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After our last article you should have a list of businesses doing business in the area you’re looking for. This is a great start, please keep organized and save this information as you continue moving forward. The next step is to market and present yourself to these businesses.

The first step in marketing yourself is to forget you. This isn’t a step in your Zen meditation; it means that you focus on the employer and not yourself. The businesses you now have in front of you are looking to make money. This is the main focus of any business and the reason they have been created. You need to forget yourself and your goals and realize that to get hired or to contract with a business you must bring something to the table.

A simple example of this would be a salesman. Instead of presenting yourself and hoping that you could be a good fit for them. Do some research on their products and services and then based on your experience tell them what you can do for them. Be confident in your proposal. If you understand their business and understand yourself you should easily connect the dots for them. Once the dots have been connected, and they understand what you can do for them you’re ready for the next step.

Next you need to work on your resume, make sure that you create your image as a worker who is interested in helping this business grow and not just your pocket book. The more you focus on your abilities and experience and how that can help them grow the better your application. In writing your resume, be very specific on what you can offer and how it will help them. Avoid being general in your abilities and experience. Be creative and professional in your resume and application. Online resumes, YouTube postings and other new market ideas are out there. Research the best options for your personality and market. You need to stand apart from the other applicants.

After creating your resume and presenting it to the businesses you’re interested in the number one rule is follow-up. Never assume that they will get back to you, never assume that they aren’t interested in you. You have a lot to offer them, how could they not want you. Make sure they know how interested you are in their business and never stop following up with them.

After presenting yourself to them, make sure you set the next step. An example of this would be sending your resume and then letting them know that you will be following up with them Tuesday at 3:30pm. Be specific with the time and date so they know how serious and organized you are in the process. This will also force them to be prepared for your call and get your application processed. After this step you’ll be prepared for the phone interview and setting a face to face interview. We’ll discuss this in the next article.

Just like in public speaking, many people find giving a presentation, especially to a large group, to be a tremendous challenge. It is very likely that at some time in your career as a business person, you will be asked to make a presentation to workshops, partners, or colleagues. Being a little nervous is a sign that you want to do well, but just as in public speaking being overly nervous or scared might pose a problem. With a little practice you can learn to overcome your anxieties or fears and make informative and memorable presentations.

The use of visual aids, coupled with good public speaking skills, work hand-in-hand to create effective presentations. Your speaking style and stage presence are personal talents that you can refine with much practice and experience. However, much emphasis is given to visual aids which are essential to all successful presentations. Here are a couple of essentials that will help to give an effective presentation with the use of visual aids.

KNOW THE AUDIENCE

It is essential that you know who will make up your audience in order to produce an effective presentation. For example, if you are presenting a presentation to a group of entrepreneur or small business owners, what you will present will differ from delivering a presentation to a roomful of corporate executives. Your business owners are going to be interested in basic ideas or explanations of helpful tips that will aid their businesses. Whereas executives are usually entertained by reports, statistics, graphs, and charts. Now if your audience is a mixture of both, then you will need to know that.

Once you have prepared your presentation accordingly, allow some time at the very start for a brief introductory engagement if possible. You can start by telling your audience a little about yourself. Then, depending on the size of your group, what you can do is to invite them to introduce themselves individually. Going back to your small business owners for an example, get each to briefly stand, give their names and the type of business they are in. You are not going to remember all of their names, but try your best to remember a few, to start off with. This will serve four purposes.

(1) You and your group are getting acquainted on a personal level.
(2) You will become more relax since you may be already gaining information as to what they may need specifically to assist them.
(3) Your audience will see that you are genuinely interested in them as individuals, and for this they will warm up to you rather quickly.
(4) This will encourage good audience interaction which is something you may like to include as part of your presentation.

If you know ahead of time that you are presenting a presentation to somewhat a larger group, then if you have time, greet people as they arrive to engage in light conversation. This will help you to be more relaxed knowing that you are not talking to a group of strangers.

