How to Maintain Control of the Q&A Following a Presentation

By The Newman Group, Inc. — Leave a comment (0)

Controlling the Q&A

You’ve just delivered a great presentation. Now it’s time for the Q&A and the first person to raise her hand asks: “Can you give me more details about this new technology?” and you’re left speechless. You don’t have the answer.

Bring a Content Expert

The Q&A following a presentation can be more important than the presentation itself. If you flub the group discussion you’ve lost your audience.

Be prepared for any question, including the ones you can’t answer yourself.

In that case, be sure to have a …Read more…

Business Presentation Skills, Executive Presentation Skills, Presentation Skills Training, Speakers Bureau Training

Choose the Proper Elements of Style for Your Presentations

By The Newman Group, Inc. — Leave a comment (0)

The first presentation by me I’ll always remember. You would never use the passive tense to say, “I’ll always remember my first presentation.” Would you?

Yet speakers too often use passive tenses in their presentations. Use proper grammar in your presentations As Strunk and White state in their classic The Elements of Style: “Avoid tame, colorless, hesitating, noncommittal language.”

This gem of a book has guided writers for more than 50 years. In 2011, Time Magazine listed it among The Best 100 Non-Fiction Books ever written. We urge everyone who values simple writing to read it. …Read more…

Business Presentation Skills, Executive Presentation Skills, Presentation Skills Training, Speakers Bureau Training

Why Talking About Yourself Can Torpedo a Job Interview

By The Newman Group, Inc. — Leave a comment (0)

Many job candidates are given bad advice. They’re told to write out their accomplishments and practice them so they’re ready to respond to the oft-answered question: “Tell me about yourself.” Then they proceed to babble on and on and on.

The Real Question

The subtext behind the question really is: “Tell me about yourself and what you can do for my department and company.” It’s all about the benefits you bring to the table. Think of a job interview as a presentation or sales pitch. You don’t want to simply read the entire menu, but choose those “entrees” that will whet the interviewer’s appetite to hear more.

But how do you know what those are? …Read more…

Business Presentation Skills, Executive Presentation Skills, Presentation Skills Training

Do You Think You Have the Executive Presence to Get Ahead? Think Again

By The Newman Group, Inc. — Leave a comment (0)

Appearance Counts

If you wonder why so few women are running Fortune 500 companies, it’s because they lack “executive presence.” That’s not our opinion, but the results of a revealing study that’s summarized in a special @WORK supplement in Marie Claire magazine.

Looking and Acting the Part

In the view of Sylvia Ann Hewlett, founder of Center for Talent Innovation (CTI) the think tank that conducted the study, these are the traits that will make you a contender for the top spot: …Read more…

Business Presentation Skills, Executive Presentation Skills, Personal Charisma, Presentation Skills Training, Speakers Bureau Training
 
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