You Are The Key To Unlocking An Amazing Presentation

We live in a world where the people who can make compelling presentations are highly valuable. You might not think you are called on to be a presenter, but the truth is you have to present a case for yourself every time you speak up at a meeting, have a job interview or pitch a product to your clients. Your ability to make presentations will help you become a more effective marketer for your business as a whole.

If you follow these tips, you can present things and get people to change. Making presentations isn’t really about great information or quality content. It’s a question of getting your message to really resonate and stick with an audience. Having something important to talk about is necessary, but not enough. Perfecting your presentation is what can really change people’s perspective.

Here are the three keys to a successful presentation:

 90% of Presentation is Preparation
The truth is that 90% of the presentation’s success happens before you get in front of your audience. If you want to have a successful presentation or sales pitch, you’ve got to be willing to spend time preparing exactly what you want to say. That means figuring out the structure of your presentation, what your key points are and most importantly, actually practicing the way you present yourself.

While this point is straightforward in theory, how many people really take the time to practice their presentations out loud before they give them? Did you practice for your last job interview with a friend? Have you tried recording a video of you practicing a sales pitch and analyzed your body language to figure out how to improve your communication?

It’s Not About You, It’s About Us
When you present, you have to understand your presentation isn’t about you, but rather, about us. Practice recording the presentation, then count the amount of times you say “we” or “I.” The truth is, as the audience, we don’t care about you or your company. Your story only matters to the point where we can learn what it means for us. How does your message change us?

Speak to your audience. Tell us how your message can change us and our status quo for the better. A helpful practice: For every slide of your presentation and every assertion, put yourself in the audience’s shoes, and ask—“So what?” If your assertion doesn’t respond to that candid objection, cut that point out.

Tell Us A Story, Not What To Do
Public speaker and entrepreneur Seth Godin has some advice applicable to all who want to learn to present better: Persuade, don’t convince.

What’s the key distinction? When you try to convince someone, you appeal to their logical, calculating side—the side that doesn’t make the decisions. When you persuade, you speak to an audience’s emotions, dreams and fears. The power of persuasion speaks to what really motivates us and causes us to take action. Plus, stories are simply entertaining.

And the best way to persuade is to tell stories. People are constantly crafting narratives from the experiences of their lives; it’s just the way we’re hardwired. And in order to create an engaging, persuasive presentation—instead of just a convincing one—you need to hone your storytelling ability.

Once you’ve done the intense preparation, truly focused your appeal on the audience instead of your own motivations and worked to create compelling stories, that’s when your presentations will truly shine. You’ll be able not just to communicate information, but actually change the way your listeners view the world.

NJC Printing provides quality digital and offset printing to businesses in St. Louis, Missouri and throughout the Midwest. Please visit our website at www.NJCPrint.com to learn more about us or to Request An Estimate.

Off The Clock Networking

When you’re on the job, you do everything you can to reach out and drum up new business. Maybe you’re managing multiple social media pages to reach consumers. You’ve sent direct mail to new markets where you can find potential customers that would benefit from your products or services. But just because you’re doing all you can on the clock doesn’t necessarily mean you should rule out after hours networking. Think of the advantages of getting out there to meet new people while your competitors are confined to their businesses. Here are some easy networking strategies to consider next time you’re off the clock.

Don’t Be Bashful
Let’s face it. Being shy is not an option when it comes to networking. So you’ve got to put yourself out there and think of every interaction as a networking opportunity. And if you’re on the shy side, you can overcome that by being prepared. Unless you engage, you never know if that stranger beside you on a plane or the table next to you at a restaurant could be a customer. So don’t just think of traditional wine and cheese networking events as the only place to find new business. Volunteer opportunities, for instance, are a great way to get connected to others with similar interests. Also, remember to always have business cards handy for any unexpected opportunities you meet.

Perfecting Your Pitch
Studies show that the younger generation, an up-and-coming portion of the consuming population, have short attention spans because they were raised in barrage of information from the readily available content the Internet puts at their fingertips. They may not be the only ones. As technology continues to expand, consumers have more options to become distracted and don’t have time to listen for elongated periods of time. That’s why you should never rule out your best elevator pitch.

Make the pitch short, simple and relevant to the person you’re engaging. People want to know what you have to offer without sorting through information to get to your main point. Give it to them up front instead of dancing around what they’re really looking for. Remember that although you’re trying to be concise, you also need to find a way to stand out from everybody else.

How to Keep Them Hooked
The best way to keep people engaged is to find commonalities. If you talk about a shared hobby or passion before you talk business, your new connection is sure to remember you and possibly follow up to work with you. When you’re out there networking, never attempt to force a business relationship. But that doesn’t mean you should stop talking with them just because you don’t see potential. The personal connection may eventually result in a referral or at least a substitute fourth for your golf league.

NJC Printing provides quality digital and offset printing to businesses in St. Louis, Missouri and throughout the Midwest. Please visit our website at www.NJCPrint.com to learn more about us or to Request An Estimate.

Simply Put It….How To Become There Favorite “Pin”!

 

By now you know that thanks to technology, companies have been able to reach consumers on a large scale. Maybe you’ve been using social media sites like Facebook to reach your customers or even tweeting to your followers on Twitter.

