for a short walk. Once on stage adapt the alpha pose to lower stress and increase your confidence.
Public speaking … taking the stage
The most important point to remember is to not rush at the start. Overlook the audience, smile, and pick out a few faces to concentrate on. Talk to these few faces and maintain good eye contact.
The delivery
Always use a wireless microform so that you can move around. Vary tone and inflections of your voice. Maintain good eye contact by picking specific people in the audience. Change them around every moment or so.
Master use of pauses
Well-planned pauses will do wonders for your speech. For example, Obama has mastered the art of pausing. He pauses to let us catch up with him. He pauses to let his words resonate. He pauses, in a sense, to let us rest. Pauses also give the impression of composure and thoughtfulness.
Where you pause is up to you; there are no hard and fast rules. Try it. Slowly inhale to the count of three at each breath mark. Speak as though you had plenty of time. The goal of this exercise is to teach your body to slow down.
Public speaking … making an impact
Ask a challenging question on your subject theme for a dramatic opening. Present the topic as a story if you can. Use an occasional short, witty quote. Also, use occasional repetition and pauses for attention on key points.
Memorable ending
As we have said, focus on one theme and eliminate everything else. One relevant message and several great stories to illustrate. Save your most memorable story for your ending. Hopefully, the one that is also most encompassing of your message.
Need some help in capturing more improvements for your staff’s leadership, teamwork, and collaboration?
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy continually improving your continuous learning?
Do you have a lesson about making your learning better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way.
More reading on learning from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
The Nine Most Valuable Secrets of Writing Effective Copy
How Good Is your Learning from Failure?
10 Extraordinary Ways for Learning to Learn
Continuous Learning Holds the Keys to Your Future Success
According to a survey from Campaign, 70% of agency employees are “actively job seeking.” Wow, that is a very large number. These agencies need more attention to small business employee motivation, don’t they?
And the agency world is not their only option. Competition from high-growth tech firms, startups, and other creative industries combined with traditionally low agency salaries is causing agency executives to look at recruiting as their #1 priority.
If agencies want to remain competitive, they need to understand what in-demand talent wants, how to create a culture of retention, how to train up young talent, and how to drive qualified candidates to their agencies — all in an effort of attracting and keeping great creatives, skilled digital marketers, and experienced professionals that clients want to work with.
Let’s consider some more factors to motivate employees:
Learning opportunities and a culture where people feel engaged, supported, and encouraged are all important, but those are obvious.
Beyond that, agency leaders must make time to develop their talents’ careers. We must take the lead in initiating conversations to reaffirm that we are listening and that their growth is important to us. It’s not just about average conversations; it’s about getting out of the office, grabbing a cup of coffee, and making the conversation more personal.
People need to understand their opportunities for growth as they often leave when they don’t know what’s next. Managing expectations and providing a roadmap for growth and advancement is sometimes all it takes. Knowing they have a mentor, coach, or even just an ear goes a tremendous way.
When good people leave because they didn’t know their career path, shame on us. We should have listened.
Open, fun culture
An open, fun-oriented culture is where people are empowered to act instead of waiting to be told what to do. A place where people can be themselves and are encouraged to pursue outside interests and passions (it’s what makes ours an interesting business).
As long as people are doing the work, they must be given the freedom to live vital lives.
Ability to make a difference
Top talent wants to know that their expertise and their efforts matter. They are driven to produce results, but it’s more than that. They want to be part of the decision-making process for the company as a whole as well as for the clients they work with.
There must be a well-defined path for growth, responsibility, and compensation, but maybe more important is an open line of communication with senior management. It’s equally important for them to keep the lines open with the employees they manage as well. This is how they earn the respect of co-workers and the role of leader in the agency.
Small business employee motivators … autonomy
Far and away, autonomy matters most to top talent. At the best companies, that means having a voice in the direction of your career and of the business as a whole. It means having the flexibility to do the job where and when it makes sense for you as a person, parent, or employee. And it means being empowered to push for great work knowing the company will have your back.
Responsibility and task ownership
Our top team members want more responsibility and to be able to contribute to the growth of the business in a meaningful way. They want their ideas to be heard and executed. They also want a wide-open career path with lots of options for advancement.
