Magnificent Meetings - 5 Tips for Success
Your impact at meetings will determine in a big way how well you
do in your career. In other words you will rise as high as your
communication skills will let you. Ability and competence in your
position is expected - how well you get your point accross will
make the difference between your opinion being valued and your
input getting forgotten one more time. Look at any business leader, politician or community spokesperson.
What do they all have in common? The ability to speak in a way
that really gets people to listen even when people may not agree
with them. What success tips can you learn from effective
communicators that is applicable to your occupation? 1. Prepare in advance for the meeting. Make sure you are up to
date with the subject matter and that you have covered your area
of responsibility. Your confidence will grow when you can
anticipate what will be discussed. Walking into a meeting
unprepared is an invitation for tense moments and anxiety in case
someone catches you out. Thorough preparation is essential. 2. Rehearse what you will say. In your mind run through possible
scenarios with the people attending the meeting. Picture yourself
relaxed, confident and even enjoying yourself as you make your
voice heard. See the others listening attentively to what you
have to say and valuing your opinion. Make the pictures lifelike
with rich color, sound and feelings. I recommend doing this the
evening before the meeting, when you are relaxed, for at least
20 minutes 3. Speak with enthusiasm - lead and people will follow, if you
speak with energy and enthusiasm everyone else will assume that
they should be at least interested in what you have to say. If
you are not enthusiastic about your work, at least speak with
energy by sitting up and speaking with emphasis on key words.
Watch politicians on T.V. to see how they stress their point. 4. Anticipate objections and be ready with your response. What are
the questions you really do not want to be asked? Work out the
best responses and rehearse how you will take charge of the
situation.Then when the meeting takes place you will already know
what to say and can instead focus on listening to everyone else. 5. Exude certainty. Nobody wants to hear that you are not sure
whether you can do something. Be certain about what you can do,
and be direct when you need more information or more resources to
get something done. Whenever you hear someone agonising over
whether something can be done, notice the negative effect it has
on those listening, and remind yourself that you will not allow
the same to happen to you. Peter Murphy is a peak performance expert and published author.
Subscribe FREE to his upbeat newsletter and get a FREE e-book,
which reveals secret strategies for supercharging your
communication skills. To join send an email to: AbolishShynessToday-subscribe@topica.com
http://www.topica.com/lists/AbolishShynessToday
Related News
|
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Five Essential Hiring Practices
Recruiting and hiring are often done in haste, leaving the company to repent in the long run. Today, there's a reason to be concerned about negligent hiring. Negligent hiring means you and your company can be sued if one of your hires injures other employees, especially if you could have foreseen a problem but did not do a thorough check of the new employee before hiring.
To Thine Own Self Be True--Its Better for Business: What Arthur Andersen Would Say to His Company
As a child, you probably heard, "to thine own self be true." But what does that really mean? When the newspapers are full of cheating and lying business owners, politicians, and academics, does it really make sense to maintain your integrity?
Know Your Business! - 7 Key Questions You Must Ask
You need to know all that is going on around you to be successful in business, whatever the size of your organization. Yet how do you keep all those plates spinning? Here are just 7 quick and easy questions for your checklist - use them and they will serve you well. Use them and your business will develop and grow.
Creative and Innovative Culture, Change Management ? Three Easy Tests
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation and innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation. From this simple definition, it is clear that certain cultural characteristics ought to be prevalent if creativity and innovation are to be maximised. And maximisation of these ought to be a priority for senior leaders, as those organisations that take them seriously, tend to be leaders in their field, tend to maintain their leadership position longer and are quicker to bounce back when competitors leap frog.
Know Your Client - The First Rule of Business Coaching
Whilst the very best coaches have undertaken independently accredited training and or have years of experience with clients, new self-assessment questionnaires are coming available which is evolving coaching into a far more focused activity. And that is to the benefit of coach/client relationships for the following reasons:-
How to Beat the Turf Mentality
Want to hear a fascinating story? Let's sit in at a meeting of the human resources department of a large corporation.
10 Fundamentals for Effective Meeting
Here are ten fundamental concepts that characterize an effective meeting.
What to do When You receive a Bad Check
As a small business operator, personal checks may be one method to receive payment for your goods or services. As a way to receive payment, a personal check is actually better than credit cards because the fees are less and there can be no charge back.
