Timing is everything when it comes to delivering an effective presentation. After having to tolerate a presentation that included a slide deck so large it blocked out the sun and a presenter who thought it was acceptable to run 24 minutes over his allotted time, I felt compelled to write this post.

The last thing I’d want is for your colleagues to suffer the same fate as I when you next present at a team meeting. So if you want to stay on track, keep your team happy and deliver an efficient and professional presentation, then read on…

The Golden Rules of an Effective Presentation
3 things distinguish great from grim when it comes to effective presentations: timing, content and delivery.

This post is all about timing.

The 60:40 Rule

Let’s assume you have a 20 minute slot to deliver your presentation. 30% of your presentation time should be taken up by the Q&A. This is where you field questions and gather audience reaction. Your audience will evaluate the effectiveness of your presentation based upon how well you handle your Q&A. If you run out of time, then you miss the opportunity to enhance your credibility and reduce any negative evaluation of your presentation.

Another 10% will be taken up by natural pauses and transitions between visual aids. That leaves you with 12 minutes to deliver your presentation – 60% of your total allotted time.

Think 130

If you were reading from a script to an audience for 12 minutes then your presentation is likely to be around 1500 words in length, about 4 pages of A4. This is based upon the fact that we typically speak at a rate of roughly 130 words per minute.

Power Point – how much is too much?
Many see the task of delivering a business presentation as one large data bombardment with bullet after bullet of information crammed onto each slide and miniature helicopters swooping across the screen dropping statistics into an already confusing spreadsheet.

Stop this silliness and keep your slides simple.

Each slide should contain a simple and to the point headline. Underneath the headline, no more than 3 bullet points that act as a visual cue for your audience, so they know what to expect from you without having to read it on the screen. After all, what’s the point in being there if all your information is contained within your slides.

Now to the part where you fall off your chair.

1 for 2

If you are speaking for 12 minutes (remember it’s still a 20 minute presentation), then the maximum number of slides in your deck should be 6. That’s right, no more than 1 slide every 2 minutes.

You’ve still got to factor in a 45 second introduction, which may require a slide in itself and a 45 second conclusion, which may also require its own slide.

3 Rules for Efficient Presentations

The 60/40 Rule – Plan to present for 60% of your time, the rest for Q&A and contingency

Think 130 – Every minute equates to approximately 130 words spoken. Plan for more and you plan to fail.

1 for 2 – You should have no more than 1 slide for every 2 minutes of talk time

Nobody will ever thank you if you run over your allotted time and everyone will thank you if you finish a minute earlier.

In the next post I’ll share a powerful formula for making your content engaging and coherent.

Are you on the hunt for Christmas gifts already? What, it’s too early to get your gifts…think again. It pays to shop now to take the stress out of the Christmas period. It also means things could be cheaper and easier to get. Christmas is a time notorious for running out of hot toys and consequently prices get inflated out of proportion for the must have toy or toys of the year. If you are looking for Christmas presents for 5 year old girls or girls around that age here are a few ideas to get you going.

Calico critters have been a popular toy for girls around 5 years of age for a few years now. You might have heard of them as Sylvanian families. Well they have been re-branded as Calico Critters. Don’t ask me why this has been done but they still look as cute as ever and tend to melt the hearts of little girls.

Calico Critters are 6 inch toy figurines of a whole range of woodland animals. They almost look like Beatrix Potter type characters – you know – Rabbits, Badgers, Door mice and various creatures like that.

They all have families, so there will be a father and mother Rabbit and various sibling bunnies of various ages. Girls love this family aspect of the toy because it gives them an outlet to express their nurturing side. And the toys are ever so cute.

You can also get all sorts of accessories to make the critters even more adorable. The townhouse or townhome (as they like to call it in Cloverleaf Corners) is predicted to be a popular seller this year. It is a complete home for one or more Calico critters families. And the details of the house are exquisite.

The V Reader Animated E book system is a toy that girls learning to read will really cherish. The V Reader is made by Vtech that specialize in educational toys. It makes reading and spelling and learning new words more interesting and fun.

