Professional Development
In This Section:
10 Tips for Public Speaking: How to find your confidence
The Principles of Negotiation
10 Tips for Public Speaking: How to find your confidence
by Toastmasters International
Feeling some nervousness before giving a speech is natural and even beneficial, but too much nervousness can be detrimental. Here are some proven tips on how to control your butterflies and give better presentations:
- Know your material. Pick a topic you are interested in. Know more about it than you include in your speech. Use humor, personal stories and conversational language – that way you won't easily forget what to say.
- Practice. Practice. Practice! Rehearse out loud with all equipment you plan on using. Revise as necessary. Work to control filler words; Practice, pause and breathe. Practice with a timer and allow time for the unexpected.
- Know the audience. Greet some of the audience members as they arrive. It’s easier to speak to a group of friends than to strangers.
- Know the room. Arrive early, walk around the speaking area and practice using the microphone and any visual aids.
- Relax. Begin by addressing the audience. It buys you time and calms your nerves. Pause, smile and count to three before saying anything. (One one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand. Pause. Begin.) Transform nervous energy into enthusiasm.
- Visualize yourself giving your speech. Imagine yourself speaking, your voice loud, clear and confident. Visualize the audience clapping – it will boost your confidence.
- Realize that people want you to succeed. Audiences want you to be interesting, stimulating, informative and entertaining. They’re rooting for you.
- Don't apologize for any nervousness or problem – the audience probably never noticed it.
- Concentrate on the message – not the medium. Focus your attention away from your own anxieties and concentrate on your message and your audience.
- Gain experience. Mainly, your speech should represent you — as an authority and as a person. Experience builds confidence, which is the key to effective speaking.
Reproduced by Permission from ToastMasters International (www.toastmaster.org)
The Principles of Negotiation
by Mike Lee
Need to negotiate a sales contract, a business deal, or a salary increase? It can be tough, but with the right state of mind, you can perform any negotiation successfully. Here are some great tips on successful negotiation:
The Four Attributes of Negotiation
Power
Power is the ability to get the other side to offer terms favorable to you. The top two power sources are competition and the printed word. If your prospect knows that three of their competitors want your business, then that prospect will likely want your business too. And remember: always question the printed word. Just because it is written does not mean it isn’t negotiable.Time
Ninety percent of the negotiating happens in the last ten percent of the time allotted. Negotiating will go on forever unless one side imposes a deadline. The corollary is that time works against the person who does not have it. Therefore, never reveal your real deadline and never negotiate when you are in a hurry.Knowledge
Knowledge is a combination of expertise and information regarding the wants and needs of the other side. How and when is the person with which you are dealing evaluated by his/her supervisor? How experienced is the person? What is this person’s potential budget range? Does this person have other selections from which to choose?Leverage
Leverage is your ability to get the prospect to want your business on favorable terms. You can use power, time, and knowledge as leverage in your negotiations.
Negotiating Tactics
The Flinch
To perform the flinch, express shock and dismay at what the other side is presenting. This may force the other side to adjust.Feel/Felt/Found Technique
This is a way of acknowledging another person’s feelings without giving any ground. It is also a way to disagree without being disagreeable. The script: I understand how you feel; others have felt the same way, but when they found out more about us, they moved forward with us.First Offers
As a general rule: never accept the first offer. Simple as that.The Vise
The purpose of the vise is to squeeze the price range up or down in your favor. When the other person names a price, you should respond: “You’ll have to do better than that.” However, be prepared for the retort: “How much better do I have to do?”
During the Middle of the NegotiationsThe Trade-Off
Never give a concession without getting a concession. Otherwise, the balance of power will be out of your favor.The Set-Aside
When you are deadlocked on an issue, set it aside and come back to it after you have reached an agreement on easier issues. Leaving the toughest issues for last means allowing the negotiations to gain momentum. By the end, the other side will be more flexible.
At the End of the Negotiations
BATNA
When you reach the end and are asking yourself if you should go through with the terms, ask yourself: What is my Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement?The Walk-Away
Your ability to negotiate is tied to your ability to walk away from the deal. This is why you should always give yourself options
Re-printed with permission from the author, Mike Lee, an internet entrepreneur, web geek, talent manager, guerilla marketer & business owner