CHOOSING THE APPROPRIATE TOOLS

Visual aid help your presentation make things happen. They help you reach your objectives by providing emphasis to whatever is being said. Clear pictures multiply the audience’s level of understanding of the material presented, and they should be used to reinforce your message, clarify points, and create excitement.

Visual aids and audio-visuals include a wide variety of communication products, including flip charts, overhead transparencies, slides, audio-slide shows, Power Point presentations, and video tapes. Demonstrating a process or simply passing around a sample of some equipment or model are also effective way to clarify messages visually. If visual aids are poorly selected or inadequately done, they will distract from what you are saying.

Maybe you heard that horses sweat, men perspire and women glow. But in the boardroom everyone who presents sweats – some more than others. If you are in management or want to be, you will need to present in the boardroom. This is the worst place to present. First understand why it is that way. Then use these techniques to be more successful when you present in the boardroom.

Beware of Boardroom Landmines

Culture

The boardroom is a place of punishment. It is where management and executives go to thrash the last bad quarter results and beat up somebody. Whoever presents today in the boardroom is the target for today’s flogging. Hence just entering the boardroom stirs up a defensive and offensive attitude in most meeting attendees. They are ready to defend their own performance and at the same time attack someone else just to escape. A boardroom is not a place to birth new ideas – it is a place to crucify suspected sinners, torture under-performers and kill dreamers.

Physical

The physical step-up of the boardroom is adversarial. Meeting attendees face each other across the table. They are not facing the speaker. In fact to face the speaker they must turn their head and expose themselves to the physical discomfort of a kinked neck.

Hierarchy

There is always a power position at the table. Even in King Arthur’s round table the strongest positions were those closest to Arthur. The presenter will usually speak opposite the power position – thus having the weakest physical position on the table.

History

If you are relatively new to this board meeting the ones with history will play their seniority card against you. They can bring up past issues, insider jokes or unwritten rules that put you down.

To succeed in the Boardroom

Before the meeting

Learn who will be there and learn their hot buttons. Meet with all or at the very least the key decision makers before the meeting and get them on your side. Never introduce new ideas in the boardroom. That is the surest way to kill your new ideas.

If the meeting chair is an abrasive type, meet with him before the meeting. Explain your ideas and demonstrate how your ideas support his visions and goals. And ask for his support to make it work. Tell him that you cannot make it happen without his critical support, which implies that if it fails he is responsible. Tell him what you want to accomplish and ask for his advice on how to get everyone else onside.

The more people you have taken into your confidence and who know about your presentation in advance – the more will support you when the vote comes down. If you don’t surprise them they won’t surprise you. When you meet with them ask them for their support.

Speaking in the Boardroom

Get into the boardroom before the meeting to get comfortable with the room – to make it your room. Test your presentation equipment. Sit in a few of the chairs to see the perspective of the attendees. Beware that the others are evaluating you the whole time – before you present, while you present and after you present. So appear calm and confident.

When it is your turn to speak, calmly take the power position of the room. Stand. Pause while you attain everyone’s attention. Then begin your presentation.

Speak to everyone in the room. Make a point of talking and looking at every person in the room. Move your eyes across the table in imperfect x’s. Don’t be fooled into only talking to the one with the most power or the one who engages you. And don’t be lulled into staring at the broad expanse of the boardroom table.

State your position clearly and strongly. Never apologize. Look to your allies for their support. Make it clear what you want them to do because of your presentation. Repeat your purpose. State the purpose early and be prepared for interruptions as well as your presentation time getting cut short.

Seek to gain one key point that moves them in the direction that you want. Don’t try to sell and close all the details in one boardroom presentation. Boardroom meetings are either to confirm earlier discussions or to suggest new directions. But seldom are they for details.

Your Boardroom Success

Accept the directional win and next step. Be willing to work out the details later. People are more defensive in the boardroom. Don’t try to nail the whole project in one boardroom presentation.