Basically you put in a cartridge and the story starts. A narrator tells the story and the animated screen changes as the story goes along. Under the animation, the words that are being used are displayed and each word is highlighted when it is spoken by the narrator.

Children can stop and have the word repeated. They can even highlight the word to get more information, like a definition on the word. There are also various word and spelling games that can be played with the V Reader. Girls love to read and this will be a constant companion as they develop the skills to start reading proper books.

As everybody knows, being in debt is something we all dread and avoid, but few can say they dodge it successfully. It is not easy to avoid debt without having a financial plan or a self-restraining personality that will eventually help regain control of your debts and free you from them. Debt Negotiation Companies exist to assist people on these matters and help them become debt free.

A number of debt negotiation companies also include a credit repair service as part of their debt negotiation program. This repair service removes any negative items caused by the program. Although it is part of the program, there are additional fees associated with this service.

One of the main problems of indebted people is that they have lost control of their monthly bills and credit card debts. That is when Debt Negotiation Companies can help you get back the control over your debts and loans that may have fallen behind because of the high interest rates or the unusual fees which banks charge once you stop paying them regularly.

Karen Haggerty is one of our current clients from the Debt Negotiation Companies program. She entered the program a few months ago and is being assessed by a professional counselor from the Debt Negotiation Companies staff. One of them is Debbie White, a regular author of important articles of business guidance and debt avoidance.

Debbie White will be viewing some questions that Karen had at the beginning, so that anybody who has doubts about the program can solve them by seeing for themselves that debt freedom is possible and is not some mythical dream that cannot be achieved.

Karen Haggerty:

What do Debt Negotiation Companies do?

Debbie White:

Debt Negotiation Companies have certain steps to follow in order to help anybody who enters the program become debt free in shortest amount of time possible. These are the steps:

- The Debt Negotiation Companies will first talk directly to your creditors to help lower your monthly installments of your current debt in order to lighten the load.

- After the debt negotiation companies have made a deal with your creditors, they will let you know the new terms the creditors have agreed upon and organize your payment plan according to the new terms.

- You, as the debtor, will make a single payment to the debt negotiation companies and they, in turn, will pay the creditors.

Those are the main 3 steps that the debt negotiation companies will make, but sometimes, depending on the cases and each situation, there are more steps to follow.

Karen Haggerty:

Will this affect my credit history?

Debbie White:

Although a debt negotiation program will lower your credit score for as long as you are in the program, you will also find that most debt negotiation companies require the creditor to make sure that the final credit report reflects the account is now paid in full. Therefore, once your account is settled you will no longer have a negative report.

Karen Haggerty:

After the debt negotiation companies make a new deal with the creditors they stop helping me?

Debbie White:

No, the debt negotiation companies become responsible for any communication between you and your creditors and any information that the creditors request or need from you will always go through the debt negotiation companies first; so that they can keep track of the whole process for as long as it takes.

Experience has taught us that creditors preferred to work with debt negotiation companies than debtors because we understand the legal steps better and do not need advice from them.
After hiring the services of a debt negotiation company, people will notice the difference because we will not let any creditors’ harassment process to continue, and the client will no longer receive “legal threats”, as they call it. We also do not get bullied around like the clients do, so the business relation with the creditors works better and the debt gets paid off faster.

Karen Haggerty:

Debt negotiation companies are the only way out of debt?

Debbie White:

No, debt negotiation companies are not the only solution on the market, but it sure is the best. Although people may think that there are other solutions out there, they do not know that we are known by different names, such as debt arbitration and/or debt settlement.

Debt negotiation companies are a resource that should only be used as a last resort; and only when people are sure that there are no other ways out

Check these links to learn more:

http://www.curadebt.com/about.asp

[http://www.curadebt.com/settlement/business-debt-negotiation/business-debt-settlement-negotiation.asp
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Debbie White is a contributing writer to http://www.curadebt.com and is currently writing some special articles to guide businesses on how to manage debt and avoid bankruptcy. For Business Debt Information and Debt Help Consultation, call toll-free 1-877-850-3328.