Tom Fuszard – Page 32 – Tom Fuszard's Business Builder

Presentation Tip: Which “you” do you use?

January 7, 2016July 23, 2012 by Tom Fuszard

Presentation Tip: Choose the correct “you” for your audience.

Good presenters – indeed, anyone involved in marketing communications – know that to really connect with an audience it’s important to write in the “you” format. This involves using the pronoun ‘you’ frequently throughout the presentation. Doing so shows that you are genuinely concerned about the audience’s needs.

‘You’ can be used in two ways: as a plural form (“you folks”, “you guys/gals”, “you all”) or in the singular. For the purposes of the column, I want to concentrate on electronic presentations. Those include online presentations (webinars, teleconferences and video conferences) and recorded material (training videos and tutorials).

Webinars, teleconferences, and video conferences by their nature involve groups of people. It’s natural to speak in the plural form. You are, after all, speaking to a number of people simultaneously.

7 tips for hosting a teleconference

January 7, 2016July 21, 2012 by Tom Fuszard

How to host a teleconference

A teleconference I attended on Friday reminded me of what it takes to run such a meeting smoothly. The next time you need to host a teleconference, keep these tips in mind.

1. Send out the agenda. Release it far enough in advance that attendees can study it and add to it. Many times you’ll have openings in the meeting. By getting the agenda out early, you give attendees the chance to create presentations. They also have time to think about how they will react to and vote on matters that require their input.

2. Discuss protocol and ground rules at the beginning. These can include: keep your phone muted when not speaking (and how that is done); identify yourself before speaking; how comments are offered, votes taken; and so forth.

3. Choose someone to take the minutes. Done prior to the meeting. In some organizations the Secretary performs this function, but it could be anybody suited to the role.

7 principles to guide your business to success

January 7, 2016July 18, 2012 by Tom Fuszard

How to be more successful

If you want to be successful, the old saying goes, find a successful person and do what he or she does. You can learn from successful businesses and programs, as well.

In the early 1990s NASA embarked on a bold, new era. Under Dan Goldin, the agency charted a course for more but less-expensive missions. His mantra, “faster-better-cheaper,” became the agency’s as well.

His vision was first realized in the Pathfinder project. NASA successfully put the mini-rover Sojourner on Mars on July 4, 1997, just 44 months after conception. (The latest rover, Curiosity, is scheduled to land on Mars on August 5.)

In 1998, Flight System Manager Brian Muirhead collaborated with business coach Brian Pritchett to write “The Mars Pathfinder Approach to Faster-Better-Cheaper.” (You can purchase a copy from Amazon via the button at right.) In it Muirhead and Pritchett discuss the 13 lessons learned from that amazing program. Of those, I found 7 to be particularly noteworthy. Each includes a quote from the book and my interpretation.

As the authors write, these lessons “serve as living proof that ‘faster-better-cheaper’ works in deep space as well as it does on Earth.”

Powerful open-ended sales question helps you offer solution

January 7, 2016July 16, 2012 by Tom Fuszard

The right open-ended sales questions provide information you need

If you’ve been in sales for any length of time, you’re skilled at creating strong selling questions to ask. Many are probably deep, probing questions. You know it’s important to ask open-ended sales questions, too. The obejctive, of course, is to determine precisely what the person needs so that you can offer the proper solution.

These questions reflect the research you’ve done, and show that you have at least a basic understanding of the client’s business and industry.

Your goal during most, perhaps all, of those meetings is to get a sale. Fine enough. Sometimes you need to work a bit. On occasion a customer throws a juicy curve ball at you. It goes like this: The customer announces that he’d like to buy a certain product (down to the product number and details).

5 ways to help others succeed

January 7, 2016July 13, 2012 by Tom Fuszard

Helping others succeed is the cornerstone of a business professional

Successful business people know that many steps were required to reach that status. One of those, of course, is hard work. But they also know that helping others succeed in business is an important component in their own growth.

How can you help others succeed? Here are five suggestions to keep in mind. Most are geared around networking events, but they can be used any time. (I talk more about networking in this column. Watch the accompanying webinar, too.)

1. Ask probing questions. During business networking events we tend to ask basic questions like, “What does your firm do?” That’s OK, but to help others succeed you should probe deeper. Ask:
– How can I help you?
– What are you looking for in a prospect?
– Who is a good customer for you?

Sure, you won’t be out prospecting for that person, but at least you’ll have a better understanding of how you can help.