Recently I stopped by a Walgreens drugstore. I was there to purchase a graduation card for my niece and some Mothers Day cards. I looked for the graduation cards and could not find them. So, I asked a clerk where the cards might be located. She informed me that they were in 3 boxes in the storeroom. I asked if she, or someone else, could bring them out of the storeroom so that I might make a purchase. She informed me that she could not do so at that time and suggested I come back in a few hours. I asked to speak with a manager and after speaking with the manager and making my request to purchase a card known, I was once again told, I would have to come back in a few hours. I looked around the store and observed that it was not busy. Some of the clerks appeared to be ideally standing around doing much of nothing.

I’m not suggesting all Walgreens drugstores typify this manor of behavior, but this one did. By chance there happened to be a CVS drugstore literally across the street from that particular Walgreens. So, I went across the street, purchased the graduation card for my niece, and also purchased the Mothers Day. I ended up spending about twenty dollars.

What negotiation lessens can we learn from this experience. There are several

1. Always have an alternate source from which to get what you need
2. Make anyone you negotiate with feel important (I had the impression that I was almost disturbing the clerks at Walgreens by wanting to make a purchase.)
3. If you cant fulfill the request/requirements of someone you’re negotiating with, at least give the impression that you’re trying to do something to solve their problem (some hotel chains will book people in another hotel chains facilities when the first hotel does not have space. In so doing, they are sending a signal to that customer that says, the customers well being has a higher priority than just making money off of that customer).

When negotiating, give as much as you can to appease and ingratiate yourself with the person you’re negotiating with. By doing so, you give the perception that you care. In return, the fair minded person will give as much as they can give to you and in the end, both of you will have practiced, what I call, the win/win style of negotiating.

Everybody is in a rush. A rush to do this or that. To get up in the morning, to make breakfast, to dress, to go to school, to work, to go to the gym. In fact everybody is in a hurry to do many things which means everyone has an enormous amount of activities all day long. We manage to convince ourselves that everything we do is all important – and yet somehow as the day ends we are exhausted and are left with a vague feeling that we did not accomplish everything we set out to do.

The reason for this is quite simple. We live in a society that measures success on the basis of accomplishment – and accomplishment is measured on the basis of how much we do or how much we get. In turn we have conditioned ourselves to always think of the next move. To accomplish and get more you have to do more, so there is always something else. Another move, another set of actions.

This is where the problems start. We focus our thoughts and energy onto the next thing and not on what we are actually supposed to be doing.

When we focus on the next step, the next activity or our next action, we forget to concentrate and to live 100% that one thing we are doing in that specific moment in time. Pope John Paul II once said that we should learn from the past, plan for the future, but live the present – or words to that effect.

These are words of wisdom that should guide our every moment.

There are a few implications here, such as:

By learning from the past:

• you should learn to avoid mistakes and more importantly repeat those things that brought success or triumphant moments.
• neither dwell nor relive the past. The past is gone – finito, kaput. We must learn to let it go.
• treasure the good and the bad. Treasure it, not gloat over it or sink with it.

Plan for the future:

• set your sights high and aim for the sky.
• apply yesterdays lessons to plan for tomorrow.
• your plan will map out the road you must follow.

Live the present:

• every journey starts with one step. Today you will take the steps you must on the road you mapped out for the future.
• each moment, in other words your continuous present, must be lived will full concentration, with full dedication and passion. If you are with someone else, your child for example, your full focused energy and attention should be 100% dedicated to that person in that moment in time.
• a focused present, strengthened with the lessons of the past and the target for the future will result in less mistakes or negative results. It will always generate an action motivated from a freer perspective.

When you start applying this way of life you will find in the beginning that you are set in your ways so change will not be easy. If, however, you persist for a short while, you will find that it gets easier each time.

Then you will be surprised to find that everything gets better; not in a magical sense, after all there are no magical formulas, but in a real sense.

1. Your day to day activities that are driven by your dedicated and focused attention to what you are doing as you are doing it, will show greater results. These results will go beyond, and this is the important part, beyond achieving things, to achieving wonderful things in terms of your relationship with others. One of the amazing things about people is that when they feel they are important in your eyes – and this will happen as you live the present when your are with them – they will try to give the best of themselves in return.
2. Your past will begin to be made up of all these “presents” you are living day to day.
3. Your future turns into your present and then your past, and all under that path with a heart you are taking, today.

As rightly stated by M.K. Sehgal and Vandana Khetarpal in Business Communication, “While it is one of the easiest things in the world for some people to stand in front of a group of people and to talk, there are many who look scared and ready to rush for a cover at the sight of an audience. The difference in the categories may arise, not from the difference in their knowledge content but from the difference in their Attitude. Even an experienced speaker in the beginning of his speaking career, might have faced the problem of “nervousness”, “butterflies in the stomach”, “increased heartbeats”, “shaking legs”, “shaking voice” and “forgetfulness” which are most obvious signs of nervousness which badly affects the Business Presentation. A Presentation is delivery to a small knowledgeable audience with a concrete, clear and preciously defined purpose.

Here are some guidelines to do a successful Presentation:-

1. Decide your Goal and Topic of Presentation: The Goal in making a presentation could be to persuade, educate, convince and win the approval of the audiences thereby achieving the desired results, considering the occasion and objective of the speaker. Format the sequence and pace of the presentation so that the audience can understand it easily. A good impact can’t be made unless you are through with the topic. Giving the audience relevant and unexpected facts beyond the topic norms adds value. Presentation requires knowledge of the subject, confidence and experience.

2. Analyze the Audiences: Know who is going to be the audience and what they want from you. The age, gender, nationality, educational background and experiences of the audience present have a great relevance to the Presentation. While answering the questions direct your remarks to the entire audiences. That way, you will keep everyone focused, not just questioner. Speak with conviction as if you really believe in what you are saying and persuade the audience effectively.

