Team-Delivered Presentations (TDPs) are common in the workplace today, especially with higher-end sales pitches or senior executive project updates. But, unfortunately, so are those that become ‘Dog & Pony Shows from Hell‘. What pushes them over the edge is poor planning and preparation, just as with other facets of workplace presentations.
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Sexless Writing
Here we go again … trashing more time-honored rules of grammar that may have made sense in your grandparents’ workplaces … but probably not in yours any more. Hope you’re having as much fun as I am getting back at your high school English teachers who beat those rules into you … often with a yard stick. I know I am. So, please allow me one of my favorite WordPower rants – sexist language.
Inaccurate & Insensitive
For generations, this sentence would have been considered perfectly acceptable and appropriate in the workplace, typically in employee handbooks or procedure manuals:
‘The employee should report for work at the beginning of his assigned shift.’
Over thirty years ago, the inequity of that kind of phrase so bothered the leaders of the Women’s Movement, that they got people to do something about it. After all, not all employees were male then and the inference was both inaccurate and insensitive.
And You Can Quote Me!
( My response to a recent LinkedIn Group discussion question that asked about the value of using quotes in presentations.) I regularly use a lot of quotes in my training, speaking and writing. However, I’m adamant about putting the sources in proper context. Few people are so well known that they don’t need any reference, … Read more
So, you don’t do presentations at work …
(And a recent LinkedIn discussion was about people who don’t make presentations at work.) Besides delivering presentation training and coaching engagements for corporate clients, I teach a presentation skills course at the University of Phoenix, Cleveland Campus. Unlike many universities, we require all students to take this course and they do Learning Team presentations in … Read more
Practice Does NOT Make Perfect
Remember when a parent or your piano teacher told you that ‘Practice makes Perfect’? They didn’t know it at the time, but they were wrong. Practice does NOT make perfect. Practice only makes Permanent! Only Perfect Practice makes Perfect.
So what does this bit of philosophy have to do with workplace presentations or sales pitches? Well … everything. That’s how you get into the Presenters Hall of Fame.
Network With A Winning Smile
Grandma was right. You do only get one chance to make a good first impression. When you’re networking, one goal should always be to make the very best first impression you can on the strangers you meet. “Uncommon courtesy” is a key strategy throughout all your networking relationships. Often that relationship begins at a networking or professional association event by interacting with a winning smile.
Harness the Power of the Pen
Many entrepreneurs and small business leaders I work with face the frustrating and bewildering ‘Marketing Paradox’ … they recognize the critical need to do more and better marketing of their products or services to survive and thrive. But, while few may have the knowledge and skills to effectively do it themselves, they hesitate to – or can’t – invest the money to have other people do it for them. The result is that they often do nothing. Bad idea.
If you have more money than time, find a pro – or several – who can help you figure out your plan and carry it out. Several of my colleagues, who are excellent marketing pros, are ready to help you – let me know if you want any referrals.
If you have more time than money, consider some ‘No-Budget Marketing’ strategies that need little if any financial investment. One that I have found very useful for sustaining my business over the last 22 years is harnessing the Power of the Pen … and getting free ink.
Reject Regular Redundancies … Really!
Let’s continue on our journey of challenging your word use habits in workplace communication and business writing. Effective word use is the same, whether the medium of communicating those words is spoken or written. And remember, the responses ‘That’s the first word I thought of’ … or … ‘That’s the one I usually use’ don’t work very well with audience centric messages.
Redundancies Are Laughable
We’ve gotten into some sloppy habits regarding redundancy. While this tendency may not be a major problem in verbal or written communication, it does waste words and the result is often amusing. Unless you’re a comedian, you probably don’t want people chuckling about what you said or wrote.
Networking for Introverts
I recently got a call from a reader who admitted to being very introverted, but still wanted to improve her networking results. I thought others might benefit from what I shared, so here’s the essence of that conversation.
Make Meetings Work … Even Better
A recent article discussed how to make meetings work better by thorough planning. Assuming that you now do that, the next two steps are to meet as planned and the follow up thoroughly.
Be A Leader – The Meeting Management Phase
While effective planning is essential to a meeting’s success, how you manage that meeting will have a profound impact on its results. You want people to say “That’s the best meeting I’ve been to in a long time” … every time.