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.

User Generated Content….Your Customer..Their Voice….

Recently Google shared that 70% of brand content is created by consumers. And that’s a good thing if you have loyal customers, because Google tells us that 90% of consumers trust recommendations from people they know. So maybe it’s time to show the people who trust your company just how much you trust them. Put some of the marketing responsibilities in their hands. That may seem like you’re giving up control, but through the use of User Generated Content (UGC), you can involve your customers to have them help do some marketing work for you. Here are some ways that you can use UGC to boost your credibility and business.

Get Their Feedback
One of the easiest ways to use UGC is to simply ask customers how you’re doing. You can set up a place for feedback on your website or you can even ask customers to fill out a short response card in person. Either way, you’re gathering UGC that will help you better understand what they want. Surveys are another great way to check up on your customers. Make sure to specifically target what you’re trying to find out before you send out the survey. By asking concise and direct questions, you’re sure to get helpful answers. Then, you can use the information you gather to show prospects what other customers thought of your company.

Be the Buzz
In order to market yourself using UGC, you need your customers to talk about your company. Social media is a great way to utilize this aspect of UGC. If you’re not already using social media, maybe it’s time to add it to your marketing plan. Social media puts you where your customers are playing. Once you have your social media in place, pose questions where your followers can reply. Make sure the questions spark discussion for the best responses. On certain sites, followers will be able to tag you in a post where all of their friends will see that your customers are talking about your company. Another great way to get them talking is to post articles in a blog that you can share on your website and in social media. Leave a section for comments so customers can react to your posts.

Monitor the Conversation
Once you provide opportunities for UGC, you need to remain involved in the conversation. If you’re asking questions, conducting surveys or allowing for comments on your blog posts, you need to monitor and reply back to your customers. If you’re not involved in the conversation, they will stop leaving comments because they feel that it is not worth their time.

And don’t forget, even if you’re not actively involved in a UGC plan for your business, customers are still talking about you online. An easy way to check out what’s being said is to set up Google Alerts. With this service, you’ll receive an email when the keywords you’ve selected, such as your name our your company’s name, are mentioned on the web.

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.

Customer Spotlight: Erin Joy of Black Dress Partners Helps Women Find Success

NJC Printing wanted to take some time to recognize our fantastic clients and partners. We truly appreciate your business and our monthly Customer Spotlight is just one of the ways we like to show it.

Erin Joy is a third-generation female entrepreneur who understands the rewards and challenges of owning your own company. As a child, she played “office” under her mother’s desk. Today, she helps other women unlock the potential in their own companies – and in themselves.

Self-employed her entire career, Erin brings first-hand entrepreneurial experience to Black Dress Partners, the company she founded in 2011 to incite and propel success in fellow women-owned companies. Using the keen insight, innovative strategies and effective practices gleaned from her more than 15 years in the business community, Erin astutely assesses and successfully transforms underperforming businesses; her consulting and executive coaching services, designed to help organizations reach their full potential, have improved the productivity, efficiency and profitability of companies in a variety of industries, including real estate, construction, interior design, technology, health care and mortgage services. Dedicated to continually evolving her skills and business knowledge in order to best serve her clients, Erin is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Human Resources Management at Washington University.

Now, Erin is bringing her insightful analysis and understanding of sound business practices to Black Dress Partners’ newest service, Black Dress Circle. After becoming a certified PeerSpectives facilitator through the Edward Lowe Foundation, Erin has introduced this proven peer-based program to St. Louis in order to address the unique challenges faced by local second-stage entrepreneurs. The innovative, action-based process serves to support businesswomen as they guide their companies through periods of growth.

For more information on how Erin Joy and Black Dress Partners can improve your business go to  www.blackdresspartners.com or to become a member of Black Dress Circle, contact: Erin Joy at Erin.Joy@BlackDressPartners.com

3 Ways to Assure Your Customers Love You! Let Them Count the Ways!

They love you, they love you not.

It’s Valentine’s Day and last week we demonstrated how you can show your customers some love. Now you should explore ways to gauge customer satisfaction and determine if the work you’re putting into the relationship is yielding results. Here are some ways to get inside your customers’ heads.

Where’s this relationship going?
If you want to know how the relationship is going, just ask. Gauging customer satisfaction is as easy as sending out a survey. Your customer satisfaction survey can ask a range of questions from what your customers think of your customer service, a new product or what additional products or services they’d like to see. Make sure you have an objective of what results you want to collect. You don’t want to make it too long, as your customers are busy.

Once you’ve determined what you’re going to ask, you need to plan a distribution method. You could provide a survey with every transaction, mail a postcard or conduct an online survey. Whatever you do, make sure you’re actually using the results to improve your customer service.

Make your relationship public.
It’s a good chance a majority of your customers are on Facebook or other social media sites. If they are, you should be right there with them. Listening is the foundation to a solid relationship. Set up social media listening tools like Hootsuite to see what people are saying about your company. Don’t be afraid to engage in the conversation and correct any issues publicly to show that you care about your customers. The key is to be transparent and authentic. If you have time, you should listen to what people are saying about your competitors.

Share the love.
If your customers sing praises about your company, share it on your website. If you’ve made a customer happy, they’ll have no problem putting their name online for you.  Customer testimonials are a great way to attract new customers. Determine how you will collect your testimonials. Maybe there’s an open-ended question on your survey or you can have an online form. Don’t be afraid to ask, but always make sure you do. Testimonials are a true testament of your love.

- 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.