3. Decide the Form of Presentation: You should decide whether you wish to achieve the objective by a Formal or Non-Formal mode, i.e. either by Reading/Memorizing/Extemporaneous (you can select any of the following mode or combination of two). You need to decide whether the move is going to be from the periphery to the core of the subject matter or from the core to the periphery based in the length of the script.

4. Identify the Audio-Visual Aid required: Different types of Audio-Visual supports like Slides, Video Tapes, VCD’s, PowerPoint’s as presentation, Software, Flip Chart, Writing Boards; through which text, graphs, figures and cartoons can be easily drawn enhances the quality of presentation. They are meant to emphasise the most vital points of the presentation in a unique manner. While preparing the visuals, the designer should take extra care in the selection of colour, fonts and visual aids for the images. Certain colour combinations can be irritating to the eyes, while others are pleasing, apart from learning the subject, the audiences should also enjoy the presentation.

5. Know the Venue and the Equipment: Be familiar with the place in which you will speak. Arrive ahead of time, walk around the speaking area and sit in the seats, seeing the set up from the audiences perspective will help you decide where to stand, what direction to face and how loudly you will need to speak. Decide in advance what if the projector dies? Or the Computer Crashes? Or the Co-Drive doesn’t work? Or your CD gets steeped on? Have a printed copy of your notes with you and carry a backup of your presentation on a USB flash or E-Mail yourself a copy.

6. Rehearse the Presentation: Plan the Opening/Main Body/Closing of the Presentation. Practice your deliver over and over until you remove the distractions including nervous tics and uncomfortable pauses. Make sure that your Presentation can run on any computer. TO FAIL TO PREPARE IS TO PREPARE TO FAIL. After a Concert, a fan rushed up to famed violinist Fritzkreisler and gushed, “I’d give up my whole life to play as beautifully as you did.” Kreisler replied, “I Did”.

7. Avoid Information Overloading: PowerPoint expert Cliff Atkinson, author of “Beyond Bullet Points”, says, “When you overload your audience, you shut down the dialogue that is important part of decision-making. When you remove interesting but irrelevant words and pictures from the screen you can increase the audience’s ability to remember the information by 189% and the ability to apply the information by 109%”, recommends Atkinson. Clarify in advance how much time you will have and be sure to leave time for questions.

8. Effective Body Language: The speaker needs to break the ice, gain acceptance and capture attention of the audience’s right at the start of making the opening, spell binding. It is rightly said, “First Impression is the Last impression”. A Presentable Clean and Impressive appearance is of utmost importance for the speaker. Confident voice and posture, effective eye contact and meaningful gestures make up a good body language. Never speak to the slides. Many presenters watch their presentation rather than their audience. Turn to your audiences and make eye contact. Allow yourself and audiences a little time to reflect and think.

9. Preparation of Handouts and Assessment Form: Handouts are basically printed material given to the audience before beginning of the Presentation, it should be extremely well prepared as the participants are going to take them back after the session and probably share the same with colleagues. With an intention to get Feedback from the audience, as how well speakers presentation was received, a questionnaire is circulated among the audience, immediately after completing the programme and the members are requested to fill up the same. It should elaborate on the Level of Acceptance of the speaker (grading on various parameters such as delivery, ideas, use of visual aids, handling the groups, empathy, listening, expectation form the presentations and to what extent were they met), scope of improvement and suggestions, if any.

10. Be a Good Active Listener: Good Speakers not only inform their audience, they also listen to them. It involves patience, openness, and the desire to understand. It is a form of accepting which prepares for positive results. Active Listening involves Hearing, Understanding, Interpretation, Concentration and Judgement. It requires commitment and Personal Discipline whereas; Supportive Listening involves Empathy which is the key ingredient of helping in the Listening Process. It is the understanding of another’s feelings.

DO’S of a Successful Presentation:

1. Give an overview or agenda (i.e., “tell them what you are going to tell them”)

2. At the end, summarize the highpoints.

3. Use Humour, but make absolutely sure it is appropriate humour.

4. Finish on Time. It is better to finish slightly early than to overrun.

5. Thank the audience for their time and attention.

6. Have a contingency back-up plan, i.e. Plan B and Plan C.

7. Speak Clearly.

8. Deliberately pause at key points.

9. Enjoy Yourself.

For Visual Aids:-

10. Use Key Phrases.

11. Limit Punctuations and Avoid All Capital Letters.

12. Avoid Fancy Fonts.

13. Use Contrasting Colour for Text and Background.

14. Use Slide Design Templates Effectively.

15. Limit the number of slides.

16. Use Photos, Charts and Graphs.

17. Avoid excessive Use of Slide Transition and Animation.

DON’T of a Successful Presentation:

1. Read the material from the slide/notes.

2. Use more than 36 words per slide.

3. Use Paragraphs, use bullet points as “talking points”.

4. Use improper grammar, phrases or a sentence that doesn’t make sense, no misspelled words.

5. Move too fast or too far from the audience but move around to keep the audiences attention.

6. Be afraid to say, “I don’t know” if you aren’t sure of an answer to a question.

7. Hold objects in your hands, but do use you hands and arms for gestures.

8. Whisper or Shout.

9. Rush or Talk deliberately slowly.

10. Rely completely on your slide projector to run the show.

Let me conclude by a small anecdote:

Eleanor Roosevelt was a shy young girl who was terrified at the thought of speaking in public. But with each passing year, she grew in Confidence and Self Esteem. She once said, “No one can make you feel inferior, unless you agree with it.” Finally, the most important 3 things to know about making a Great Presentation are PLANNING, PREPARATION AND PRACTICE.