The key to recruiting and maintaining top industry talent is a company’s culture. Whether it’s individual training and development, leadership programs, or all-inclusive town hall meetings with agency leaders — everything the business does should be in pursuit of making talent and their work better. At our small agency, we’ve built our space around the tenets of our culture, remodeling our offices to an open and collaborative workspace. It’s now a breeding ground for interaction, creativity, and innovation.
As agencies like ours grow exponentially with new employees, the main goal in talent recruitment and onboarding should be a focus on maintaining the agency culture by immersing new employees in what the agency stands for as a brand. A true agency culture provides the kind of definition, commitment, and context people are hungry for. It’s a big reason why people want to come to work at an agency.
Growth and development
Many agencies, have been very successful in attracting good talent, but more importantly, developing great talent. They are finding smart people who already live and love those markets is where we start. Internship programs have been a key component of their success.
Open, collaborative environment
Top talent wants ownership of projects, an open, collaborative environment, the ability to solve things on the fly, to work with clients who want a true agency partnership, the time to work on a cause-related issue, or a passion project with a company backing, and a work-life balance. People want to feel like they have time to pursue their own interests.
The bottom line
Employee motivators don’t happen on their own, do they? If you work hard at hiring the best, you must spend the time to motivate and develop them or they won’t stay.
Need some help in finding ways to hire the best employees? Such as creative ideas to help the differentiation with potential competitors? Or perhaps finding ways to work with other businesses?
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Do you have a lesson about making your continuous learning better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of your business. Find them on G+, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
More leadership material from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
How many times in your business career have you been in an organization where real energy was expended to build collaborative teams? How successful were these efforts? Working collaboratively is not an easy task, is it? But we’d all agree that the payoffs certainly outweigh the efforts, wouldn’t we?
Over the years of my career, I’ve had the good fortune of being exposed to many smart people and working as part of many teams trying to build team collaboration. It never ceases to amaze me how just a few moments of discussion, or sitting and listening to well-thought-out debates, can open your mind to ideas you can’t believe you didn’t think of on your own.
Creative convergence depends on group collaboration … how well do you work in groups?
Related post: Lessons Learned in LIfe … Class Continues Daily
I have always found the wisdom of others to be something of a gift: free of charge, no limit to its value. No limits to its value because these pearls of wisdom can be connected to some of your ideas to produce something greater than what you might have created on your own.
Creative ideas on how to build collaborative teams must include exploring, imagining, experimenting, and learning with others. Most of all, it requires reaching out to others to collaborate. The sum of group collaboration is always greater that the work of each individual.
Your marketing and customer service teams are the primary customer contact for every business. What does their collaborative teamwork say about your company? If some of your team is not collaborating well, there are questions to ask yourself to ensure they stay positive, and engaged in collaboration.
So how do you focus and motivate a group of individuals to share their knowledge and collaborate as a team?
Consider these suggestions:
Create trust
Your team must have faith in team goals and what you ask them to do. Be honest with each other at all times. Make sure everyone knows holding back information will be detrimental to the team.
Leading by example.
Leading by example
Are you and your managers leading by example and consistently reinforcing desired behaviors? Teams model behaviors and if you do not demonstrate what is expected, how can you expect your team to behave otherwise.
Ensure all learn and respond
Ensure all learn and respond … to important new discoveries. Be sure and get inputs from all.
Trust is very important in all team relationships. Thus companies should build and cultivate trusting relationships for both survival and success.
Trust can be built by allowing people to make their own decisions, trusting their opinions and inputs, and involving them in discussions. This thing will encourage them to be an irreplaceable employee at a workplace.
Openly share ideas
Always be able to be influenced by other competing ideas that have been shared.
Disagree
Be able to disagree … and then reconcile the conflict. Make the team collectively responsible.
Proper staffing
Do you have enough team members? If you have a team who is spread so thin they can’t provide quality service over the number of customers served, consider hiring more team members. By hiring more team members, you will enable your team to have more time for team collaboration.
Working collaboratively with colleagues … priorities set
Are your priorities constantly changing? If you aren’t consistent with priorities and aligning them with activities that customer’s value, you are leaving room for confusion. Eliminating confusion will keep your team focused.
Communicating enough information
Are you providing enough information? Providing a centralized location for information on all existing clients, products, and services will give your team the confidence to answer any question without having to rely on others for information.
Delegate responsibilities
Companies should give power to their employees to make certain decisions. You can set objectives and let the employees set their goals and work on them. It’s a proven fact that empowered employees perform much better at their jobs. Companies can do this by hiring smart people and giving them powers to act.