Now there may be another site to add to your online marketing efforts. Pinterest is a website that allows users to bookmark and organize their favorite things. Simply put, Pinterest allows you to “pin” your favorite posts onto virtual pin boards filled with your specific interests. And as a marketing professional, wouldn’t you want to be on your customers’ lists of the things they love?

For example, if you see a recipe you like on the site, you can organize it onto your recipe board. Then later, you go back and look it up on that board when you’re ready to cook. Although people use the site for craft ideas, wedding inspiration and a variety of other recreational uses, don’t underestimate the value of the site. Get started by logging on to http://www.pinterest.com and playing around with the site.

Here are some ways that you can use Pinterest for marketing to connect with your customers on a whole new level.

Your Logo
The minute you make it onto somebody’s pin board, the more recognition you get. Immediately all of that person’s followers will see it on their newsfeed. Pinterest uses a photo, and then users click on it and are taken to a website. If you can get your customers to add your logo to their pin board and link it to your website, you automatically have new people looking at your logo and seeing that your current customers like you. It’s a great option because people place trust in businesses that their friends say they like, simply because people tend to trust their friends.

Products
One of the unique features of Pinterest is that it separates everything into topics. One of the more interesting genres to marketing professionals is the “products” genre. This is where users can make pins showcasing their favorite products. If you have a quality product that your customers love, you can get them to make a pin about it. Your company could even use its page to make a pin board called “our products.” Then let your customers know that you have a Pinterest account and tell them to follow you just like you would with a different social media site. The more customers you have repinning your products, the more eyes you have on your company.

Web Site Content
You or your customers could pin anything that you would normally post about on Facebook or Twitter. Make sure you use an interesting photo and caption, because that is all users see upon first glance. If it is interesting enough content, users will click and be taken to your website. Did you write a particularly interesting blog post? Maybe you have an article that deserves some recognition.Don’t go overboard with posts, since Pinterest is used to bookmark favorites. That means your company needs to pick their favorites to post about on Pinterest, so customers won’t have their feed bogged down with posts from your business and become annoyed.

While Pinterest may not suit every company’s marketing strategy, it may be worth a look to see if you can pin down some new customers.

NJC Printing provides quality digital and offset printing to businesses in St. Louis, Missouri and throughout the Midwest. Please visit our website at www.NJCPrint.com to learn more about us or to Request An Estimate.

Your Brand + Social Media = Community

Social media is a trend that doesn’t seem to be slowing down in the branding world—from Facebook, Twitter and Google+, and others continuing to emerge. You may not be a social media guru, but for your brand’s sake, social media is worth a second glance.

And these days, almost everybody and their dogs are using social media. Literally, some people have created social media pages for their household pets. Even grandma is getting in on the social media action. And although not everyone has signed on to social media, there is still a large percentage of the population that utilizes social media everyday.

By creating a page for your company, you have another avenue to advertise your brand, values and mission. Keeping that in mind, what makes branding successful in the social media world? Below are some ways to make social media work for you.

Degree of Control
One of the issues surrounding social media — it is controlled by users, for users. Companies often times are very reluctant to give up the control of chatter about their brand, instead they create pages that edit or censor an interaction between the consumers.  In doing so they not only limit the users control but they also limit how far they will make it down the social media network. Try to gain as much interaction with your followers as possible, engaging them in your brand.

New, Fresh, Different
When creating your social media pages, be creative, don’t give them the the same thing they can see on your corporate home page. They don’t want to be “sold to” they want to be wowed and they want to see more than just the traditional.  As we all know perception and presentation are two key factors that can either draw them in or have them clicking on something more interesting.

Open and Honest
Transparency is the most critical factor in building trust. You want respect? You want trust?  Don’t hide behind policies or procedures, own up to your shortcomings, give the consumer not only the good but also the bad.

Friends not Corporation
Social media allows for companies to keep things simple, informal light and fun, so take advantage of it. The last thing a consumer wants, is to feel like they just walked into social media environment with more technical babble than their latest board meeting.

Rewards
Consumers love to know that their loyalty will be rewarded.  We don’t always expect something in return for such loyalty but wouldn’t you agree that what attracts us sometimes is being rewarded with a little extra something.  Discounts and coupons seem to have just inundated the web so offer an exclusive product or service.

Provide News
Consumers become fans to keep updated on new products. One thing to keep in mind though it should always appear as news not as an advertisement, again perception is the key.

Rhythm and Community
You want to keep your page lively and informative but at the same time find a balance. We are talking about your brand and the best thing you can do is make it less of the focus. Social network is a community, sometimes started by a chain reaction, and its up to you to start that by facilitating conversation, you need to create a dynamic, lively, and fun environment. One thing to keep it mind though, posting to frequently can alienate your fans and the next thing you know they have found the “hide or unlike button”

Not using social media could be the difference between success and failure for your business. Taking the time and effort to learn each one and how they can be a benefit to your brand is extremely valuable.

NJC Printing provides quality digital and offset printing to businesses in St. Louis, Missouri and throughout the Midwest. Please visit our website at www.NJCPrint.com to learn more about us or to Request An Estimate.