Is Your Glass (Ceiling) Half Empty or Half Full?

Written by Kirstin Carey


Continued from page 1

2.Learn to speak and present effectively. People who communicate well in group settings are viewed as leaders. This perception will get you noticed and help you stand out as someone who is worthy of promotion and other opportunities and bonuses. The number one reason why most people are terrible presenters stems back to speech development. The purpose of business presentations are to inform, persuade or both. Therefore,repparttar structure ofrepparttar 130633 presentation must be clear and not bogged down with unnecessary information.

One ofrepparttar 130634 biggest mistakes presenters make is trying to fit too much information into too short a period of time. They jam paragraphs of information on slides and handouts and begin to drone, ignoring time restrictions and forgetting completely aboutrepparttar 130635 audiences needs. Simplify your presentation and only have highlights and supporting information on slides and handouts. Don’t overwhelm your audience with too much information at once and avoid having more than five main points forrepparttar 130636 entire presentation.

The adult human brain can only absorb small chucks of oral information at one time. If you have to present for long periods of time, be sure to build in small breaks – even ifrepparttar 130637 breaks are only five minutes.

Presenting to a group may be nerve-racking, even paralyzing for many people, but it doesn’t have to be. Effective presenters knowrepparttar 130638 simple secrets on how to craft and deliver good speeches. If you feel scattered, nervous or ineffective when you present to groups, you owe it to yourself and your career to take a public speaking training course or at least buy an audio CD or book on how to improve your skills.

3.Quantify and Present Value When volleying for a raise, a promotion or new client contract it is crucial that you know how to specifically explain value. Though it is impossible to quantifyrepparttar 130639 value of everything, most things can be measured. When you communicate in quantifiable terms, people are more likely to understandrepparttar 130640 value. If you can quantifyrepparttar 130641 gain of doing what you want orrepparttar 130642 loss by not doing it, you will be more successful in getting it.

Rather than telling your boss you want a raise, quantifiably show him why he should giverepparttar 130643 raise to you.

Weak Raise Request: “I’ve been withrepparttar 130644 company for a long time and I’m a good and dependable employee who works hard.” PowHERful Raise Request: “Overrepparttar 130645 last 18 months,repparttar 130646 six software projects I worked on forrepparttar 130647 company have attributed to a 13% reduction in customer complaints, a 29% increase in production, and a 43% increase in online orders. These improvements have resulted in a $1.5 million in profits forrepparttar 130648 company.” See howrepparttar 130649 quantified example got right torepparttar 130650 “bottom line”? It is here, atrepparttar 130651 bottom line where nearly all business decisions are made. Letrepparttar 130652 numbers dorepparttar 130653 persuading for you. Numbers are tangible. Numbers are concrete. Numbers mean value. Value speaks volumes.

By masteringrepparttar 130654 above three skills and continuing to improve your assertive communication skills you will no longer be trapped byrepparttar 130655 glass ceiling or any other barrier which may get in you way. You will be an assertive, powHERful business person worthy of raises, promotions and anything else you decide you deserve.

Kirstin Carey is an award-winning speaker and consultant and Principal of Orange Tree Training & Speaking Group. She works with organizations on effective and persuasive communications. Her company also has a special division which focuses on helping women advance and succeed through more effective communication skills without having to communicate like a man. To find out how Kirstin can help you, call (800) 380-6520 or go to www.powHERful.com


Getting What You Want, How You Want It, When You Want It!

Written by Kirstin Carey


Continued from page 1

On a resume, a job applicant lists her past job responsibilities as:

Handled bookkeeping Managed client accounts Created new filing system To give more concrete value to these items,repparttar applicant needs to quantifying her successes and give themrepparttar 130630 attention they deserve. A more effective listing on her resume would be:

Handled bookkeeping of accounts totaling $1.5 million Managed 125-140 client accounts annually Created system which saved 15 hours of manual work weekly Much better, right?

When you speak in quantifiable terms, people are more likely to understandrepparttar 130631 value ofrepparttar 130632 items you are discussing. Quantifying is particularly effective when you are marketing a business, asking for a raise, developing a job resume, or debating an issue.

Quantifying is extremely effective inrepparttar 130633 sales and marketing process. If you can quantifyrepparttar 130634 gain of whatrepparttar 130635 potential client will get by buying your product or service orrepparttar 130636 loss by not buying, you will be more successful.

Ifrepparttar 130637 prospect understands and quantifiesrepparttar 130638 problem specifically, he will be more likely to understandrepparttar 130639 scope ofrepparttar 130640 issue. Rather then just thinking there is a “problem with employee morale,” helprepparttar 130641 client quantifyrepparttar 130642 problem in real numbers.

Guiderepparttar 130643 potential client into telling you thatrepparttar 130644 average length of time an employee stays withrepparttar 130645 company is 16 months. Company statistics shows it costs an average of $3,500 per employee for training classes, a uniform, and standard employee supplies. Duringrepparttar 130646 training, an employee receives a paycheck but is not yet productive. The average salary for an employee is $2,500 a month and it takes two months to train a new employee; costingrepparttar 130647 company $5,000 in salary during training. An average of 25 new employees must be hired each year. Therefore, it conservatively costsrepparttar 130648 company $212,500 a year just to train new employees.

If your solution to employee turnover is less thanrepparttar 130649 cost ($212,500) ofrepparttar 130650 problem, thenrepparttar 130651 client would be insane not to hire you, right?

Letrepparttar 130652 numbers dorepparttar 130653 selling for you. Numbers are tangible. Numbers are concrete. Numbers speak volumes.

So, by being specific and quantifying you will begin to get what you want, when you want it, and how you want it more often. You will be a better manager, leader, negotiator, and overall communicator. Now go out there and have fun with your new communication tools!

Kirstin Carey is an award-winning speaker and consultant and Principal of Orange Tree Training & Speaking Group. She works with organizations on effective and persuasive communications. Her company also has a special division which focuses on helping women advance and succeed through more effective communication skills without having to communicate like a man. To find out how Kirstin can help you, call (800) 380-6520 or go to www.powHERful.com


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