Professional development – Page 15 – Tom Fuszard's Business Builder

Public speaking tip: Grab attention with your opening

January 7, 2016July 25, 2012 by Tom Fuszard

Public speaking tip: Powerful opening grabs attention

One of the keys to a successful presentation is a strong opening. You grab the audience’s attention and get them into your “world” from the start. A strong opening piques interest in your presentation, and the audience wants to hear more.

Too often speakers begin with “Thank you, Mr. Jones. It’s great to be here. I’m honored to …” and so on. That portion is OK but should come after your attention-grabbing introduction.

You have four techniques to choose from: question, statement, anecdote/story and quotation. Use one of these public speaking techniques the next time you craft a presentation.

Question: Develop a question based upon your theme or main point. I have used these as openers:

“How many of you enjoy public speaking and take advantage of every opportunity?”

“When you hear the term ham radio operator, what images come to mind?”

Then give your “thanks” comments and proceed into your presentation.

Statement/Declaration: For best effect, select a powerful bit of information from your copy. Let’s say your presentation is on world hunger. You could start like this:

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.”

8 more tips for a successful presentation

January 7, 2016July 11, 2012 by Tom Fuszard

How to give a successful presentation

Public speaking is fun, and it can be very rewarding with the proper preparation. The following presentation tips will ensure a successful presentation next time.

1. Prepare well. Even if you’ve given this presentation before, start from scratch. Establish a goal or objective for your presentation. What do you want your audience to know or do at the conclusion of your presentation? Use that to develop an outline. The outline will keep you focused on your objective.

Do your research. Could be online, off-line; maybe even include some interviews. The more effort you put in, the more effective your presentation will be.

2. Develop a checklist of your needs. You’ll include the usual items (laptop and projector, for example), but don’t forget a marker and/or pointer, your reading glasses, and other details. Don’t rely on memory. It’s too easy to forget those things.

Public speaking tip: Powerful opening grabs attention

How to host a teleconference

How to be more successful

How to give a successful presentation

More tips for your business networking