Working collaboratively in the workplace … ensure all learn and respond
Ensure all learn and respond … to important new discoveries. Be sure and get inputs from all.
Values and expectations
Are you clear on your values and expectations? This is fundamental to ensure that a consistent message is communicated across the organization. Without clarity from the top, teams are unclear of expectations and rarely surpass them.
Employees Mirror Leadership
I’d like to share a story with you.
I used to work out at a gym that’s run by the Fraternal Order of Police. I mention this to note that there are no employees at this gym.
When I first started going, I noticed that the weights were always on their appropriate racks. The organization was pretty impressive.
Over time, however, some key people started leaving the gym in favor of Planet Fitness because the gym really needed new equipment. Bad habits started to set in, and I even found myself being affected—as someone who otherwise prides himself on being organized and a team player, I would leave weights out on the floor.
Then a funny thing happened: the gym added new, updated equipment, and the regulars started coming back. It was fascinating to see the transformation that occurred afterward—once the “leadership” returned, their behavior affected everyone else. You would never find a single free weight out of place.
Beyond my personal story is a common principle in leadership: behavior of leaders cascades down to the rest of the group. A psychological phenomenon known as “negative social proof” would argue that the “right thing” to do becomes questionable when people see the right people doing the wrong things.
This sort of influence can also seep into your employees’ behavior through subtle nudges in language. Statements like, We do things by the book around here to actively discourage creative thinking. Be careful about what sort of behavior that leadership, unwritten rules, and key team members project.
Providing training and development
Are you providing training for skills that your team may be lacking? If you have hired the right person based on their character and attitude, but they are making mistakes, make sure they have the necessary training to ensure they know how to collaborate.
Direction
Are you providing too much direction? If you try to tell your teams how to do everything step by step, you are really limiting them on providing quality customer service. If you free them up to do what they know is necessary – based on agreed expectations – you are providing the freedom to make your customers happy.
Understand roles
Does the entire organization understand the critical role they each play in delivering an exceptional customer service experience? Too many organizations do not place the same importance on internal customers — and resultant, the customer-facing teams do not get the support they need to deliver to external customers.
Working collaboratively … motivation
Do you motivate your team? You are sure to win more customers if you reward your team for delivering a great customer service. Look for ways to provide positive teamwork reinforcement on a daily basis.
The bottom line
We are all very busy: personally, professionally, and socially. One of our scarcest resources is time. Time to sit and think. Time to stretch our own limits. Time to learn new things. Time to imagine, create, explore, and experiment. Make the time to build collaborative teams … only then can you start.
As Emerson said in the lead-in quote above, time can often be a teacher.
But if you are as impatient as I am, look to your colleagues, your friends, your mentors and to your own self to challenge you to reach new heights. Tap into the parts of your brain you may not use every day. The parts of your brain you may not even realize you can tap into.
Most of all, reach out to others to collaborate. The sum of group collaboration is always greater that the work of each individual.
Ask yourself these questions to identify areas for improvement. Then pick one and focus on it — attacking too many initiatives at once will lead to frustration.
Once your team has mastered one goal, move on to another. Working together for a shared goal and seeing ongoing improvements will keep the team focused, motivated and positive.
So what’s the conclusion? The conclusion is there is no conclusion. There is only the next step. And that next step is completely up to you. But believe in the effectiveness of employee engagement. And put it to good use in adapting to changes in your business environment.
It’s up to you to keep improving your ability to mentor and coach. Lessons are all around you. In many situations, history may be providing the ideas and or inspiration. But the key is in knowing that it is within you already.
It’s up to you to keep improving your coaching and experience from all around in your environment.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new lessons.
When things go wrong, what’s most important is your next step.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy continually improving your continuous learning?
Do you have a lesson about making your learning better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of your business. Find them on G+, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
More reading on mentoring from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
Good managers? I have had my share. In fact, in over 40 years of leadership experience, I’ve had way more great bosses than bad ones. I was able to avoid the bad managers most of the time. And I had lots of experience studying leadership traits scattered all over the map.
Avoid the worst bosses.
The quality of a leader is reflected in the standards they set for themselves.
–Ray Kroc
It’s important to realize that just because someone holds a position of leadership, doesn’t necessarily mean they should. Put another way; not all leaders are created equal. The problem many organizations are suffering from is a recognition problem – they can’t seem to recognize good leaders from bad ones.
