13 Facts Every Presenter Should Know About People

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via businessinsider.com

Presenting to a group of people can be a daunting experience.

There are some basic psychological facts that you should know about how people react to presentations — including how your body language affects reception and how to increase the energy level in a room.

Behavioral scientist Dr. Susan Weinschenk gave us permission to publish the best advice from her new book, 100 Things Every Presenter Needs to Know About People, based on posts from her blog, Whatmakesthemclick.net.

9 Steps to Giving the Perfect Compliment

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via dscottangle.com

A little while ago I posted an article about getting your family and partner involved in the housework, where I discussed giving compliments and praise. Since then I have been asked ‘What is the best way to give a compliment’.

If you like the idea of getting people to smile, then this is a great subject – and it’s easy to do as long a we remember a few simple guidelines – the number of times I’ve received shocked, but pleased, looks from people when I commented on a hair-cut, new boots, etc… It’s great!

The 5 Smartest Things to Say to an Angry Customer

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via inc.com

For all the money you spend training your customer service staff, the essence of what you need them to do boils to five key phrases. Teach them these, and you’ll find you’ll win back most of your disgruntled customers.

Let’s start with the most important phrase, which also happens to be the simplest…

How To Make A Lasting Impression

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via forbes.com

So often, we make initial business contacts by e-mail or through social media. It may be months — or even years – before we meet. While written content shapes the first impression, the vibes we give off in person make a lasting impression. The timbre of our voice, our body language and eye contact can help or hurt everything that came before.

50 Hilarious Things That Siri Says

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via inspirationfeed.com

If you have been living under a rock lately (just a figure of speech, don’t take it to heart), then you might have not heard about the new iPhone 4S. Apart from a few spec bumps, one of the stand out features is called Siri. Siri is a virtual assistant that you have access to 24/7 (or at least when the servers are not overused). Originally back in 2008, Dag Kittlaus, Adam Cheyer and Tom Gruber started Siri out of a project by non-profit R&D institute. Apple successfully acquired the company in April 2010, and ever since have been working non-stop to deliver Siri for the iPhone 4S.

Occupy movement sparks a battle of the blogs

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via theglobeandmail.com

You’ll be forgiven if you’re still wondering what the Occupy Wall Street movement is occupying things for, since they’re none too sure. The movement – which has generalized into a kind of global Occupy Whatever’s Handy protest – takes a certain pleasure in being amorphous, an umbrella group with a “Down With This Sort of Thing” mandate. Are they after income equality? An end to corporate citizenhood? Free tuition? The rich, served on a platter with a nice wine pairing? All of the above?

7 Tips For Beating Fear And Becoming A Stellar Public Speaker

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via openforum.com

Effective verbal communication is probably the one skill that can make you shine like a superstar in a few minutes. Brilliant speeches, sales pitches and conversations only take moments to deliver, but live on long after they are over.

So it’s safe to say, developing solid public speaking skills is not only important for business, but for life in general.

Now, I can’t claim to be the world’s greatest public speaker, but I’ve had my fair share of chances to spread my message. And as the audiences have grown larger and the speeches longer, I’ve figured out a few things about the fear and nervousness that often accompany public speaking.

Here are seven tips to keep in mind when preparing for and delivering a presentation.

How to Create an Inspiring Vision

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via awesomeculture.com

Here are a few key questions that may help guide you to create a vision that will endure the test of time, fire up your employees, and make it clear to the world what your company stands for:

What do we aspire to become, and achieve, as a company?
What will the world look like once we’ve won?
What impact do we want to make on the world?
What is the human value of what our company is doing?
What is our higher purpose as a company (that resonates with our team members and customers)?
What is the most meaningful thing we could achieve as a company?
What do we believe we have a 50% chance of achieving? 30%? 10%?