The Essence of Good Presentation Skills

We’ve all sat through those meetings. Meetings that make us wonder “how much longer is this going to last”, “is this meeting really necessary” or sometimes even, “Is this job really worth it”! The truth of the matter is that it may not necessarily be the content that gets us bored out of our skulls but rather the way it is being presented. Good presentation skills can make even the dullest of content sound invigorating and interesting. While there is a ton of material out there that has plenty of advice for what presenters should do to churn out a good presentation, there are also some key things that they must avoid to not jeopardize their presentation. In this article we will look at three such aspects:

Insufficient Preparation

It happens even to the seasoned presenters. Life along with all its challenges and urgencies can get busy and cut into preparing for a presentation. But presentations require hard work and foresight. They require thinking ahead of the listeners to understand what they’re expecting from the presentation. A poorly prepared presentation usually shows in the scrambled manner of output or the lack of flow in the content. And listeners are usually perceptive enough to pick up on it.

Information Overload

Once in a while the presenter can do quite the opposite of underprepare and fire-hose his listeners with too much information and data. During preparation tis can seem like a good idea because one tends to think that they’re giving the listeners whatever they can and that’s a good thing. But sometimes this can be so overwhelming on the receiving end that listeners may walk away without catching the majority of what was said instead clearly understanding a few things said efficiently. Just as we do better attempting to catch one ball instead of five coming at us, the brain handles few pockets of data better instead of large volumes of it.

Lackluster Delivery

It is a sad but true fact – some presenters can be just boring. It may be one or many factors that contribute to the dullness. Presenters must not make the mistake of assuming that interesting content will carry over just as interestingly regardless of the delivery style. Body language, voice modulation, eye contact, hand gestures and enthusiasm all play a vital role in communicating the message. But it goes deeper than this too. If listeners don’t see an underlying conviction or passion in the presentation, they’re not going to be inclined to ‘buy’ a message that the presenter himself doesn’t seem to have bought into.

Presentation Skills Training is an important aspect of training that companies want to invest in for the sake of their employees. This equips them to communicate the vision and agenda of the company in an effective manner.

MMM Training Solutions conducts Soft Skills Training, corporate training, soft skills training, cross cultural training and leadership training programs for corporates in India and abroad.

Eliminating Obstacles to Training the Trainers

Management and administrative structures, just like machinery, need to be constantly assessed, monitored and maintained in order for it to run smoothly without setbacks and last long. Companies know this and realize that even their own trainers need to be updated on the latest trends in the market, adaptive changes that need to be made to keep up with the changes and ultimately sharpening their own skills in order to achieve all that. Unfortunately most companies find that they are not able to pull valuable staff off the floor in order to invest a couple of hours to train the trainers. And their reasons are generally the common three – Time (it takes too much time / there is not enough time), money (it costs too much / doesn’t fit within the budget) and people (cannot free up people to participate). In this article we will examine some trouble-shooting tips to dealing with these objections:

Time

This is the most common complaint. There is just not enough time in a working day to set aside couple of hours for multiple trainers to be attending training. But there is a way around this. While 2-4 hours on a given day might not be practically possible, that training time can be broken down into smaller chunks of 45 minutes spread over the week. This allows trainers to not be gone for extended periods of time while still giving them the frequency and continuity of training.

Money

This can manifest in two forms – either there is simply no allowance for such training in the budget or the program is just not considered worth spending that kind of money. In the former situation, and depending on the type of business, departments could partner with each other to allot a part of their budget to accomplish the training. Other creative ways could be explored to partner with local agencies or programs to minimize the cost of training. In the second situation, a clear and cogent case needs to be made to show the cost-benefit value of such training and how it can improve efficiency and reduce costs for the future.

People

People are emotional beings and an appeal must be made to show the long-term benefits of such training, especially in the realm of making their lives easier in the future. A direct correlation between the training benefits and improvement in the quality of their jobs (and life) will provide adequate incentive to motivate them to participate in the program.

Train the Trainer is an important program that companies must invest in to keep their trainers sharp with their skills and up to date on the changing landscape of the corporate world.

MMM Training Solutions conducts communication skills training, corporate training, soft skills training, cross cultural training and leadership training programs for corporates in India and abroad. 