In today’s article, I’ll address how to identify bad leaders by pointing out leadership traits that represent bad leadership.
Here is my top ten of those traits drawn from my years of experience:
Bad managers … pompous and arrogant
Perhaps the worst trait I’ve personally observed is ego. We all have an ego, but the ego I’m talking about is the ‘super-ego’ that dominates. I’ve found if a leader is really good at what they do, they won’t have to tellothers about it.
It’s all about them, isn’t it? If a leader doesn’t understand the concept of “service above self” they will not engender the trust, confidence, and loyalty of those they lead. Any leader is only as good as his or her team’s desire to be led by them. Real leaders take the blame and give the credit – not the other way around.
Bad managers micromanage.
Lacks empathy
Tim Brown, the CEO and President of IDEO, the global innovation, and design firm, describes empathy as making an effort to “see the world through the eyes of others, understand the world through their experiences, and feel the world through their emotions.” Bad leaders don’t have this ability because they don’t care. Extraordinarily bad leaders address problems in the open public. They don’t coach; they make things personal and like to pass on the blame to specific employees and teams.
Leaders who can’t see it
Da Vinci once said: There are three classes of people: those who see, those who see when shown, and those that do not see.
For those leaders in the second and especially third groups easily
lose the confidence of those they are trying to lead. Their lack of vision cannot inspire teams, motivate performance, or create sustainablevalue. A leader’s job is to align the organization around a clear and achievable vision. This cannot occur when the blind lead the blind.
Bad managers at work … the know-it-all
The worst leaders are acutely unaware of how much they don’t know. They most often have a big need to be the smartest person in the room and have no desire to learn from others. One of the hallmarks of great leaders is their insatiable curiosity. Bad leaders aren’t extremely curious about their organization, and this weakness creates huge problems for the future.
Micromanager
Micromanagers can’t resist becoming involved in the smallest details of their employee’s jobs. While micromanaging ensures that everything is done the manager’s way, employees resent the lack of responsibility, autonomy, and lack of growthopportunities.
Intimidator
Occasionally you will find a leader who believes in the stick much more than the carrot. This leadership style intimidates and bullies employees, often threatening them if work is not completed satisfactorily.
Employees of a poor leader might be publicly berated for mistakes and subject to criticism of their personality traits. Working in such an environment decreases staff morale, increases turnover, and causes stress.
Avoid the worst bosses … poor people skills
Bad leaders are often negative people who have no idea how to motivate others. They share their negative opinions about the company or a department-wide project, rather than emphasizing the positive aspects of a situation. Unable to consider anyone’s viewpoint but their own, poor leaders don’t respond well to complaints or suggestions. And they love to put their own ‘spin’ on issues.
Non-listener
A bad leader often seems to listen but never hears. They rarely are willing to work to understand the needs and desires of others.
Lack self-accountability
Bad leaders rarely take responsibility for team performance, because they are always focused on their self-advancement. When problems arise, they identify them quickly, seek out who is accountable, and focus more on blame than solutions.
No humility
Bad leaders are energized by being right. They rarely acknowledge the effort or success of the team. When they do, it is usually cover in a big ‘spin.’ They very rarely admit to their weaknesses or mistakes they have made and are never humble.
Intolerant
The worse leaders never accept that employees are individuals who thrive best when allowed to choose their approach to risk and happiness. They don’t ever allow them imperfection and failure without chastisement.
Key takeaways
From my experience, great leaders rarely if ever exhibit any of these ‘deep dark’ negative traits. Good leaders occasionally will exhibit one of these negative traits, but not in a significant way. The very worst of the bad leaders exhibit many of these traits.
I have only seen one very senior leader exhibit a majority of these bad traits (in fact all of them at times). He was a ‘chosen one’ by a CEO that shared some of those bad traits.
The moral of this story is company culture has a great influence on leadership development. If these traits are possessed by your current leadership team or your emerging leaders, you will be in for a rocky road ahead.
Which of these bad traits stand out to you? Do you have any other signs of ineffective leaders worthy of mention? Leave a comment and share your insights with others…
Need some help in capturing more improvements for your staff’s leadership, teamwork and collaboration? Creative ideas in running or facilitating a team or leadership workshop?
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy innovating your social media strategy?
Do you have a lesson about making your advertising better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way.
