oiltemp.info

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.

Direct marketing sales letters need not be written by a copywriter but they need to provide qualified sales leads. Well thought out sales letters are the key step to closing sales presentations consistently. See how following 3 steps can provide closing sales leads and a cost effective direct sales marketing campaign.

1. First determine what you want your direct marketing sales letters to achieve. Acknowledge that getting sales presentations must be proceeded by advertisement’s goal of convincing prospects to read your marketing sales letters. Quality closing sale leads help result in great sales presentations. Visualize your goals before you begin writing anything. Do you want to generate inquiries (leads)? Do you want to get immediate orders and attempt to bypass the lead sales process? What worthwhile action do you want prospective clients to take? How do you want them to respond? Put your visualized goal in bold writing, and tape it to the front side of your computer. Refer constantly to your goal, as you develop your message. Everything you write should directly support this ultimate goal of closing sales.

2. Estimate how much response you reasonably expect from your direct sales marketing. Not every person is going to respond to your sales letter offer. Just what response are you going to nail down? Is it going to be 1/2%, 1%, or an incredible 3%? Note that scrubbing your mailing to the right prospects only, dramatically shoots up the lead inquiry quality. Aim directly at your best targeted prospects first, as you are going for action and results. You would never imagine how many people respond to everything and do nothing.

3. Gauge how much your campaign to conquer closing sales will ultimately cost. Adding list acquisition cost + printing & mail preparation + postage + time will give your answer. Light that candle in your head, until you brightly realize that the cost of upgrading your contact list is worth every nickel spent. Don’t have your entire campaign go up in smoke shopping for the lowest cost prospect list. The postal service has linked first class postage directly into your mind. Shake in the reality that standard rate postage is a pure money saver not affecting sales lead response at all. Outlay on a postcard is cheapest, but cheap lowers response unless you can drive home your message effectively. An envelope only needs to contain a one sided letter with possibly a reply card. Often the “tri-fold” gives just enough space and options to trigger to enhance curiosity to open it and read the contents.

Use these direct sales marketing guidelines, before mailing letters to potential clients to increase leads and close sales.. If you miss your available opportunity to give sales closing presentations, it is a given fact that you will not be closing sales..

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
][http://www.curadebt.com/settlement/business-debt-negotiation/business-debt-settlement-negotiation.asp
]

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.