5 Habits of Healthy Leaders

What is leadership?

Leadership is a role riddled with responsibility and those who were or are currently in it understand its weight. Leadership skills have multi-dimensional aspects to it and its complexities are as diverse as the personalities of leaders themselves. Successful leaders however do things a certain way but also do it consistently. It is this drive and conviction that makes them excel at what they do. In this article we will look at five habits that make leaders successful at what they do:

Expectations are well communicated

Good leaders are clear about what they expect from their subordinates or employees. They avoid ambiguous instructions or directions and balance the line well between communicating exactly what they want and enabling the employee to achieve it. This equips the team to focus but also helps them to stay on track because they know what terms, conditions, goals and parameters are expected of them in order for the project to succeed.

It’s all about growth

People-oriented leaders know that there are things that are significantly more important than simply getting things done or accomplishing goals. And that is to equip and enable people to become better persons in every aspect of life alongside helping them succeed in their endeavors. Such leaders are quick to identify hidden skills and talents and create opportunities for these to shine. Sharp leaders also don’t allow their team to get into a comfortable or complacent spot.

Create Accountability

Leaders realize that accountability is a key factor in maintaining a culture of duty and responsibility that is laden with initiative. They strive to push members of the team to think for themselves and be independent and interdependent, without being co-dependent on each other. This fosters a sense of teamwork but also fosters unity and harmony within the team, which helps to keep each other in line with their individual responsibilities.

Feeling the morale of the team

Perceptive leaders know that monitoring the progress or growth of an individual or team is vital to understanding the health and morale of the team. Good leaders don’t shy away from identifying problematic areas and weak spots but are also quick to affirm and encourage growth and development with positive feedback.

Teachability

Good leaders understand that every individual member of the team is a contributing member and may have something valuable and important to offer for the benefit of the whole team. These leaders don’t pretend to know all the answers and will often make room to ask their subordinates for helpful ideas or opinions.

Leadership Training  Programs seek to create good opportunities for their potential leaders, where they can develop and enhance their skills in multiple areas and be the kind of leader that the company needs them to be

MMM Training Solutions conducts Soft Skills Training, corporate training, cross cultural training and leadership training programs for corporates in India and abroad.

Email Etiquette And Its Impact on Business

An email says a lot about the person writing it. Business Email writing is an art. Sometimes friendships get forged through emails. I clearly remember when I was in HR in my previous organisation, I had to write mails to various stakeholders. One of them was from the Overseas Operations Cell. I always used to receive very courteous mails from one particular individual in the OOC. Every email used to start with a greeting and end with warm wishes. Email etiquette was followed to the T.I used to look forward to writing to her. Most of the mails which I received were curt one liners so this mail really stood out. I started looking forward to meeting the writer of these emails. One day I got an opportunity when I had to go to Bangalore to meet a client. I walked into the OOC office at Bangalore curious and eager to meet the writer of the emails and asked for Aparna, the person who had been writing those courteous emails to me. I was pleasantly surprised to meet her and we connected within a few minutes of our meeting. Her emails had already created a positive impression about her in my mind so forging a friendship with her did not take much time. She is one of my closest friends till date.

“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart!”  William Wordsworth

Most of us do not have the time or the bandwidth to write courteous emails. We often write curt one liners that do not get us a response most of the times. Based on my experiences I would like to share a few pointers to effective email writing-

1.      A strong subject line is an essential part of business email writing. It gives an insight into what the email is all about and peeks the curiosity of the reader.
2.      Always start the email with some kind of greeting. This creates greater connect with the reader.
3.      Reflect on the content of the mail by asking yourself these questions, “What do I intend to accomplish through this email”, “Who is my audience?”, “ How can my message have the intended result and what do I need to do to achieve that?”
4.      Be sure to provide the context clearly while writing the email. Do not assume that the reader knows.
5.      Be as crisp and concise as possible while writing the content

Email Etiquette training can help you learn the globally accepted etiquette and methods of email writing. With most people in business getting over 300 emails a day, learning how to get your emails read is an invaluable skill.

MMM Training Solutions conducts Soft Skills Training, corporate training, cross cultural training and leadership training programs for corporates in India and abroad.