More leadership material from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
Mike Schoultz is a digital marketing and customer service expert. With 48 years of business experience, he consults on and writes about topics to help improve the performance of small business.
Businessdevelopment is leveraging your network connection to bring you new opportunities. And it means turning those connections into relationships. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Don’t let that fool you, though. Because it involves relationship building, it can be a deceptively complex process.
Think about it. How many people do you know? How many of these people truly understand what you do? How many of these folks have directed prospects to you as referrals? And how many of those referrals have turned into a business? I’ll wager far fewer than you would like.
Business networking is much more than showing up at networking functions, shaking a lot of hands and collecting a bunch of cards.
Why? What does a business card represent? It’s a piece of paper, with ink and images on it. No relationship has been formed. This networking strategy, by itself, isn’t an effective use of time, money or energy. And it generates precious little new opportunities.
Networking for new opportunity must be strategic and focused. Not everyone you meet can help move your business forward. However, everything you do can be driven by the intention to grow your relationships.
Networking your business means you have to be proactive. The core of networking is doing something specific each week that is focused on networking for business growth. When you understand exactly what business networking is and step up to the challenge, you’ll find avenues of opportunity that you may have otherwise never discovered.
Contacts into Connections
Networking serves as a lifeline for many businesses, which is why these relationships are important to cultivate. Keep in mind that networking doesn’t begin or end at a networking event. Networking can be done anywhere; at a bookstore, over lunch, during a conference or in your office kitchen.
It’s a common misconception that is simply attending a networking event will bring you new business right away. Neither will readbooks. Like most skills, you only learn with practice.
Network connection … preparation in advance
Ask open-ended questions
This means questions that ask who, what, where, when, and how as opposed to those that can be answered with a simple yes or no. This form of questioning opens up the discussion and shows listeners that you are interested in them.
Nail your elevator speech
Have a clearunderstanding of what you do and why, for whom, and what makes you’re doing it special or different from others doing the same thing. To get referrals, you must first have a clear understanding of what you do that you can easily articulate to others.
Be able to say how others may help you.
Too often people in conversations ask, “How may I help you?” and no immediate answer comes to mind.
The word approachability derives from the Latin verb appropriate, which means “to come nearer to.” Interesting. It doesn’t say anything about the approacher or the approach-ee. Just “to come nearer to.” So the first idea to remember is that approachability is a two-way street. It’s both you stepping onto someone else’s front porch, and you inviting someone to step onto your front porch.
Although this article will address both sides of the street, here’s an example of the former. When you arrive at a meeting, event, party or anywhere in which many conversations will take place, prepare yourself. Be “ready to engage” with conversation topics, questions and stories in the back of your mind ready to go as soon as you meet someone. This will help you avoid those awkward “How’s the weather” type of discussions.
How to network for business
At the networking event
Networking connections … wear name tag
Your nametag is your best friend for several reasons. First of all, a person’s name is the single context of human memory most forgotten. And people are less likely to approach you if they don’t know (or forgot) your name. Secondly, it’s free advertising for you and your company. Third, nametags encourage people to be friendly and more approachable. TRUST me on that one!
If it’s you who has the chance to talk to someone else, here are some thoughts about the blend of how you can say “just enough” to get your presence across to someone else. I’d love you to agree or disagree in comments or posts.
Be genuine and authentic building trust and relationships, and seeing how you can help others.
Assume neither of you has lots of time
Try to keep the conversation moving and tight. This one is tricky, and you have to read the signs. Is the person you’re speaking to giving you the “I need to move on” signals? Are their shoulders turned away from you? Are they looking around instead of making deep eye contact? There you have it. Smile politely and make your exit.
Confidence is EVERYTHING
You are good enough. You are important enough. You are worthy. Everyone is just someone. The biggest names in the world that I’ve met (people like Glenda Watson Hyatt, Ed Shahzade, and Jon Swanson) have all been regular people when you get down to it.
Name game
When I’m meeting others, I lead with my name. It just takes it off the table.
Lead with most interesting topic
If you’re going to say, “I’m here to ask about a business partnership,” then start with that. Most people want to start with soft things like the weather, but in most cases, what’s really important gets buried in trivia. Don’t do it. Believe me.
Skip the backstory
I hear so much exposition explaining the main question or point, and it takes paragraphs of language to try to warm up to what ends up being one sentence. Here’s the thing. One sentence is usually enough. And at least, it lets the other person ask, “Can you tell me more?”