How to Get the Best from Outsourcing
There's a great little article ('Business Lifeforms') on the back pages of the UK's leading management magazine, Management Today each month. It's a spoof (at least I think it is!) about some fictitious key player in a fictitious organisation. For January, it's about Ken, who's a 'Facilities Manager'.Now Ken has seen it all and truly worked his way up from the bottom to the top. Until, that is, a couple of years ago when new MBA-armed suits took over and decide to slash Ken's department (until now, running very, very smoothly under Ken's watchful eye) and Ken himself. Of course it all goes pear-shaped and the top dog has to come grovelling back to Ken, offer him loads of money and a big car, basically to ensure that the toilets aren't 'backing up' any more!This is in direct contrast to Michael Gerber, in his fascinating book The E-Myth Revisited. There he talks about working 'on' the business and 'in' the business, making it clear that if you do too much of the grindstone not-my-expertise stuff yourself, you lose track of what you are really good at, and what you went into business for.In a past life, I too experienced challenging outsourcing. At one time I had a great little local cleaner who I trusted (he even opened the store up for me - hmmm, that was a long time ago!). He did an excellent job and was on hand for emergencies. Then a new senior director decided to consolidate and outsource, for 'economy and consistency'. It was cheap - but the service was awful. Each time I got a new 'centrally sourced' cleaning company, they came with great intentions for the first 3 months and then dribbled off (with our money!) until it became unsustainable and another 'excellent contractor' came along.The moment of truth for me, was when the director for one of these contractors, came along for the first time in a brand new £60K Merc (and it's a few years ago now). Then I knew where my money would be going. I went through 6 contractors in 5 years, even though my hands were tied by 'Head Office' contracts!To solve this problem? There needs to be strong leadership at the start. Very clear standards required from outside contractors and severe penalties (yes, stop paying them even!) for under achievement. Corporate central contracts agreed there, but implemented and managed locally, leave a lot of space for waste.And yes, in a small business, don't even think of doing the bookkeeping yourself as soon as you can afford not to - do what you do best, value it and get on with creating the business you love, not like struggling Sarah in the book. But, get someone who you trust and who will deliver. Chris Barrow, of Million Dollar Coaching Practice fame, suggests that the very first thing anyone going into a consulting business should do, is get a PA. And that modern day evolution, a VA (virtual assistant) has made this a real, low cost possibility for many.Moral of the story?If you are going to outsource, especially if your business is big enough, where it's not only the fashion, but it can have economic and logistic value, take the following steps:-Find the best on the market, not the cheapest.Set the standards yourself, and don't take theirs.Be very clear on expectations and outcomes if standards aren't met.Keep in very business-like, however much you like/know/are related to them.Have clear timescales for regular review.Have a named and senior contact in the organisation for whom there will be pain if they lose the contract.Keep contract length manageable.If things start going wrong tackle them early, before too much money is wasted.If 'Head Office' agrees the contract, don't chase your own tail over non-delivery - get someone from there down as soon as there is a problem - you have enough to do.Don't get involved in the problems any local operatives might have - refer them back.
Success in Business Means Managing Negative Emotions
You may have the MBA but if an internal critic constantly berates you, or you have feelings of self-doubt, low self-confidence, fears of rejection or other negative emotions your chances of success may be quite limited.
Sexual Harassment Policy Guidelines Part I
Sexual Harassment Policy Guidelines ? Part I
Sharing the Reins: 10 Reasons To Sell Your Company To Your Employees
In 1987 I sold my business, South Mountain Company, to my employees (and myself). My sole proprietorship became an employee-owned cooperative corporation. It was a hinge point in the history of the company. Ownership has become available to all employees, enabling people to own and guide their workplace. The responsibility, the power, and the profits all belong to the group of owners.
People Literacy
Every Manager has experienced the frustration of not understanding why one management approach that works beautifully with one employee is ineffective with another. That's because what we think would be motivating isn't always motivating to someone else.
Ten Relationship Traits And Skills For Good Leadership
An important aspect of good leadership is the ability to work and relate with others. When creating and building your unique leadership style consistently developing relational skills is a priority. There are ten qualities that characterize successful leadership in the area of relating and communicating with other people.
The Golden Key to Meeting Success
We all attend many meetings. I'm sure you have been to some great meetings and some poor ones. Unfortunately for everyone I've ever talked to, the number of poor ones far outweighs the number of great ones.
Leadership Styles - the Ten Top Qualities the Best Leaders Show
Top leaders...
Riding the Waves to Success
Last week I was confused and frustrated about a few things
related to one of my businesses, and a bit upset with myself
and "The Universe." As a result, I went into a deep
meditation to get some clarity and help.
Business Innovation ? Tacit Knowledge
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.
Leaders Versus Cheerleaders
Everyone wants to describe themselves as a leader. Everyday, new books on leadership come out on the market. Leaders are seen everywhere ? business, society, and, of course, politics. Yet, in our culture where greatness is often measured by noise rather than accomplishment, I thought it would be helpful to define the factors that differentiate the true leader from the notorious "cheerleader."
Work Life a Balancing Act
Australians are loosing their laidback, carefree reputation, as we continue to work longer hours, exercise less and neglect our leisure and family time.
|
