Top 5 Tips for Speaking at a Conference

At a recent conference, I sat in on an hour and fifteen minute presentation that lasted only 30 minutes. I felt a little cheated, considering I was supposed to receive PDH credits for sitting through the full session. Here are the top 5 things you should do when preparing to speak at a conference, trade show, seminar, symposium, community luncheon, etc.

• Design your presentation around the needs/interests of your audience. This ensures that your audience stays interested throughout the presentation and that they garner information that can be utilized in their professional or personal lives.
• Use the full time allotted. The audience expects to be there for a certain amount of time, so give them what they paid for. If you don't think you have enough content to fill a certain amount of time, either look at specific elements of your presentation that can be given additional content or use that time for mini group discussions/games or interactions. 
• Don't apologize. Don't apologize for using notes, something in your presentation, or anything else. It decreases the audience's confidence in you as a speaker and holder of knowledge. Even if you don't think things are going perfectly, more often than not, the audience isn't noticing a thing.
• Use case studies as part of your presentation, not as the focus. Case studies can be very good in helping to explain something that you're trying to educate people on, but it shouldn't be the focus. 
• Practice, practice, practice. Give your presentation multiple times in front of people that understand your topic and those that don't - and ask for honest feedback. Constructive criticism will help you adjust things to your presentation (speaking style or your presentation) that can help it look more polished and professional.

Keep these tips in mind the next time you're preparing to give a speech in front of an audience. 

Developing a Process

A process can be developed for pretty much anything, but it is especially helpful when you're trying to get everyone on your team to do a certain thing in a certain way that produces the same results each time. How do you think that Big Mac you ordered at McDonald's for lunch today tastes the same as the first Big Mac you've ever ordered? Because they began with a process and implement it at every McDonald's.

A process can be written, visual or audible. No matter how you decide it's best to communicate, here are some steps to ensure your process is implemented successfully.

• Identify your goal first: if you do this before creating the process, then you can ensure that your process is created to achieve your goal.
• Go through the process as your creating it: you'll be less likely to miss a step if you go through the motions yourself.
• Have two people review the process: sometimes we can be so entrenched in something that we need a fresh set of eyes for a different perspective.
• Implement appropriately: think about the psychographics of your process audience. Implement your process and communicate it in a way that your audience will be most receptive.
  
• Follow-up: make sure that your process is working properly and that the people using it aren't having any issues or have questions.
• Update as appropriate: Check your process for accuracy as often as necessary. Sometimes that might be once per year, other times it could be quarterly - it just depends on the sensitivity of the information.

These are just some considerations to think about when creating a process to make things more efficient and streamlined.

Be Cautious When Deciding to Advertise

If you're considering adding advertising to your marketing and business development repertoire, especially if you're a small business, be cautious. An article from MadScam does a good job of listing some pros and cons and making a pros and cons list is a good idea to do anyways, but the number one question is: are you selling a product or a service? If you're selling a service, 9 times out of 10, you're successful because of the relationship that you've developed with your current clients. Advertising can't sell that relationship - it can give viewers a call to action to contact you for more information - but it won't sell that relationship.

On the flip side, you have a product that you want to advertise. You've already decided that the pros outweigh the cons and you're taking the plunge. First, look at your products current demographics - what does your customer look like? Male or female, age, household income, kids or no kids, etc. Once you've determined your demographics and developed your product's customer profile, then you can match that with an appropriate publication or media, whether it's an online ad or a billboard.

Before you get to the decision to advertise, you should do this demographic research beforehand. This information will be an asset to you in developing a strategic marketing plan, no matter what tactics you plan to implement.

Should You Post All Comments on Your Blog?

In the age of social media - transparency rules - but do you still have to post every comment that someone posts to your blog? Some people allow comments to automatically post on their blogs, but others like to review their comments before they are posted.

When you look at the content of the comments that someone is wanting to post, you have to think about what their perceived intent is, what do they want others to see, and what kind of response do you think they want (if they haven't specified in their comment). It could be a public relations nightmare if you decided not to post it (from the commenter) or if you decided to post it (from reactions from readers).

One solution is to not post the comment, but to dedicate a blog post to addressing that core issue. On the other hand, another solution is to post the original comment and respond to that comment directly.

Whether your blog is set to post comments automatically or you review them, make sure that you post your blog comment policies on your blog. Sometimes it's not necessary to create blog comment policies, but if you discuss sensitive (or potentially sensitive) items on your blog, it's a good idea.

For some fun reading, check out the Huffington Post's post for the Top 10 PR Blunders of 2011.

2012: Is a New Year's Resolution Necessary?

I'm looking at New Year's Resolutions a little differently this year. Why should I wait until January of every year to resolve to do something differently? Why not make changes when you decide to make a resolution, whether it's in March, August or January 1.

Time.com has a list of the Top 10 Commonly Broken New Year's Resolutions. Take a look at the list and you'll see that they're also the most commonly made New Year's Resolutions. Whether you're resolving to change something for your business or personal life, there is absolutely one thing you need: a plan! If you don't have a plan, you most likely won't achieve what you want. Your plan must have measurable goals or objectives. "Losing weight" isn't a good objective at all; "losing 30 pounds by June 1, 2012" is a measurable goal that you can track.

Also remember that it takes a long time to make a habit, and in most cases, that's what you're trying to achieve: a new habit for your lifestyle. The 21 day-to-make-a-habit rule no longer applies, instead, a UK psychology blog post suggests that it's different for different people. In their study it took an average of 66 days, but anywhere from 18 to 254 days.

No matter how long it takes for you to make a lifestyle or habit change, it takes hard work and conscious effort. The next time you think about making a positive change, don't wait for the sparkly ball in Times Square to drop for a fresh start.

Words of Wisdom When Starting Your Own Business

Starting your own business can be difficult and it can be even more challenging to run that business. For most people, running their own business is something brand new and because of that, you're learning new things all the time. When you're learning and succeeding with your business, your efforts will be rewarded. On the other hand, sometimes it may seem like your efforts are fruitless and you may be second-guessing your decision to start your own business. This is completely normal.

If you haven't taken the jump yet (or even if you've already started your own business), here are some things to consider:

• Make sure your family is supportive of your decision.
• Check yours and your family's finances to ensure your decision is financially feasible.
• Enlist a business mentor - someone you admire and can talk to about how they became business savvy.
• Know that this is your baby and that your family won't always have the same unconditional love for your business that you do.
• Know when to ask for help.
• Know when to hire help.
• Be flexible.
• Always have a back-up plan.
• Learn how to deal with the stresses of owning your own business in a healthy way that won't affect your family or clients negatively.

The last, and most important thing, is to remember why your started (or want to start) your company in the first place.

Book Review: Unleashing the Ideavirus by Seth Godin

Another book from the early 2000's that still has relevant topics to today's marketing principles is Unleashing the Ideavirus by Seth Godin. His whole premise is about marketing an experience and interacting with those involved with the experience. Those customers' information should be captured and then be asked for permission to interact them in the future. With the inundation and various types of communication channels today, permission marketing is an absolute necessity when continuing the conversation with your customers.

Another concept Godin introduces in this book is a "sneezer." A sneezer is someone more likely to tell their friends about a great new idea. These people are the crux of the ideavirus. You need credible people to spread the good news about your product, service or promotion and those people are your sneezers. Find those people, have a plan, ask for permission and unleash the ideavirus and watch the viral marketing do its magic to grow your brand awareness and sales.