Where to network.
Take notes
On the back of business cards, write down quick notes about your interaction with the person. Did they mention they were looking for graphic designers who specialize in logo design? Or that they recently adopted a puppy? Write that down. In your follow-up, you could mention someone you know who designs logos and ask how that puppy is doing.
Finish with action
Because you’ve kept it short, because you are letting this person go on to the next thing, your goal now is to decide whether there’s some “there” there. If yes, then move on to business cards and next steps.
If no, then be clean and wonderful about it. Just say thanks and pleased to meet you, and move on. Believe me; that’s a great way to move on. I’m fond of NOT moving forward more often than not. It’s the better way to figure out your business.
Business cards are for continuing business
If you’re done talking, exchanging a business card is great only when you have further business to do. Send your message quickly. Within 24 hours is probably the best way. Do you agree?
CPI
This acronym stands for the Common Point of Interest. It’s an essential element to every conversation and interaction. Your duty, as you meet new people, or even as you talk with those you already know, is to discover the CPI as soon as possible. It connects people to you. It allows them to feel more comfortable talking to you. And it increases your approachability since people will be magnetized to you due to the commonality you share.
A great tip is to ask the right type of questions. Similar to our first example, “ready to engage,” you don’t want to ask people about the weather. You can do better than that! Instead, ask questions that begin with “What’s your favorite…” “Tell me the best…” or “When was the last time…” The CPI is almost guaranteed to be discovered.
Watch your body language
Even if it’s cold, even if you’re bored, even if you’re tired and don’t want to be there – don’t cross your arms. It’s such a simple, subconscious non-verbal cue that too many people practice and it hinders their approachability.
Network connection … post networking event
Options for communication
Your friends, colleagues, customers and coworkers will choose to communicate with you in different ways. Some will choose face to face; some will email, others will call, while others will do a little of everything.
The bottom line is: make all of them available. On your business cards, email signatures, websites or marketing materials, let people know that can get in touch with you in whatever manner they choose. Sure, you might prefer email. But what matters most is the comfort of the other person and their ability to communicate effectively.
The good idea is to give people as many options to contact you as possible. There’s nothing more annoying to a “phone person” than when she discovers she can’t get a hold of you unless she emails you.
Reach out to them
You don’t have to meet physically a person to network with them. If the person you’d like to chat with has a blog or wrote an article you liked, reach out to them. The worst thing that could happen is they say no or don’t give a reply. The best things that could happen are virtually limitless.
Email signature
Whatever program you use for email – Outlook, Eudora, Yahoo, and Hotmail – find out how to customize your signature. There’s nothing more frustrating than receiving an email from someone who wants to talk further, get together or have you send them something that doesn’t have any personal information in the email.
So at the end of every email you send, always cross reference the following information: name, title, company, addresses, website, and telephone numbers.
Hold volunteer positions in organizations
This is a great way to stay visible and give back to groups that have helped you.
Follow through
When people give you referrals, your actions are a reflection on them. Respect and honor that and your referrals will grow.
Your mileage will vary
Okay, first, all you shy people who have been clenching your jaw while reading this, it’s okay. I get it. I know that it’s a lot easier to do this when you’re not shy. Hint: I’m always shy. I just push hard NOT to be shy when it’s important.
Second, sometimes, things don’t follow a formula. This is a recipe, but you’re making leftovers sometimes. That’s okay. Do what makes sense at the moment.
Finally, I want to re-stress that this isn’t a post about how to meet me. It’s a post filled with thoughts on what works best in meetings. I’m thrilled and honored when you say hi to me at events. It’s the best part of my job. When I get to meet people (like you), the above is what’s on my mind.
What do you think?
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So what’s the conclusion? The conclusion is there is no conclusion. There is only the next step. And that next step is completely up to you. But believe in the effectiveness of collaborative innovation. And put it to good use in adapting to changes in your business environment.
It’s up to you to keep improving your learning and experience with innovation and creativity efforts. Lessons are all around you. In this case, your competitor may be providing the ideas and or inspiration. But the key is in knowing that it is within you already.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new lessons.
When things go wrong, what’s most important is your next step.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step. Call today.
Are you devoting enough energy to improving your continuous learning for yourself and your team?
Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of your business. Find them on G+, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed how reasonable we will be.
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